JoHo Talent Network

Brooklyn Emerging Leaders Academy Charter School (BELA), an all-girls high school located in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, is grounded in the core values of Sisterhood, Scholarship, Strength, and Service. BELA is deeply committed to ensuring that 100% of our students graduate prepared for postsecondary and beyond. Founded on the belief that academic preparation and life preparation are equally important, each BELA young woman embarks on her own personal and intellectual journey.

As an International Baccalaureate (IB) World School, BELA is committed to implementing the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) and Diploma Programme (DP) with fidelity. Staff members are expected to engage deeply with IB philosophy, instructional practices, curriculum development, and assessment frameworks. BELA invests in ongoing professional development and training to ensure all educators are equipped to deliver rigorous, inquiry-based instruction aligned to IB standards and practices.

Learn more at https://www.belahs.org.

About the Opportunity

After nearly a decade of building, leading, and sustaining BELA, the school’s co-founders are ready to bring on BELA’s first Managing Director of Operations: a senior leader who can own the non-academic systems that allow the school to run with excellence each day.

This is a pivotal moment for BELA. The school has a clear mission, a strong culture, deep relationships with students and families, and a leadership team that has carried the work from the very beginning. As BELA enters its next chapter, the organization is ready for an operations leader who can take ownership of the day-to-day infrastructure of the school while helping build the systems needed for long-term sustainability.

The Managing Director of Operations will lead the non-instructional side of the school, including student enrollment and scheduling, school systems, compliance, budgets, vendor relationships, HR coordination, facilities, technology coordination for BELA’s one-to-one student technology model, and the daily operational routines that shape the experience of students, staff, and families.

This role will also create meaningful capacity for BELA’s co-founders to focus more deeply on the work only they can do at this stage of the school’s development: long-term vision, partnerships, fundraising, and strategic planning. The Managing Director of Operations will build on what already exists while strengthening the operational foundation that allows BELA to thrive for years to come.

Key Responsibilities

School Operations and Systems Leadership

• Assess, strengthen, and manage school-wide operational systems, including arrival, dismissal, lunch, hallway transitions, coverage, facilities, safety procedures, events, and student-facing and staff-facing processes.
• Own and manage the master schedule, including student programming and use of the school’s student information systems.
• Ensure that instructional operations such as testing logistics, report cards, student records, attendance, and scheduling are accurate, timely, and aligned to school goals.
• Provide strategic oversight of student enrollment systems and support student recruitment efforts, open houses, family engagement events, Buddy Days, and related enrollment activities.
• Work closely with the Director of Student Support and Director of Staff Support to ensure daily school operations are clear, consistent, and well managed.
• Identify gaps in existing systems and design solutions that are practical, durable, and appropriate for a school of BELA’s size and stage.
• Serve as an operational thought partner to the co-founders and senior leadership team.

Governance, Compliance, and Reporting

• Ensure BELA adheres to all local, state, and federal compliance requirements, including timely submission of required reports and maintenance of accurate records.
• Ensure accurate student enrollment, attendance, staffing, certification, graduation readiness, and related compliance data.
• Own board administration, including meeting logistics, minutes, trustee paperwork, records, and compliance-related materials.
• Maintain and update organizational policies and handbooks, including the Student and Family Handbook and enrollment policies.
• Support charter revision, renewal, audit, and reporting processes as needed.

Budget, Finance, and Vendor Management

• Manage department budget templates and support team leaders in monitoring spending against approved budgets.
• Lead regular budget check-ins with leadership team members to ensure clarity, accountability, and responsible resource use.
• Oversee event budgets and ensure major school events are planned with appropriate financial discipline.
• Own and manage BELA’s relationship with its external back-office payroll and accounting provider, Vertex, formerly EdTec.
• Participate in regular finance and budget meetings with Vertex and ensure strong communication between BELA, external finance partners, school leaders, and vendors.
• Manage invoice review, budget tracking, purchasing systems, vendor relationships, contract management, and issue escalation.
• Partner with the co-founders on annual budget planning, resource allocation, and long-term financial planning.
• Prepare financial and operational materials for board meetings and senior leadership planning over time.

Human Resources and Staff Operations

• Work with BELA’s PEO, Implova, to ensure HR practices, policies, and processes are aligned to legal requirements and strong school-based practice.
• Partner with the Director of Staff Support on staff operations, onboarding, documentation, compliance, and personnel-related processes.
• Support staff-related matters such as difficult conversations, documentation, write-ups, continuation meetings, and other employee relations processes.
• Ensure that staff have access to the tools, systems, information, and support needed to do their jobs well.
• Support the development of staff-facing processes that are consistent, transparent, and aligned to BELA’s values.

Technology and Facilities Coordination

• Coordinate closely with BELA’s Director of Technology to ensure BELA’s one-to-one technology model is implemented effectively and that students and staff have access to the devices, systems, and technology support they need.
• Ensure technology systems and device access are connected to broader school operations, including student programming, testing, attendance, instructional operations, and day-to-day student support.
• Support facilities-related planning, maintenance, vendor coordination, and issue escalation.
• Ensure the physical environment is safe, organized, welcoming, and aligned to the needs of students, staff, and families.
• Support emergency procedures, drills, and safety protocols.

