Specialist, Real Estate

Thanks for your interest in Success Academy! Running the largest, fastest-growing, and highest-performing network of public charter schools in New York City takes a village - families, children, teachers, staff and faculty, advocates, and supporters alike. We would love to welcome you to our community! We work tirelessly every day to ensure each child in NYC has access to a fun, rigorous, whole-child education regardless of zip code or economic status. When you join SA, you play a part in giving every student who walks through the doors of one of our 59 schools in NYC a fair shot at reaching his or her potential.

The Specialist, Space Acquisition will be an essential driver of Success Academy’s long-term trajectory by supporting high-impact real estate workstreams critical to our new school growth strategy. This role sits at the intersection of high-stakes project management, detailed financial analysis, and strategic real estate planning. You will be responsible for orchestrating the complex workstreams necessary to secure and develop school sites, translating strategic vision into tangible new schools. This is the ideal role for a high-energy, analytical self-starter who thrives in a fast-paced environment, excels at solving complex problems, and is passionate about directly fueling the expansion of a mission-driven organization.

Key Responsibilities:

High-Impact Project Management & Ownership

• Drive the full project lifecycle for new school site sourcing, acquisitions and build-outs, from strategic initiation and detailed planning through execution, control, and successful closure.

• Define and secure project success by collaborating with senior leadership and cross-functional stakeholders (e.g., Legal, Finance, Operations) to clearly articulate project scope, goals, and deliverables.

• Orchestrate complex workstreams by developing, maintaining, and rigorously tracking detailed project plans, schedules, and budgets against established milestones.

• Maximize resource efficacy by allocating and managing internal team members and external third-party contractors (e.g., architects, brokers, vendors) to ensure on-time, on-budget project completion.

• Cultivate robust stakeholder relationships by managing expectations, facilitating critical decisions, and providing clear, compelling, and timely updates on project performance and risk.

Strategic Finance & Analytical Support

• Inform strategic decisions by developing, refining, and maintaining detailed financial models for budgeting, forecasting, investment analysis, and assessing the long-term viability of potential sites.

• Translate complex data into actionable strategy by synthesizing financial data, real estate research, competitive and school enrollment data into concise, executive-level memos, presentations, and frameworks that directly shape acquisition priorities.

• Ensure fiscal control over site-specific operations by updating financial models with operational and capital expenditure budgets, tracking actual expenses versus forecasts, and diligently overseeing all purchase order and invoice creation, processing, and reconciliation.

Essential Qualifications:

• Project Management Expertise: 3+ years of experience successfully leading and supporting complex, multi-stakeholder projects, ideally within real estate, construction, or a closely related field.

• Financial Acumen & Analytical Rigor: Proven ability to build, manipulate, and draw insights from detailed financial models (e.g., CAPEX/OPEX budgets, NPV analysis) to support major capital expenditure decisions.

• Superior Communication & Presence: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with a track record of effectively influencing cross-functional teams and succinctly communicating complex project and financial information to both technical and non-technical senior audiences.

• Drive & Ownership: A proactive, solutions-oriented mindset with the demonstrable ability to thrive in a demanding, fast-paced environment and independently drive large-scale, critical workstreams to completion.

Success Academy Charter Schools is an equal opportunity employer and actively encourages applications from people of all backgrounds. Compensation is competitive and commensurate with experience. Success Academy offers a full benefits program and opportunities for professional growth.

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We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our organization. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. We actively seek applications from people of all backgrounds to strengthen our community and the perspectives needed to flourish in a multicultural world. Success Academy offers a full benefits program and opportunities for professional growth.

Success Academy Charter Schools does not offer employment-based immigration sponsorship.