The Context:

Atlanta leads the nation in income inequality and has one of the lowest rates of social mobility in the entire country. In fact, recent research suggests that a child living in poverty in Atlanta has about a four percent chance of moving out of poverty and into a higher income bracket in his or her lifetime.

Despite these odds, Atlanta’s students have dreams for their futures and their families. In 2015, Achieve Atlanta (AA) was launched by a group of local leaders determined to support these dreams. Coming together initially with the goal of dramatically increasing the number of Atlanta Public Schools (APS) students who earn a degree, Achieve Atlanta today, inspired by the power of strategic, coordinated action, and using data as the spark for change, has expanded its vision for the future to include eliminating the degree attainment gap in the city, and making Atlanta a place where race and income no longer predict postsecondary success or upward mobility.

The Work:                                                                                                    

In pursuit of its vision, Achieve Atlanta’s mission is to help APS students access, afford, and earn postsecondary credentials. To do this, Achieve Atlanta:

• partners with college advising providers with proven results to serve Atlanta Public School (APS) students while they are in high school;
• establishes strategic formal relationships with postsecondary institutions that can successfully serve APS graduates, especially those who are first-generation and who come from underrepresented populations;
• is progressing along a plan to mobilize broad community support by leveraging data to accelerate collaborations that further college access, persistence, and completion in Atlanta; and
• provides Achieve Atlanta Scholarships to students to eliminate financial barriers.

Position Overview:

The Manager, Operations and Systems plays an integral role in the effective operation of the organization with responsibility for coordinating and managing Achieve Atlanta’s organizational systems and administrative functions related to finance, human resources, and technology among other things. Reporting to the Director, Operations and Information Systems, this hybrid role combines the traditional operational functions with a forward emphasis on systems-thinking and technology integration.

Primary Responsibilities:

Technology and Systems (70%):

• Act as the technology lead in the day-to-day management of the organization’s data management system (Salesforce), document management system (Dropbox), and exploring and implementing additional enterprise software as needed.
  • Create and manage users, profiles, roles and permission sets in Salesforce.
  • Customize fields, page layouts, record types, reports and dashboards.
  • Develop reports, dashboards, and processes to continuously monitor data quality and integrity.
  • Assist in data import/export/updates and consistently strive to maintain high-quality data.
  • Provide day-to-day end-user support and assist users with best practices.
  • Maintain data and system integrity in Salesforce.
  • Create user documentation and maintain ongoing documentation processes as business needs evolve or features are added.
  • Troubleshoot user issues within Salesforce environment.
  • Troubleshoot problem areas in a timely and accurate fashion, and provide end-user assistance where required.
• Analyze existing software implementations to identify areas of improvement and collaborate in building and implementing stakeholder-centric solutions.
• Assist with imaging, troubleshooting, and maintaining PC hardware & software.

Finance and Office Operations (20%):

• Manage all internal financial processes and maintain financial records, including tracking, reviewing, and processing revenue received and coding expenditures.
• Continually evaluate and provide input on improving internal policies related to financial management.
• Manage and audit information related to federal, state and local tax filings and business registrations.
• Participate in the formulation of annual budget through meetings and discussions with the Leadership team and other team members.
• Manage all aspects of office infrastructure and operations.
• Serve as the administrative contact and liaison with the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta as well as vendors.
• Support the Director, Operations and Information Systems in financial planning, research, and modeling to drive sustainable impact across the organization.
• Support the Director, Operations and Information Systems in long-term strategic decision-making in reaching organizational goals and scaling the organization by providing research, analysis, and thought partnership.

Humans Resources (10%):

• Serve an administrative contact and liaison with the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta for human resource-related matters.
• Assist with matters pertaining to payroll audit, paid time off audit, and organizational policies.
• Conduct onboarding for new employees and set-up new hire infrastructure.
• Act as a change agent in building community and culture at the organization by facilitating process implementation, reinforcing the organization’s mission and values, and enhancing day-to-day work morale and productivity.

The Profile:

Competencies:

The ideal candidate for this position will demonstrate the following organization-wide competencies:

• Organization & Self Regulation
  • Ability to plan, organize, and prioritize workload
  • Hold self accountable for assigned responsibilities
  • See tasks through to completion in a timely manner
  • Improve methods and procedures as a means towards greater efficiency
  • Reliable (attendance, punctuality, meeting deadlines)
• Strategic Thinker
  • Ability to analyze facts, solve problems, make decisions, and demonstrate good judgement
  • Apply knowledge of how power, privilege, and identity impact how you do your work
  • Reflect, learn, and apply lessons in pursuit of Achieve Atlanta’s mission
•  Mission-Driven
  • Understand how your job contributes to the greater mission of Achieve Atlanta and perform responsibilities with that mission in mind
• Team Player
  • Seek out others’ points of view and identify common ground
  • Communicate effectively with a variety of internal and external stakeholders, including Scholars, other staff, and partners
  • Work cooperatively with teammates, partners, and Scholars to accomplish the goals of Achieve Atlanta
  • Pitch in, even if it means doing things not in the job descriptions
  • Build relationships by fostering trust, demonstrating empathy, and following through on commitments

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in one of the following: Computer Science/Computer Information Systems, Finance/Operations Management, or similar
• Minimum 1-3 years professional work experience in related technical and/or operational field with strong track record
• Strong Microsoft Office (PowerPoint, Excel) and Google apps skills
• Functional understanding of Salesforce/CRM platforms preferred

The successful candidate will reflect the following position-specific characteristics:

• Always focused on doing what’s right for our stakeholders and colleagues
• Have a willingness to take on the tough projects and challenges to support growth with a “roll-up your sleeves” mentality
• Experience in a startup or high growth environment, comfort with ambiguity, and ability to complete tasks with little oversight
• Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills, ability to apply knowledge and experience in decision-making to arrive at creative solutions
• Works effectively in an environment requiring new perspectives and creative technical and non-technical approaches with multiple competing deadlines
• Able to build and sustain effective long-term relationships and encourage a collaborative working environment with stakeholders and colleagues

Organizational Culture:

Achieve Atlanta is a values-driven organization. Each team member must ground his/her work in the following core values:   

• Unwavering Belief: Belief in what’s possible–for our students and the school community that surrounds them–is the inspiration and fuel for all we do.
• Champion for Students: Our belief is backed by action. We never give up on students and accept the charge to do whatever it takes to remove the barriers they face.
• Expectation of Excellence: We expect excellence…from ourselves and from our community of stakeholders. This expectation shapes our ambition and sets our standard for execution day in and day out.
• Intentional Collaboration: We don’t presume to have all the answers. We’re deliberate in our effort to tap the experience and knowledge of others as we work toward sustainable change.
• Continuous Innovation: We understand that to get different results we must try new things. It’s important we always remain driven, humble, and nimble enough to pursue promising ideas.