Team Leadership and Collaboration

• Provide leadership, coaching, and development to operations and support team members.
• Establish clear expectations, feedback rhythms, and accountability structures.
• Collaborate effectively with instructional leaders, student support leaders, staff support leaders, external partners, vendors, and the co-founders.
• Build relationships across the school community and earn trust through competence, clarity, and care.
• Contribute to a school-wide culture that is serious about outcomes and warm toward people.

Key Priorities in the First 12 Months

The Managing Director of Operations will enter a school with a strong mission, committed leaders, and important operational work to strengthen. Priorities in the first year will include:

• Build trust with the co-founders, senior leadership team, operations and support staff, instructional staff, students, and families.
• Conduct a thorough assessment of current operational systems and identify the most urgent gaps.
• Take ownership of day-to-day non-instructional operations that currently sit with the co-founders.
• Strengthen master scheduling, student programming, enrollment, coverage, compliance, one-to-one technology systems, and daily school operations.
• Build clear working relationships with the Director of Student Support, Director of Staff Support, Director of Technology, Vertex, Implova, and other key partners.
• Establish stronger rhythms for budget management, vendor management, compliance tracking, and staff-facing operational support.
• Identify one or two high-impact systems improvements and implement them with measurable results.
• Help create the operational foundation that allows BELA’s co-founders to focus more fully on long-term vision, partnerships, fundraising, and strategic planning.

Shared Staff Commitments at BELA

All staff members at BELA play a role in building and sustaining a strong, joyful, and mission-aligned school community. In addition to the specific responsibilities of this role, the Managing Director of Operations will be expected to:

• Create and support inspiring, challenging, and effective teaching and learning experiences for all students.
• Collaborate closely with teachers, students, families, school leadership, and fellow staff members.
• Share in the leadership of the school by taking on responsibilities that support BELA’s learning environment and school culture.
• Support school-wide operational responsibilities, including arrival, dismissal, lunch, hallway supervision, coverage, and other daily routines as needed.
• Lead or support school-wide initiatives, committees, events, and family engagement efforts.
• Support student recruitment events, open houses, Buddy Days, curriculum nights, student-led conferences, and other community-facing events.
• Support Regents, IB, SAT, and other testing coordination and proctoring responsibilities.
• Be committed to serving all students, including Students with Disabilities and English Language Learners, within inclusive settings and through a variety of support models.
• Contribute to a strong and supportive professional learning community.
• Enjoy and thrive in the lively and diverse world of urban adolescent young women while helping build a model of public education that serves them well.
• Design, facilitate, and participate in experiences and conversations related to race, gender, class, and identity in ways that empower students and strengthen community.
• Participate in BELA’s annual overnight camping trip and service days at the start of the school year.
• Participate in annual curriculum nights, student-led conferences, staff meetings, and other required school-wide events.
• Engage in ongoing IB professional development, including MYP and/or DP trainings, collaborative planning, interdisciplinary unit development, and IB assessment calibration, as appropriate to the role.
• Support practices aligned to the IB Learner Profile, Approaches to Learning skills, inquiry-based learning, and culturally responsive pedagogy.

Candidate Profile

Qualifications and Experience

• Minimum bachelor’s degree required. Master’s degree or other advanced degree preferred.
• At least five years of experience in school operations, organizational operations, or a closely related leadership role.
• Direct experience in NYC school operations strongly preferred.
• Experience serving as a school-level Director of Operations, Senior Director of Operations, Managing Director of Operations, Chief Operating Officer, or similar senior operations role preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex operational systems across multiple domains, including enrollment, scheduling, compliance, HR, finance, vendors, technology, facilities, and daily school operations.
• Strong Excel, data, budgeting, and reporting skills.
• Experience supervising, coaching, and developing staff.
• Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving skills, with the ability to move between high-level planning and day-to-day execution.
• A self-starter with a high sense of initiative and the ability to solve problems that do not come with easy answers.
• Deep personal accountability and the ability to build accountability in others.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills.
• Comfort working in a small, mission-driven, close-knit school community where relationships matter and the work is hands-on.
• Belief in and alignment with BELA’s mission, core values, and educational philosophy.
• Spanish language skills are a plus, especially to support communication with families, but are not required.

Compensation and Benefits

The salary range for this position is $140,000 to $170,000, commensurate with experience. BELA offers a comprehensive benefits package, including health, dental, and vision coverage, as well as professional development support.

This is a full-time, in-person role based in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

Application Process

Brooklyn Emerging Leaders Academy Charter School has partnered with JoHo Talent Network to lead this search. To apply, please submit your resume and application materials through the JoHo Talent Network application portal.

Anti-Discrimination Policy and Commitment to Diversity

BELA seeks individuals of all religious, ethnic, and racial backgrounds, sexual orientations, and gender identities to apply for this position. We are committed to maximizing the diversity of our organization, as we believe our community is strengthened by the experiences and perspectives of those who contribute to this work.

This job description reflects BELA’s current assignment of essential functions and qualifications for the role. Nothing herein restricts management’s right to assign, reassign, or eliminate duties and responsibilities at any time.