Who We Are

DC Prep is a network of public charter schools. We serve more than 2,100 preschool through 8th grade students across six campuses in Wards 5, 7, and 8. While we’re proud to be the highest performing public charter network in Washington, D.C., we recognize that how we support our students to be successful is as important as the results we achieve. That pushes us to reflect on how we can best nurture our students’ academic, social and emotional development; how we can support our team members’ professional growth and personal ability to do this work long-term, and how we can engage our students’ families authentically. While this work is hard, it’s worth it-- we believe in the transformative power of education, the can-do-it-ness of our students and staff, and the joy that comes from engaging in meaningful work with people we care about and trust!

The Opportunity

The Director of Operations is a systems-focused leader responsible for building, refining, and sustaining high-impact operational systems that enable excellence across all DC Prep campuses. This role is primarily focused on designing and implementing scalable tools, processes, and structures that strengthen campus operations and support the successful operationalization of academic programs, including tutoring initiatives and summer programming (e.g., July Leader Retreat, Summer School). This leader solves high-leverage operational challenges, drives cross-functional alignment, and ensures campuses have the systems and infrastructure necessary to execute with excellence from Day 1 and throughout the school year.

The Director of Operations will report directly to the Chief of Operations. The Director of Operations will also be a part of DC Prep’s Home Office Operations team and serve as a liaison between DC Prep and numerous external agencies and vendors.

The Day–to–Day

The Director of Operations leads high-impact, cross-functional work streams across DC Prep’s six campuses and Home Office, building and scaling network-wide systems that drive efficiency, consistency, and operational excellence across the organization.

Systems Design & Implementation

Lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of network-wide operational systems (tools, people, and processes) to increase efficiency, clarity, and accountability across campuses.
Identify and solve high-leverage operational challenges that impact multiple campuses.
Support campus-based Operations Teams in standing up new systems and monitoring their effectiveness.
Codify strong operational practices from individual campuses and scale them across the network.
Build and maintain effective knowledge management systems, including ownership of the Operations Hub and structured processes for knowledge transfer during team transitions.

Academic Operations

Partner with other Home Office teams to operationalize tutoring programs, summer professional development, Summer School, 8th grade graduation, and other academic initiatives.
Develop and manage project plans to ensure operational readiness for academic programming (e.g.,procuring Curriculum resources, coordinating 8th grade Social Studies expeditions).
Drive annual “Day 1 Readiness” planning across functional teams, ensuring clear ownership, timelines, and execution.

Data, Planning & Continuous Improvement

Develop and maintain systems for tracking network-wide operational metrics.
Prepare data analyses and executive-level reports to inform decision-making.
Build and refine systems such as Curriculum Storage & Inventory Management and network-wide supply/asset inventory tracking.
Use cross-campus trends to proactively design and implement new systems where gaps exist (e.g., discretionary budget management, asset tracking, supply request workflows).

Facilities Systems & Planning

Partner closely with the Director of Facilities to ensure the work order system is functioning effectively and generating actionable insights.
Analyze facilities data to inform proactive network-level facilities planning and budget development.
Support a shift from reactive to proactive facilities management through improved systems and forecasting.

Health & Safety Operations

Serve as the central point of contact for health-related partnerships and external providers.
Oversee immunization compliance (“No Shots, No School”) to ensure full adherence to regulations.
Maintain and update essential safety documentation, including Emergency Operations Plans and staff training protocols.
Ensure compliance with updated health and safety guidelines and best practices across all campuses.

Meal Service Operations

Partner with the Senior Director of Operations to ensure efficient, compliant meal service execution across campuses.
Oversee all NSLP compliance requirements, including monthly claims, OSSE administrative reviews, and Local Wellness Policy adherence.
Manage vendor contracts for meal services, including coordination, account management, and periodic RFP processes as required.
Ensure systems are in place to maintain audit-ready documentation and high-quality execution.

Daily School Operations Systems

Collaborate with campus operations leaders and academic teams to codify and replicate strong daily operational systems (e.g., student file organization, supply request processes, field trip planning and execution).
Monitor operational trends across campuses and proactively design and implement improved systems where needed.
Ensure campuses have clear, documented, and replicable processes to drive operational consistency and excellence.

Compliance

Oversee all network-wide compliance processes to ensure fidelity and organizational good standing.
Develop and maintain a comprehensive compliance calendar and tracking systems.
Build structured knowledge management systems to ensure compliance continuity across campuses and leadership transitions

Cross-Functional Leadership & Network Communications

Lead and execute key network-wide operational processes and communications, including Annual Family Handbook updates and School year network calendar development
Drive cross-team collaboration to solve complex operational challenges (e.g., Transportation) to support student enrollment work

Vendor & Partnership Management

Manage vendor contracts and ensure effective execution of services for external partnerships (e.g., African Drumming, Picture Day, Vision Screening, School Nurses, Flagstar Football, and others).
Ensure vendors are aligned to campus needs, compliant with requirements, and effectively integrated into school operations.
Lead contract management processes, including periodic RFP cycles where required.

Who You Are

You see possibility everywhere. You ask questions, seek advice, then create a plan to act on what you’ve learned. You take satisfaction in your ability to create and manage against project plans. And, honestly, everyone else takes satisfaction in that, too— they know you’re going to get things done “right”, on time, and with the right input and collaboration! You are good at influencing people to get work done without formal authority. You are willing to dive into any situation, work on any challenge, and explore all opportunities to ensure our students are best served.

You are an incredibly reflective leader with a growth mindset whose superpower is embracing change and helping others around you adapt to change.

