Chief Operating Officer

Little Sprouts seeks a collaborative, entrepreneurial-minded player / coach to join its leadership team as Chief Operating Officer (COO).

The COO will lead five Directors of Operations (DO) who mentor 39 school-based Executive Directors. They will help ensure safe, equitable, and engaging spaces by collaborating on building and implementing staff cost management, family enrolment, and child-outcome strategic plans.

The Head of Education, Quality Resource Manager, and Director of Quality will also report to the COO, ensuring alignment between excellence in the delivery of education and care with the support provided by well maintained and optimized schools.

The COO will partner with the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Chief People Officer (CPO), Chief Digital Officer and other company leaders to ensure performance commitments are met, to help develop and deliver strategic and tactical improvements, and scale the organization while honoring and acknowledging the unique hyperlocal aspects of each location

Reporting directly to the CEO, and headquartered in Lawrence, MA, the COO will be expected to be in the office or visiting sites regularly, while enjoying some flexibility to work from home.

Up to 50% of the COO's time will include travel to schools and manager meetings, with up to 5% international travel.

Little Sprouts being a subsidiary of the French based international Babilou Family company, the COO will also collaborate transversally and on a regular basis with the Group Head of Ops.

We seek a passionate leader to guide our team to success! Do you thrive in a fast-paced environment and possess a contagious enthusiasm?

Are you a strategic thinker who can also handle the day-to-day challenges? If so, read on.

Key Responsibilities

• Coach DOs to develop a performance management mindset and seek operational excellence within their centers. In collaboration with group Ops function build the right operational KPIs to ensure proper steering and monitoring of the activity.
• Build a strong team of DOs acting as inspirational managers and leaders towards the EDs and the rest of the educational teams.
• Build and execute exceptionally profitable operations by analyzing the level of occupancy and the weight of staff costs at the Center level to ensure predictable, repeatable, and scalable results that drive revenue growth and contain costs.
• Oversee compliance with all applicable early education legal and regulatory requirements.
• Strengthen their stellar reputation by ensuring that their services and facilities reflect leadership in nature-based learning, social-emotional learning, anti-bias early education, STEAM / STEM, and a child-led / play-based curriculum.
• Exhibit data proficiency by identifying, gathering, and reporting upon key performance indicators (KPIs) to make decisions, forecast outcomes, and make strategic recommendations grounded in facts, 2 main KPIs being the occupancy rates and the weight of staff costs out of total revenues at the Center level.
• Partner with facilities, operational, and other managerial experts across their local and global network to further evolve, develop, and publicize their schools' innovative approaches and capabilities.
• Serve as Operations Champion and move comfortably between strategic leadership and detailed execution.
• Partner with the CPO and the Head of Sales to optimize both the employee & family experiences.
• Integrate new schools and innovative products into the portfolio - brands, systems, culture, resources, and profit - through people- and process-oriented collaboration.
• Hands-on involvement with school-level technological advancements to maximize cross-functional performance and reporting.
• Foster a compassionate company culture across all locations.

Education and Certification / License Credentials

Bachelor's degree required; MBA or other relevant advanced degree preferred.

Functional Competencies

• 5 -8+ years of successful experience managing multi-site locations and cross-functional teams; multi-state experience a plus.
• Passion for management and inspiring people.
• 5+ years of leadership of a geographically-dispersed team of at least 3 direct reports.
• One with experience in a service-oriented field, including child care, hospitality, retail, and health care, ideal.
• Operational and financial management experience within a company of at least $5M in EBITDA, including a strong understanding of a P&L, budgeting, forecasting, and strategic planning.
• Track record of successfully scaling companies, programs, and projects.
• Ability to multi-task, lead others, and ability to handle multiple small and large projects at once.
• One who has developed methods to analyze cost components for improvement measurement.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook), social media platforms, Slack, Asana, Zoom, and willing to master internal enrolment, employment, and financial software.
• An exceptional writer, communicator, presenter, and networker.
• Strong presence, personality and personal credibility resulting in the ability to build trust and respect quickly - both internally and externally.

Key Qualifications

• Proven ability to lead at both strategic and tactical levels.
• Experience building and fostering a positive and collaborative work environment.
• Strong interpersonal skills with a passion for teamwork.
• Excellent problem-solving skills with a meticulous approach.
• Thrives in a fast-paced environment and manages pressure effectively.
• Strategic thinker with a focus on results and a sense of urgency.
• Entrepreneurial spirit and a "roll-up-your-sleeves" mentality.
• Strong influencing skills to secure internal resources.
• Goal-oriented with a drive for taking action and achieving results.
• Quick learner who can balance short- and long-term strategies.
• We're searching for a dynamic leader to join our team. You'll be a hands-on individual who excels at building, mentoring, and coaching high-performing teams.

As an excellent communicator and listener, you'll inspire and motivate others to achieve their full potential.

Benefits

• Health benefits are available upon start date.
• Paid week off between Christmas & New Years.
• Free Subscription to First Stop Health; receive ongoing care from doctors and prescribers through easy telehealth services.
• 75-50% off discount on your children's tuition.
• Comprehensive benefits package, including health, dental, vision, and pet insurance.
• 401k with company match.
• Tuition reimbursement.
• Career advancement and coaching.
• Additional Paid Time off and Holidays.
• Referral Program.

LI-Hybrid

$200,000 - $210,000 a year

This position qualifies for bonus eligibility.

Little Sprouts LLC is a subsidiary of Babilou Family, a global network of 1,100 early education and child care centers. Little Sprouts LLC provides award-winning early education and child care across 39 New England schools.

Through the experience and talents of nearly 900 early education professionals and in partnership with nearly 4,000 families, we are on a meaningful journey to create optimal learning spaces where children ages 0-5 can learn, grow, and thrive.

Our teams, whether at our home office or inside our schools, are change makers - they inspire, create, model, and most importantly make this a great place to work.

At Little Sprouts, LLC we are consistently recruiting, retaining, and promoting a diverse mix of colleagues who are representative of the diversity within the communities in which we operate.

Our focus on equity and inclusion allows us to develop a broader scope of ideas and approaches, offering a collaborative and dynamic educational experience for the youngest members of society.