Job description
Why we need you
Springboard Collaborative invites experienced, high-achieving, and passionate candidates to apply for the position of Chief Product and Service Officer (CPSO). The CPSO is responsible for optimizing the value we deliver to our students, families, and partners by owning the overall design, implementation, and effectiveness of Springboard products and services. A successful candidate will have experience in managing large (20+) teams, developing and driving product/service roadmaps, and implementing high fidelity services in early education classrooms.
Springboard Collaborative closes the literacy gap by closing the gap between home and school. We coach educators and family members to help kids learn to read by 4th grade. Springboard envisions a world in which parents and teachers work together, rather than in isolation, to accelerate student learning. The CPSO supports this goal by continuous product improvement that fuels academic development and meets the evolving needs of teachers, parents, and students.
The CPSO is a member of the Springboard Leadership Team and reports to Springboard’s President. The position will lead the following teams:
- Curriculum and Instruction (evaluate, develop, integrate, and implement curricular and instructional tools as a part of an instructional framework)
- Product Engineering (develop and improve the customer-facing technology that supports Springboard programs)
- Program Operations (analyze and report on org-wide and partner-level impact, and manage program and product operations)
- Product and Program Success (service design, development, and high-impact service delivery)
- Product Lifecycle Governance (establish cross-functional ways of working to progress work through the development lifecycle, govern investment decisions and key performance indicators to ensure a good pace of execution)
This is a great opportunity to support an entrepreneurial team to maximize the impact of a rapidly growing organization. You can read more about the responsibilities, goals, competencies, and experience requirements below. We’d love to have you join us!
This is important
We are an equal opportunity employer. Diversity is more than a commitment at Springboard Collaborative—it’s at the core of what we do and how we do it. No one can solve a problem better than those who experience it firsthand. That’s why Springboard aspires to hire a diverse team that is representative of the marginalized communities we serve.
We also know that having a diverse workforce makes for a better workplace. Springboard’s hiring process seeks individuals who value diversity of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, national origin, etc.
Finally, if you’re passionate about an open role, we encourage you to apply— even if you don’t meet 100% of the qualifications listed in the job description!
Here are your goals in the first year:
- Complete the organizational, departmental, and positional onboarding process, and establish initial priorities for continuous improvement initiatives.
- Increase the percentage of students meeting assessment-based growth goals.
- Show session-over-session improvement in teacher experience/satisfaction, as measured by NPS.
- Sustain or improve upon annual family engagement statistics, as measured by workshop attendance.
- Maintain or improve upon semi-annual departmental employee engagement/satisfaction scores, and stay at or below the approved departmental budget allocations.
Here are your responsibilities within and beyond the first year:
You develop and drive the product and service strategy
- Lead the teams that research, design, build, and maintain our products and services, along with their supporting tools and enablers.
- Communicate the strategy internally to ensure that team members can see their role in that strategy.
You provide and produce curriculum and program resources
- Incorporate proven research into Springboard’s educational offerings and ensure high-quality, user-friendly resources.
- Ensure partners have all the resources and tools required to facilitate programming.
You drive better impact and experience through product and service design and continuous improvement
- Own the definition, measurement, and analysis of program impact and experience to understand current performance, inform strategy, and drive future improvement. Discover/diagnose, prioritize, and operationalize product improvements. Continuously monitor and evaluate the performance of Springboard’s product and make data-driven decisions to drive learning outcomes.
You develop and maintain customer-facing technology
- Understand and focus on technology elements most critical for driving impact, experience, and cost.
- Prioritize feature development and release to support short and long-term product objectives.
You manage team resources and budgets
- Effectively manage full-time, part-time, and contract personnel.
- Achieve positive variance on departmental budgets.
What you offer us
Here are the competencies we expect the right candidate to have:
Leadership & management: You attract, retain, and grow great talent. You optimize organizational structures and working models. You create a culture where everyone works collaboratively to deliver exceptional work. You actively observe performance to reinforce areas of strength and dissect areas that may be improved. You make specific, tactical suggestions and examples that lead to improved performance. You recognize and reward hard work and great results.
Strategic vision: You establish clear, analytical frameworks to identify and gain alignment on the greatest strategic project needs. You inspire team members to produce outcomes that align with organizational vision and strategy. You see the end result and can simply chart the path there.