The Director of Operations brings a strong learning orientation and growth mindset, proactively seeking opportunities to build expertise, stay ahead of emerging best practices, and approach new workstreams with humility and curiosity. You embrace adaptability, recognizing that change is constant within a dynamic and evolving school system, and navigates complexity with clarity, confidence, and calm.

You exemplify accountability and reflective practice—learning from both successes and setbacks, maintaining focus on solutions, and refusing to engage in blame culture or excuses. With a willingness to challenge the status quo, you identify legacy practices that limit effectiveness and drive innovative operational improvements that deliver transformational outcomes for students and staff.

You are a leader who deeply understands the large locus of control you have as a Director and deliberately cultivates this same locus of control and influence in the OSLs and Ops team you support.

The Director of Operations demonstrates a strong sense of ownership with an empowered mindset—taking full responsibility for outcomes rather than deferring or attributing challenges to external factors. You operate with a high internal locus of control, proactively identifying issues, driving solutions, and seeing initiatives through to completion. You consistently anticipate obstacles, make informed decisions, and mobilize resources to resolve problems efficiently and effectively, even in complex or ambiguous environments.

You are an effective team leader and “coach” who focuses on investing, developing, and supporting team members. You enjoy leading a team to meet ambitious goals. You are a leader who listens, supports, and coaches your staff to be the best they can. You believe in the power of transparency, communication, strong team culture, and feedback. You lead and manage with an equity lens. You feel comfortable leading a functional team through influence as many operations staff members will be supervised by your colleagues. You are known for inspiring teams who serve in a service-oriented function.

You are a talented project manager with a strong systems-orientation, and may be the most reliable and organized person you’ve ever met. You are so impeccably organized and have a strong reputation for planning ahead and always meeting time-sensitive deadlines. Your colleagues would describe you as incredibly efficient, quick on your feet, and an overall “jack-of-all-trades” who thrives on getting things done and helping others solve problems. You also take great satisfaction in your ability to create and manage against project plans. And, honestly, everyone else takes satisfaction in that, too— they can always depend on you to get things done well, on time, and with the right degree of input and collaboration. You are willing to dive into any situation, work on any challenge, develop better systems, and explore all opportunities to ensure that students are best served.

You love collaboration and are an influencer. You have experience working with diverse teams and understand how to work effectively with staff across different functions, roles, and levels. You have had success influencing others to achieve strong outcomes on projects that involve multiple stakeholders and voices. You are able to build trust and strong relationships.

Qualifications

Deep commitment to DC Prep’s Vision, Mission, and Values, including a strong and demonstrated commitment to diversity and inclusiveness
Advanced data systems and data analysis skills, including content knowledge expertise of student information systems, mastery of advanced Excel and Google spreadsheet functions, and dashboard creation
Entrepreneurial hunger to build, learn, and organize work streams in an ambiguous context
Demonstrated ability to influence leaders and other stakeholders without formal management authority
Consistently maintains a high level of self-awareness and willingness to give, seek, accept, and apply feedback
Enthusiastic about working in environments that are ever-changing and skilled in problem-solving with flexibility and creativity
Superb organization and prioritization skills, including when faced with numerous requests and deliverables that compete for attention
Ability to think strategically on both short and long-term projects
Excellent communication, coordination & project management skills
Track record of consistently delivering high-quality work against deadlines
Exceptional interpersonal skills
Strong written and verbal communication skills
Experience working directly with senior leaders
Experience working in K-12 education preferred
Bachelor’s degree required

Essential Functions

DC Prep Operations teams are on duty at their assigned campus Mondays through Fridays from 7:15am to 4:15pm and must be prepared to facilitate arrival for all students and families at 7:30am and support dismissal until 4:15pm. On Wednesdays, DC Prep campus staff and leaders report until 5:00 for Professional Development.
DOO must maintain a consistent on-site presence at one of the six DCP campus locations at least four days each week to observe systems in action, support, and coach campus operations team members to effectively implement systems and processes.

DOO provides hands-on operational leadership through direct engagement with campus-based teams, administrators, and service providers.
DOO remains accessible and responsive by phone/email/text outside of standard business hours, as required, to address:

Campus emergencies and safety-related incidents
Changes in campus operating status (e.g., weather-related closures, delayed openings)
Urgent or time-sensitive communications to internal and external stakeholders
Support for OSLs in navigating complex or escalated campus needs

Additional responsibilities may arise during the school year. This could include: attending staff and student field trips, after school events, family-teacher conferences, home visits, Data Days and other events involving parents and students, as needed. This list is not exhaustive. DC Prep will communicate mandatory events outside of school hours with ample notice.

Physical Demands

The physical demands and environmental conditions described below are representative, but not exhaustive, of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the role. All of these physical requirements should be able to be performed with clarity, coherence and connectedness to DC Prep’s vision. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.

Must be able to sit and work at a desk/computer for extended periods of time
Must be able to spend the majority of the day standing or mobile throughout the classroom, as well as talk, hear, grasp, reach and lift up to 30lbs with or without accommodations
Ability to concentrate in active and noisy environments such as cafeterias and playgrounds, to more moderate situations such as classrooms or large group professional settings
Must be able to have repetitive wrist/hand/finger movement to work on computer and/or related office equipment
Ability to handle potential high stress conditions

Join Us!

Do you believe that Learning Has No Limits? If so, please complete an application and submit your resume at http://www.dcprep.org/Careers/Job_Opportunities. We can’t wait to get you know you!

We’re an equal opportunity employer, and hire without consideration of race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status or disability. We strongly encourage diverse candidates to apply.

Learn more about this Employer on their Career Site