Manager, Middle School Programs (New York)

About BEAM

The mission of BEAM is to create pathways for students from low-income and historically marginalized communities to become scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and computer scientists. Led by staff with these same technical backgrounds, BEAM believes that pathways to STEM careers are created through community, individual support, and access to advanced work that typically lies outside most school curricula. We work to directly support students and to transition them to other supportive enrichment programs that enable their future success.

BEAM's model provides continuous support from middle school through college graduation, including intense academic summer programs for middle school students (after 6th and 7th grade), weekend classes and mentoring, and STEM-focused support through college. Our program includes not just access to learning advanced math but also support finding and applying to other opportunities, including support with college admissions and financial aid. In addition to our academic content, bringing students into community is a key part of our mission and all of our work is designed to support that goal.

BEAM has grown from a small summer program serving 17 students in the summer of 2011 to a year-round, national program, serving 420+ students at six summer program sites and 600+ students in year-round programming in New York City and Los Angeles this school year. In addition, our BEAM National pilot program now reaches over 500 elementary-aged students in seven different states, working to create a new nationwide pathway modeled on our local work.

With our recent strategic plan, our team has committed to transforming the organization from a successful startup to a more mature and scalable organization that can drive change across the country.

 

About the role

DESCRIPTION OF ROLE 

The Middle School Programs Manager is an exciting and dynamic role, directly impacting the lives of middle school students and their families as they explore mathematical reasoning and navigate pivotal academic and enrichment milestones. You’ll take the lead in recruiting students for BEAM’s impactful summer math programs, guiding 8th graders through the high school admissions process and STEM enrichment opportunities while building a supportive community where underserved, underrepresented student feel that they belong in STEM. 

As the Middle School Programs Manager, you’ll supervise a small team of Program Coordinators and lead the recruitment of 200 rising 7th graders and 80 rising 8th graders into our math enrichment summer programs, with 8th graders embarking on the life-changing Pathway Program—a 10-year journey of academic advising and personal growth. This role places you at the forefront of BEAM’s mission, driving exciting initiatives that inspire students to discover their love for STEM, engage families and educators while forging strategic partnerships with schools and educational organizations. This role also offers a unique math/STEM summer experience, either living and working at a vibrant residential camp in upstate New York (with room, board, and travel provided) or a daily summer camp in New York City. The rest of the year involves in-office collaboration 2 days a week and exciting Saturday programs (on average two Saturdays per month), where you’ll see firsthand the impact of your work as students thrive.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES: 

Team Leadership and Staff Management (30%)

• Lead the Middle School Programs team by developing relationships based on trust and growth mindset in which coaching can flourish. 
• Act as project manager for key team initiatives to ensure successful execution with a goal oriented approach.
• Promote a nurturing and positive work environment to foster respectful working relationships among staff and students, encouraging a culture of inclusivity and teamwork
• Coordinate activities with other Program Managers to ensure work is aligned.
• In collaboration with the NY Programs Director:
• Assign staff responsibilities, develop workflows, and supervise the execution of all required program projects and tasks as needed.
• Collaborate with Human Resources to recruit, hire, train, and supervise staff, setting priorities, guiding and keeping staff accountable for their job performance.
• Cultivate staff career development to meet the program's needs including short/long term goals.
• In collaboration with the NY Programs Director and other Central teams support the hiring and training of Saturday and Summer part time staff including observing, providing feedback and coaching part time teachers.

Program and Project Management (35%)

• Establish and maintain cross departmental strong partnerships with Advancement, Business Operations, Program Design, Central Services, Learning & Evaluation, Math & Pedagogy, and Los Angeles Programs to ensure that program activities align with our students’ needs and program goals.
• Contribute toward the design, implementation, documentation and evaluation of new policies, procedures, and resources as needed.
• Ensure the program is implemented with outstanding quality and with fidelity to BEAM's model and processes.
• Develop and maintain relationships with schools and other local stakeholders within the community to further collaborative initiatives in support of BEAM’s mission.
• Develop and lead the implementation of a strategy to fully enroll all summer program sites with strong match students by securing partner schools and other student recruitment strategies.
• Lead the implementation of a strategy to improve student retention from Summer Away Camp to the end of 8th grade.
• Lead  advising initiatives within a cohort of students and their families on best practices around school academic success, pathway to calculus, applying to a strong match High School and external summer STEM enrichment opportunities.
• Collaborate with the High School Programs team to transition rising 9th grade students so that they continue to be engaged in BEAM’s Pathway Program in High School. 
• Track Program metrics and propose initiatives that lead to the achievement of goals.
• Lead and support Coordinators under your supervision in planning educational and community building events for students and families.

Summer Camp Leadership (35%)

• Work in collaboration with the BEAM Central teams to support the creation and/or improvement of processes, documentation and training materials for Summer Camp.
• Prepare for Summer Camp and support Program Coordinators and part time staff in preparing. This includes but is not limited to ensuring logistical tasks are completed in a timely manner, attending and/or creating and leading professional development training. 
• Act as part of the leadership team for one of the BEAM Summer camps: 
• BEAM Discovery, our five week day program for rising 7th graders in New York City OR 
• BEAM Summer Away, our 3 week Upstate New York live on campus program (3 weeks of camp for working with students, plus days before and after camp, working with staff).
• Oversee the site program leadership team and staff, including conducting evaluations and making rehire decisions. 
• Ensure the smooth implementation of program procedures by leading and/or supporting professional development sessions to staff and proactively addressing any issues that arise to maintain seamless operations.
• Guide messaging to students, families, and staff by presenting info sessions before camp, presiding over assemblies and staff meetings, communication with  families, and additional support as needed.
• Lead with empathy and mediate conflicts at the site, including escalated or sensitive student situations and/or interpersonal conflicts between staff members
• Lead post-camp discussion for your site to collect feedback to inform recommendations for strategic improvements to the program, and complete other program wrap-up tasks.
• Collaborate with other program and site leaders to identify trends across sites.