Decision-making and judgment: You display balanced thinking that combines wisdom, analysis, experience, and perspective when making decisions or producing results. You make and facilitate quick decisions. You keep your teams focused on key priorities/projects and ensure their activities are focused on value generation. You know when & why to say no.
Results focus: You set reach goals and push yourself and others to reach milestones. You use data to guide decision-making effectively, and you can quickly restructure resources to achieve the best results.
Customer focus: You understand internal & external customer needs and structure your team’s work and goals to meet those needs. You work to evaluate viable options when your team cannot deliver a requested product or service, and keep customer satisfaction in mind when making decisions.
Valuing diversity, equity, and inclusion: You strive to eliminate barriers to diversity and ensure that new barriers to inclusive excellence are not built into your teams or Springboard’s offerings.
You have 3+ years of large team (20+) management experience
You have 5+ years designing scalable programs & services
You have owned the requirements for or delivery of a tech product
You have owned a strategic plan & product roadmap
It would also be nice if you had:
- Non-profit experience
- Education management/service provider experience
Things change fast, especially in rapidly scaling organizations. The ideal Chief Product Officer candidate must demonstrate flexibility and adapt to evolving needs in an entrepreneurial environment.
What we offer you
Compensation
Our compensation values: At Springboard, compensation equity is integral to the way we operate and our commitment to competitiveness, pay equity, performance-based rewards, transparent & equitable career growth, and progressive benefits.
Compensation for this role: The compensation for a candidate who meets the requirements of the position is $264,102. This position is also eligible for variable compensation (up to 20%). Springboard does not negotiate the offered salary during the offer conversation.
At Springboard, we feel it is important to take care of our employees, which is why we offer a competitive benefits package. These benefits include the following:
The usual stuff - Medical insurance with a cash stipend for those who waive Springboard coverage. Options include PPO and High Deductible/HSA.
We’ll take care of it - We fully cover your vision & dental insurance premiums, plus your short & long-term disability coverage.
Securing your future - We match up to 6% of your salary in 403(b) retirement contributions after your first twelve months at Springboard.
Paid Time Off (PTO) is important - Four weeks (20 days) annually. At Springboard, time off doesn’t need to be earned to be used. Everyone gets access to their time at the start of the calendar year.
Holidays! - All 11 federal holidays, two extra floating holidays, weekdays between December 25th - January 1st, Election Day, and your birthday!
Under the weather? - We don’t cap the number of sick days available to employees.
Paid Leave - Parental Leave (12 weeks after the first 6 months of employment). Marriage Leave (five days).
Technology - All employees receive a Springboard laptop and optional monitor. Springboard uses Google Workspace and Asana.
We are committed to your development - We provide personal & professional development funding of $2000/year.
Your wellness is a priority - Our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provides support for stress/anxiety, finance, law, family, substance abuse, grief, and more.
Transparency is key - We ensure regular opportunities to discuss individual and organizational development and our commitment to equity. Consistent and structured real-time feedback is foundational to Springboard’s culture.
Location and travel
Applications are welcome from any location within the United States. This role can be performed remotely but will require 10-20% travel, almost fully self-directed. Required travel will include quarterly leadership team and annual org-wide retreats, along with (rare) funder or partner-requested in-person meetings. Self-directed travel will include program visits and general team management needs.
Springboard requires in-person employees at a Springboard facility or participating in in-person programming or events to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 unless a medical or religious exemption is approved. Being fully vaccinated means an individual is at least two weeks past their final dose of a CDC-authorized COVID-19 vaccine regimen. As a condition of employment, newly hired employees will be asked to provide their COVID-19 vaccination status and proof of vaccination, as required.
Please note that this employer participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S.
About Springboard
Since our founding in 2012, we have grown Springboard’s reach from 40 to more than 100,000 students in over 300 Title 1 schools. Amidst rapid growth, Springboard consistently delivers best-in-class results. In schools that often struggle to get 20% of parents to show up for report card conferences, Springboard’s weekly family workshops average 88% attendance. Students average a 3-4-month reading gain during each program cycle, closing the gap to grade-level performance by about half in just five or ten weeks. Springboard’s work has been featured by Forbes, NPR, and the New York Times (twice). Nationally, Springboard Collaborative is the only organization to have cracked the code on equipping marginalized families to teach reading at home. You can learn more by watching our CEO on the main stage of ASU GSV.
