Senior Program Manager, Operations

Department/Division: Institute for Capacity Building (ICB)

Location(s):                 Atlanta, GA

Job Description 

The Operations Manager will provide operational, financial, and administrative support to the UNCF Institute for Capacity Building management team. In this role, the Operations Manager will assist with the establishment, oversight, and engagement with various programmatic, operational, and learning activities across the UNCF network of partnering institutions. The successful candidate will be required to assist and manage cross-functional projects, system implementations, vendor management, invoice processing, grant management, event planning, budget management, scheduling appointments, maintaining office supplies, computers, office equipment, and other administrative duties as assigned.

This position will require an individual that is collaborative, detail oriented, organized, analytical, and entrepreneurial. The individual selected for this position must possess a deep understanding of higher education, curriculum design, and professional development programming and Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

About UNCF  

The United Negro College Fund (UNCF), the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization, has been an engine of minority educational achievement for more than 70 years. UNCF’s mission is to build a robust and nationally recognized pipeline of black students who, because of UNCF support, become highly qualified college graduates. In addition, UNCF ensures that its member institutions remain respected models of best practices in moving students to and through college. Since its inception in 1944, UNCF has raised over $4.5 billion in private support, distributed more scholarships to help minorities attend school than any entity outside of the federal government, and enabled more than 425,000 minority and low-income students to graduate from UNCF’s member historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) and launch professional careers. UNCF is committed to closing the educational attainment gap between African Americans and other populations by increasing postsecondary access and success for students from underrepresented groups, particularly low-income and first-generation students.

About ICB  

Launched in 2006, UNCF’s Institute for Capacity Building (ICB) provides targeted capacity-building resources to help HBCUs improve their resilience. We define resilience as the institution’s ability to improve its operation today and future-proof them for tomorrow. ICB’s engagement equips UNCF member institutions, and other HBCUs and PBIs, to provide high-quality educational experiences to their students and the broader Black community. ICB’s work focuses on three areas critical to HBCU success: institutional effectiveness, academic competitiveness, and financial viability. Beyond our strategic advisory and project management support, ICB serves as an innovation hub for Black colleges, connecting institutions to funders, best practices, resources, and subject matter experts both within and outside of UNCF.

Successful candidates will join the Institute for Capacity Building team which is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. In addition to specific roles and responsibilities, ICB team members have proven to be successful when they:

• Are driven to serve people and institutions that are often undervalued and overlooked;
• Embrace collaboration as a critical value to ensure effective teamwork and adoption of best practices;
• Seek out opportunities to innovate and improve upon conventional practices and procedures;
• Take personal responsibility for executing key projects and developing relationships; and
• Operate with a sense of mission and purpose.

Primary Responsibilities and Duties

The Senior Program Manager, Operations will be responsible for:

• Support the Director with the overall Grants Management Administration for the ICB portfolio, ensuring financial objectives are met by preparing the annual budget for various grants, planning the expenditures, and conducting necessary corrections that may arise.
• Assist the Director with Policy and Budget Management
• Primary point of contact for Asset Management and procurement
• In collaboration with the Director and other stakeholders, provide oversight for third party vendor management, including contract agreements.
• Assist with the enhancement of financial systems, CRM software (i.e., Salesforce) implementation and other required software platforms.
• Active participant in managing all aspects in planning and the execution of ICB events, including UNITE.
• Develop and maintain various policies and procedures within ICB.
• Performance Management and oversight for the Program Coordinators – Operations
• Review and standardize the onboarding and offboarding policies and procedures for ICB.
• Assist in training new hires and interns.
• Generate memos, emails, and reports when appropriate.
• Respond to inquiries and requests for information.
• Serve as the liaison between administrative personnel and senior management, communicating needs and concerns so they can resolved expeditiously.
• Partner with HR, IT, and other key stakeholders to maintain office policies, as necessary.
• Coordinate with IT department on all office equipment
• Manage relationships with vendors, service providers and accounting department, ensuring that all items are invoiced and paid on time.
• Coordinate office staff activities to ensure maximum efficiency
• Remain updated on technical and professional knowledge by attending educational workshops, joining professional associations, building networks with fellow professionals, and reviewing industry publications.