 

QUALIFICATIONS

We understand that there are many paths to acquiring experience and therefore welcome candidates from diverse and nontraditional backgrounds for this role who have demonstrated equivalent transferable skills to carry out the major duties outlined in this job description.

• Passion for BEAM’s mission and a passion for math and/or STEM.
• Excellent communication skills (including verbal and written), with a high comfort in public speaking and an ability to tailor clear communication to multiple audiences.
• At least 2 years of teaching STEM or equivalent STEM related career experience.
• At least 4 years of experience working on a team to support middle and/or high school students from historically marginalized backgrounds including especially Black, Latinx, and first generation students.
• At least 2 years of experience managing teams or coaching adults.
• Experience training and managing a diverse team, inspiring strong performance and professional growth.
• Experience building strong relationships with students, families and schools by presenting a positive, inspiring, and growth-oriented message.
• A strong data-driven and collaborative mindset; eager to work in consultation with others and coordinate across teams, efficiently and effectively.
• Attention to detail, strong organization skills, and the ability to manage multiple deadlines.
• Strategic thinker that is able to “see the big picture” and propose initiatives that will drive results while also paying attention to details.
• Proactive and in-the-moment problem solving skills and comfort in a fast-paced environment.

Significant pluses may include:

• Fluency in Spanish (verbal/written).
• Prior experience with program admissions processes, New York City High School Admissions and/or STEM enrichment Programs.
• Prior experience leading a Summer camp for Middle school students.
• Salesforce/CRM data management experience 
• High comfort in working with spreadsheets and data.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

Must be able to perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation

• General Requirements
  
  • Standing - frequently (25-50%)
  • Sitting - constantly (50%+)
  • Walking - frequently (25-50%) 
  • Bending - frequently (25-50%) 
  • Climbing - occasionally (0-25%)
  • Stooping - occasionally (0-25%) 
• Strength Requirements
  
  • Lifting or carrying - up to 10 lbs - occasionally (0-25%) 
• Repetitive Movements
  
  • Typing - constantly (50%+)
  • Reaching - occasionally (0-25%) 
  • Grasping - occasionally (0-25%) 
  • Overhead - occasionally (0-25%) 
• Physical Environment
  • Exposure to weather
  • Work in confined spaces
  • Moderate noise level

APPLICATION PROCESS

Our process, as described below, has approximately four stages and we anticipate the process lasting about 4-6 weeks in total with someone starting in the role as soon as possible, although we are flexible with the specific date. 

The initial step is to submit your application, including resumé and responses to a few short application questions, via our online portal. When your application is complete, we will follow up with next steps.

Next steps in our process will include a short 30-minute phone interview and/or sample projects so we can get to know you and you can show us your work. We believe in the importance of demonstrated ability and providing opportunities that allow candidates to demonstrate relevant skills for the role throughout our process. The final step of our process is a final interview with the team. 

We will review applications on a rolling basis until the position is filled.

 

SALARY, BENEFITS, AND OTHER DETAILS

The salary range for this position is $60,000 to $75,000 per year. This is a good faith anticipated range of the job, but the actual pay will be based on any applicant’s skill and experience. 

BEAM provides a number of benefits including:

• Flexible working hours
• Health, dental and vision benefits including health plan options that are free for individuals
• 12 paid holidays including an office closure between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day
• 15 days of paid annual leave to start, and will increase by one day for each year worked for your first 5 years of employment
• Paid sick leave
• 403(b) Retirement Plan
• Student loan reimbursement
• Pre-tax commuter benefits

Work Location/Schedule

• Monday-Friday,  10 am to 6 pm;  2 Saturdays per month (September to May). 
• Flexible hours are available most days
• Occasional evening work to accommodate families’ schedules may be necessary with working hours potentially shifting to 11:30am to 7:30pm 1-2 days per week.
• A regular week involves a total of 37.5 hours of work.
• Note: During the summer, depending on the Summer Camp type, weekend and evenings work for up to 4 weeks might be required.

COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION

BEAM believes that our staff, at all levels and across all roles, should represent the backgrounds of the students we serve. We are committed to creating a supportive and inclusive environment. Beyond a commitment to nondiscrimination, we strongly encourage applications from underrepresented and marginalized communities.

 

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY 

BEAM is an equal opportunity employer and does not unlawfully discriminate against employees or applicants for employment on the basis of an individual’s race (including traits historically associated with race (including, but not limited to, hair texture and protected hairstyles, such as braids, locks and twists), ethnicity, religion (including clothing or facial hair worn in accordance with the religious tenets), color, sex, pregnancy, childbirth and related medical conditions, breastfeeding, gender (including actual or perceived sex, gender identity, and gender expression including a person’s actual or perceived gender-related self-image, appearance, behavior, expression, or other gender-related characteristic, regardless of the sex assigned to that person at birth), sexual orientation, sexual and reproductive health decisions, national origin, immigration or citizenship status, status as a veteran, active military service member, or uniform service member, marital or partnership status, familial status, caregiver status, age (18 or older), predisposing genetic characteristics, disability, creed, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual violence or stalking, unemployment status, credit history, an individual’s status as having a known relationship or association with a member or members of a protected category, or any other protected status in accordance with all applicable federal, state, and local laws. This policy applies to all terms, conditions, and privileges of employment, including recruitment, hiring, placement, compensation, promotion, discipline, and termination. 

All personnel decisions will be made in accordance with the principles of equal employment opportunity and subject only to valid (job-related) requirements for employment, benefits, or promotional opportunities.