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POSITION DESCRIPTION:

Job Title: Operations Associate
Reports To: Executive Director; Cleveland
Position Type: Exempt
Schedule: Full-Time
Location: Cleveland, OH Office

Click Here to Apply

The Organization

Nick and Lorie Howley formed The Howley Foundation in 2001, with the intent of helping students, ALL students, regardless of economic means, receive the best education possible. The Howleys firmly believe that education is one of the most important catalysts to promoting positive change in individuals and society as a whole.

Starting with one student scholarship in a local Cleveland Catholic high school, they have grown the Foundation and the Howley Scholars Program to provide meaningful tuition assistance in 2023 to over 900 scholarship students in Cleveland and Philadelphia, as well as in other high schools and colleges around the United States.

Historically, tuition assistance by The Howley Foundation has been provided primarily for high schools. However, in recent years it has been expanded to include scholarship support and selected program assistance at three major levels of education.

In 2023, the Foundation awarded over $20 million in grants. We anticipate this will grow steadily. The Howley Foundation is currently a 4-member staff. Two executive directors are responsible for grantmaking and operations and finance is managed by a 2-person team. The Foundation’s CEO/Trustee oversees the Executive Directors. Operations falls under executive leadership and includes office support, contract and vendor management, information technology support including website management, communications, special projects, and oversight of the scholarship programs.

Position Summary

The Operations Associate will handle administrative, scholarship, and operations project support duties while providing direct administrative support to executive leadership. This is a multi-functional and task position that supports traditional administrative duties as well as expanded responsibilities. The Operations Associate is responsible for providing highly professional executive assistance in a one-on-one relationship to the Foundation’s CEO and Executive Directors. The Operations Associate also serves as a liaison to the Board of Directors. The Operations Associate must be creative and enjoy working within a small, mission and results-driven organization.

The ideal individual will have the ability to exercise good judgment in a variety of situations, with strong written and verbal communication, administrative, and organizational skills, and the ability to maintain a realistic balance among multiple priorities. The Operations Associate will have the ability to work independently on projects and must be able to work under pressure at times to handle a wide variety of activities and confidential matters with discretion. They should be collaborative, flexible, and open to change. The position involves some direct contact with school representatives. The Operations Associate should be excited to work with and learn from multiple team members to coordinate certain activities across the organization as well as manage initiatives that improve the efficiency of the organization.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Administrative Support
• Completes a broad variety of administrative tasks for the CEO and Executive Directors, including composing and preparing correspondence that is sometimes confidential; arranging detailed travel plans, itineraries, and agendas; and compiling documents for meetings.
• Provides “gatekeeper” and “gateway” roles, for direct access to the Executives’ time and office.
• Researches, prioritizes, and follows up on incoming issues and concerns addressed to executives, including those of a sensitive or confidential nature. Determines appropriate course of action, referral, or response.
• Provides overall board member and meeting support to include but not limited to board meeting notifications, attendance, agenda, materials, technology support, food, and room preparation. Handles board meeting follow ups and communication.
• Supports executive officers in managing relationships, service, contracts, and price negotiation with vendors.
• Participates in event planning and execution and handles board member attendance for external events and school visits.
• Assists with internal and external communication as directed.
• Assists with filing and database entry and maintenance, filing practices, and records retention schedule.
• Supports workflow processes, standardizing, efficiencies, and internal process improvements.
• Assists with general office operations and assists with special projects and additional duties as required.

Operations Support – General
• Prioritizes conflicting needs; handles matters expeditiously, proactively, and follows-through on projects to successful completion, often with deadline pressures.
• Supports projects from requirements definition through deployment, identifying schedules, scopes, budget estimations, and implementation plans, including risk mitigation.
• Conducts research and analysis to provide significant content and administrative support to the team.
• Manages the grantmaking software system (Foundant) and assists school representatives navigating the system.

Technology and Website Support
• Serves as liaison with third party managed services provider and assists in technology implementations.
• Serves as a first line help desk support to colleagues to trouble shoot hardware and software issues, provide basic training support, and advance new ways to incorporate technological efficiencies.
• Acts as technical, creative, and administrative support for presentation development, when needed.
• Responsible for the support and maintenance of audio/visual systems throughout office.
• Maintains the website and provides ideas for development. Assists with social media strategy.

Scholarship Support
• Maintains scholarship database and multitude of scholarship data spreadsheets. Completes updates throughout the year as necessary.
• Processes scholarship applications, generates notification letters/packets, and provides other administrative support.
• Compiles year end scholarship statistics; all scholarship program retention charts, and surveys.
• Provides administrative and project management support to scholarship program as required.

QUALIFICATIONS:
• Bachelor’s degree strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated commitment to mission.
• Demonstrated ability to support executive management and partner effectively with executive leadership.
• Strong project planning and management skills. Strong relationship management skills.
• Demonstrated growth mindset, takes ownership of mistakes, welcomes coaching and constructive feedback, and works toward improvement.
• Strong time management skills; highly organized, and detail oriented. Strong analytical and problem-solving skills. Track record of achieving results and handling multiple priorities.
• Intellectual curiosity. Respects traditions and existing approaches while offering new ideas and suggestions for improvement.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong Experience with Microsoft Office including Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint.
• Familiarity with WordPress and social media strategies.