About Junior Achievement of Georgia

Junior Achievement of Georgia’s (JA) mission is to inspire and prepare young people to succeed in a global economy. By bridging the business and education communities with hands-on experiential programs focused on business, entrepreneurship, civic responsibility, career-readiness, and financial literacy, JA aims to achieve the following overarching goals:

• To motivate, engage and inspire students to recognize the value and relevance of education, and to make informed decisions about their own personal education and career pathways.

• To equip students with the key career-readiness skills that will drive success in any environment, and to invigorate innovative, creative, and entrepreneurial thinking among our youth.

• To develop a financially literate generation who understands key business principles and makes responsible personal financial management decisions.

• To increase student understanding and appreciation of their civic rights, roles, and responsibilities.

JA of Georgia is the local affiliate of JA USA, the nations’ oldest and largest economic education organization with over 100 years of experience. The organization has office and program locations in Atlanta, Lawrenceville, Cumming, Dalton, Savannah, and Augusta.

JA of Georgia focuses on high-impact programs that drive long-term outcomes in areas of financial literacy, career readiness, and fostering the entrepreneurial spirit. The JA Discovery Center – Savannah is a 25,000 sq. ft. facility that serves 15,000+ local middle school students annually with two high impact capstone programs that combine in-class curriculum with a culminating simulation visit at the facility.

Position Description:

The Director of JA Discovery Center Experience - Savannah should be an adaptive and dynamic people leader with the ability to manage and lead a talented and passionate team of professionals to drive the mission of JA. This role will be responsible for leading the local cross collaborative JADC Experience Team of 5-10 individuals through overseeing the coordination of all onsite operational and programmatic implementation, ensuring a high standard of quality assurance and program fidelity for the JA Discovery Center. The Director will set the tone for building and maintaining on-site team culture and oversees the experience of all stakeholders who enter the space. The Director of JA Discovery Center Experience will lead and oversee strategic partnerships with participating schools and school district constituents.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Promote onsite student engagement and learning within the JA BizTown and JA Finance Park program simulations, serving up to 300 students each day.

• Develop annual plans to achieve program goals including critical benchmarks to monitor progress and effectively communicate specific goals to team members.

• Drive continual improvement process relying on data and observation to inform innovation and collaborating with team members cross-functionally to implement identified changes.

• Works with Education Manager to develop and deliver partnership presentations to new districts, schools, and prospective teachers.

• Evaluate program quality with an emphasis on program quality and model fidelity.

• Build and maintain an environment that promotes positivity, inclusivity, and trustworthiness.

• Effectively collaborate with other functional teams within JA.

• Establish and document best practices and standard operating procedures to ensure consistency of program quality on a day-to-day basis and operational alignment with other JA Discovery Center sites.

Program Sustainability

• Hire, train, manage and develop up to (10) full-time and part-time staff in alignment with organizational values and competencies, including staff scheduling to ensure facility coverage.

• Interface with and manage relationships with school districts and community resources.

• Serve as a JA representative throughout the community through participation in community events and organizations.

• Engage internal team members and stakeholders to gather feedback on curriculum design.

• Ensure the security of facility and safety of all guests onsite at all times.

• Maximize capacity and utilization of facility considering all relevant operational inputs (e.g. calendar, staffing, technology, maintenance, etc.).

• Maintain all physical assets (facility, technology, etc.) of JA Discovery Center, including custodial and repairs.

• Oversee inventory management of program materials and office supplies.

• Manage purchasing for key budget lines and monitor overall budget for facility.

• Coordinate with partners/vendors to ensure deliverables (lunch, takeaways, simulation materials, etc.) are provided for all program participants.

Constituent Experience

• Deliver a best-in-class experience for every student, volunteer, educator, and guest that visits the JA Discovery Center.

• Activate and steward partner brands within the JA Discovery Center to provide a strong return on investment.

• Foster a culture of stewardship and excellence by evaluating current processes and data and anticipating constituent needs and wants; build strong working relationships with peers and colleagues.

• Apply strong analytical skills to successfully develop a dashboard to give visibility into key metrics and performance measurement.

Qualifications: Education & Experience

• 5+ years of management experience,

• Candidates of all degree and academic certification levels will be considered.

• Ability to create strategies to balance short-term requirements with long-range business plans; strong technology skills; ability to build and sustain relationships, excellence in customer stewardship.

• Excellent communication skills, decisive and confident, facilitation, coaching and/or training experience; exhibited program and project management skills.

• Experience with data collecting and analyzing trends to improve performance of Discovery Center Works well in a team environment.

• Strong organization and problem-solving skills.

Core Competencies:

• Influence Others: Provide sound rationale for recommendations; Generate enthusiasm for ideas by tapping into shared values; Promote own positions and ideas with confidence and enthusiasm even in the face of resistance.

• Build Relationships: Adjust interpersonal style to a variety of people and situations; Cultivate networks with people across a variety of functions within and outside the organization.

• Support Business Strategy: Demonstrate an understanding of JA's mission, vision, and overall strategies; align own activities with organization's goals and strategies.

• Drive for Results: Consistently achieve work objectives; Readily put in time and effort required to achieve goals; Work to resolve routine and unexpected problems.

• Demonstrate Adaptability & Resourcefulness: Overcome obstacles and constraints without becoming discouraged; Maintain a positive outlook and sense of humor in difficult situations.

• Make Sound Decisions: Identify novel solutions to old problems; Come up with new ways of looking at problems, processes, or solutions; Define reasonable alternatives; Focus on important information without getting bogged down in unnecessary detail.

Salary:

Commensurate with experience. JA also offers a full benefits package.

This position description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee occupying this position. Employees will be required to follow any other job-related duties required by their supervisor. This document does not create an employment contract implied or otherwise, other than an "at-will" relationship.