Head of Programs

at  National Math Stars

Role: Head of Programs
Reports to: CEO
Salary: $150-175K
Status: Full-time
Location: Remote (approximately 25% travel)
Who We Are: National Math Stars ensures mathematically extraordinary students from all communities have the resources they need to reach the frontiers of math and science. Once a student becomes a National Math Star, we work closely with them and their families over a 10-year journey, from elementary through high school, to provide them with extraordinary scholarships, individualized guidance, and mentoring to achieve exceptional outcomes. We currently serve 71 students and are in the process of recruiting our third cohort, of 100 additional Stars, from across six states.
Role Overview: The Head of Programs leads the strategic design and implementation of our Stars program, ensuring exceptional experiences for National Math Stars families. In this role, you will lead our growing Programs Team in supporting our Stars’ current needs, while charting a vision for how our program can evolve to meet their future needs. You will be joining the team during a period of rapid growth, so an important part of your role will be building processes and systems to ensure visibility and consistency. You will plan and manage a budget of increasing size and complexity each year. As a part of National Math Stars’ Leadership Team, you will also play a key role in organizational strategy-setting.
Our preferred start date for this role is early to mid-April, though we have flexibility for the right candidate. This is a remote position with estimated 25% travel for team meetings, conferences, program events, and in-person family visits.

WORKING WITH ECOSYSTEM PARTNERS TO UNLOCK STAR EXPERIENCES

• Maintain a deep understanding of the ecosystem of STEM opportunities available to our Stars through desktop research, conversations with program leaders, and site visits
• Manage existing connections and develop new connections with course providers, clubs, camps, and other STEM organizations to ensure they understand and welcome our Stars
• Build data pipelines with key partners to ensure we have a full picture of Star progress
• Monitor our families’ experiences with different STEM opportunities and develop perspectives / recommendations to guide matching Stars to the right opportunities

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE:

• Excitement for our mission and goals
• Deep empathy and ability to develop trust with students and families from diverse backgrounds and experiences
• Ability to hire and lead a highly effective team across multiple functional specialties
• Entrepreneurial drive to build new programs, processes, and structures from scratch
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• High level of autonomy and relentless drive to get things done
• Familiarity with building and managing budgets of >$1M
• Ability to gather and interpret quantitative and qualitative data (including through experimentation), and to use that data to inform decision-making
• Understanding of the advanced math / STEM enrichment space (previous experience with STEM enrichment is a plus but not required; advanced math degree a plus but not required)
• Understanding of the needs of highly gifted children and their families (previous experience working with gifted students is a plus but not required)
  We know that many strong candidates may not check all of these boxes. If the role seems like a good match for your personal mission and experience, we encourage you to apply even if you meet only some of these criteria.
  We value and encourage diversity and solicit applications from all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, gender, sex, age, religion, creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, marital status, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, medical condition, veteran status, gender identity, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law

The Head of Programs’ key responsibilities fall under the following categories: