Program Operations Manager

About Maharat

Founded in 2009, Yeshivat Maharat is the first institution to ordain Orthodox women as members of the clergy. Maharat’s vision is a world in which Jewish communities are educated, dynamic and relevant, where diverse and impactful leaders inspire Jews to live spiritually engaged lives. Learn more at www.yeshivatmaharat.org.

Position Overview

The Program Operations Manager is a high-impact, newly created role designed to ensure efficiency and effectiveness across both the administrative and academic sides of Maharat.  Reporting to the EVP & Chief of Staff, this individual serves as a critical bridge between organizational leadership and the student experience, ensuring that Yeshivat Maharat’s daily operations reflect its commitment to excellence. Specifically, the Program Operations Manager owns the President’s executive administration and scheduling, manages academic operations, and serves as the primary administrative lead for student services. The Program Operations Manager eliminates operational bottlenecks, allowing the President to focus on strategic and external leadership and the faculty to focus on pedagogical rigor. They also provide general administrative support for the organization.

The successful candidate is an exceptionally organized professional who possesses the ability to pivot seamlessly between high-stakes executive support and student-facing program management. They are a proactive problem-solver who brings a "no-task-too-small" mentality to a wide-ranging portfolio of responsibilities. A highly reliable professional, they bring a unique blend of executive-level poise and operational precision, ensuring that the diverse needs of leadership, faculty, and students are met with impeccable care and consistency.

Core Responsibilities

Presidential Support & Executive Administration

• Strategic Scheduling: Manage the President’s complex and high-volume calendar, prioritizing appointments based on strategic organizational needs and ensuring the President is fully prepared for all engagements.
• Logistics & Travel: Coordinate all travel arrangements, including itineraries, transportation, and accommodations, and manage the President’s expense reporting and professional reimbursements.
• Meeting Preparation: Serve as the point of contact for the President’s internal and external meetings; prepare agendas, briefing materials, and presentations, and ensure timely follow-up on action items.
• Correspondence & Triage: Respond to emails on behalf of the President, proactively triaging requests, drafting high-level responses, and ensuring the President is only involved in communications that require their specific attention.
• Board & Governance Support: Serve as the primary administrative point of contact for the Board of Directors, coordinating Board and Committee meetings and ensuring that all board materials are produced and distributed with accuracy.
• Special Projects: Manage a variety of special projects for the President, as assigned.

Academic Operations & Student Services

• Academic Program Logistics & Implementation: Partner with academic leadership to manage the operational delivery of academic programs, including course scheduling, faculty logistics and administrative needs, material coordination, and the logistical coordination of Google Classroom.
• Registrar & Student Records: Maintain accurate student files, track progress toward ordination, and manage the registration process for core programs in our Student Information System (SIS).
• Student Services & Liaison: Serve as the primary administrative point of contact for students, responding to inquiries regarding program logistics, schedules, and student services.
• Event Management: Lead the logistical planning and execution of key academic events, including student orientation, intensives/retreats, and the annual commencement ceremony.

General Operations & Administration

• Office Management: Ensure the smooth functioning of the physical office environment, including managing vendors, ordering supplies and food, room reservations and set-ups, and maintaining organizational files.
• Process Improvement: Continuously evaluate and refine administrative systems and procedures to increase organizational efficiency and better support the student lifecycle.
• General Administrative Support: Manage the organization’s email, mail and phone by acting as the first point of contact for the phone and general email address, and checking and distributing the mail; provide administrative support for HR and finance, including collecting paperwork/receipts and managing travel.

Core Competencies

• Autonomy: Proactively manages the President’s schedule and program operations with minimal oversight; anticipates potential logistical conflicts and resolves them independently.
• Problem Solving: Identifies and implements creative solutions to operational challenges, whether resolving a scheduling conflict or streamlining the registration process.
• Project Leadership & Management: Takes full ownership of operational projects (e.g., graduation logistics) from the planning phase through to high-quality execution.
• Collaborative Influence: Builds strong working relationships with both the Senior Leadership Team and the faculty; serves as a reliable and effective conduit for information across departments.

Qualifications

• 3-5+ years of experience in high-level executive support, academic operations, or nonprofit program management.
• High proficiency in calendar management and project coordination; ability to manage multiple high-priority streams of work simultaneously.
• High proficiency in Google Workspace and experience with Learning Management Systems (LMS) or Student Information Systems (SIS).
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills; ability to handle sensitive student and organizational information with discretion and confidentiality.
• Familiarity with the Jewish community.

Compensation, Benefits and Work Location

• This position is a full-time, exempt role.
• The salary for this position starts at $75,000 based on relevant expertise and experience.
• Our total compensation package includes healthcare, 403(b), qualified tuition reimbursement, and a generous amount of paid time off.  
• This position is in person in Riverdale, NY Monday-Thursday; remote on Fridays.
• Requires work on occasional evenings and weekends.

How to apply

• Please send an email with the subject “Program Operations Manager” including resume and cover letter sharing your interest and experience.
• Frequently cited statistics show that women and underrepresented groups apply to jobs only if they think they meet 100% of the criteria. If you meet many but not all the criteria and feel you may be a good fit for the role, we encourage you to apply.
• Yeshivat Maharat is an Equal Opportunity Employer.