Director of Operations

Merit America; Washington (District of Columbia); Remote; USD 125,000 - 171,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, Dental and Vision insurance (

Flexible PTO

401(k) with Merit contribution

Home office setup stipend

Job summary

Meritus College is a nonprofit online college serving working adults and career-changers, with a focus on real-world skills and stackable credentials. The Director of Operations will connect dots across the College, build systems and processes, and ensure effective information flow as the organization scales.

The role reports to the Chief Academic Officer and works cross-functionally across Meritus College teams.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of relevant experience in operations or program management.
• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or master’s preferred for experienced candidates.
• Experience building in a 0→1 environment (startup, nonprofit, or fast-scaling org).
• Strong organizational and program management instincts.
• Excellent stakeholder management and executive communication.
• Comfort with AI and emerging technologies.

Responsibilities

• Drive cross-functional alignment and accountability across Functional Leads.
• Maintain a clear view of all College workstreams and dependencies.
• Identify blockers and escalate to leadership when needed.
• Build a strong culture among Functional Leads with trust and collaboration.
• Own operating rhythms, meetings, and workflows; design practical solutions.

Skills

10+ years exp

Bachelor's degree

MBA

0→1 environment

Executive comms

AI awareness

Education

Bachelor's degree

MBA or master's

Job description

The Organization: Meritus College

Meritus College is a new kind of not-for-profit online college, built from the ground up to meet the needs of working adults and career-changers who've been overlooked by traditional higher education. The problem is clear: only 33% of Pell grant recipients complete their degrees at two-year colleges within six years. College has become too rigid, too expensive, and too disconnected from both student realities and career outcomes. Meritus College is different. Our online, asynchronous programs and "workplace as laboratory" approach allow students to learn and apply new skills directly to their jobs, while receiving personalized support from dedicated coaches every step of the way. We focus on real-world skills and stackable credentials in high-demand fields, ensuring graduates are prepared for today's jobs and tomorrow's opportunities. Founded in 2025 with an inaugural Associate of Applied Science in Technology and Innovation degree, Meritus College is building a mainstream pathway to economic mobility—one designed not for the privileged few, but for the talented many who've too often been left behind.

The Organization: Meritus College

Meritus College is a new kind of not-for-profit online college, built from the ground up to meet the needs of working adults and career-changers who've been overlooked by traditional higher education. The problem is clear: only 33% of Pell grant recipients complete their degrees at two-year colleges within six years. College has become too rigid, too expensive, and too disconnected from both student realities and career outcomes. Meritus College is different. Our online, asynchronous programs and "workplace as laboratory" approach allow students to learn and apply new skills directly to their jobs, while receiving personalized support from dedicated coaches every step of the way. We focus on real-world skills and stackable credentials in high-demand fields, ensuring graduates are prepared for today's jobs and tomorrow's opportunities. Founded in 2025 with an inaugural Associate of Applied Science in Technology and Innovation degree, Meritus College is building a mainstream pathway to economic mobility—one designed not for the privileged few, but for the talented many who've too often been left behind.

Role Overview

The primary mission of the Director of Operations is to serve as the connective tissue of Meritus College, ensuring priorities, information, and decisions move effectively across functional areas and that teams have the clarity and infrastructure they need. As Meritus College launches and builds in real time, you will connect dots across the College, proactively identify and unblock issues, elevate issues as needed, and serve as a trusted first line of feedback and thought partnership across the organization. You will also play a critical role in building the systems, operating rhythms, and infrastructure of the College as it grows, often creating the process while simultaneously moving the work forward. This role sits at the intersection of strategy, operations, and culture, requiring exceptional resourcefulness, critical thinking, and stakeholder management skills to move fluidly between seeing the big picture, building what's missing, and driving the details forward. The Director of Operations will report directly to Melinda Day, Chief Academic Officer, and will work crossfunctionally across Meritus College teams.

Responsibilities

Cross-Functional Program Management

• Drive alignment and accountability across Functional Leads through regular status meetings, 1:1 connects, and follow-ups. Introduce and standardize practices, tools, and approaches that strengthen both execution and communications.
• Maintain a clear view across all College workstreams, connecting priorities, dependencies, decisions, and information across functional areas.
• Proactively identify and resolve blockers, working with Functional Leads and escalating issues to leadership when quick decisions or intervention are needed.
• Build a strong, supportive culture among Functional Leads, fostering trust, collaboration, shared accountability, and connection across teams.

Operations & Systems Building

• Own and continuously improve key College operating rhythms, meetings, workflows, and ways of working.
• Proactively spot gaps in systems, processes, communication, or ownership and design and implement practical solutions.
• Jump into emerging priorities and problems that don't yet have a clear owner or playbook, bringing structure and momentum to ambiguous work.

Stakeholder Communications, Change & Culture

• Own key College-wide forums, including All Hands meetings, gathering updates from Functional Leads and developing materials, and ensuring College sharebacks clearly and compellingly communicate progress and wins.
• Help shape communications and sharebacks to Merit America staff and leadership, tailoring the message, context, and level of detail for different stakeholder groups.
• Support change management and proactively build practices and rituals that strengthen communication, collaboration, accountability, recognition, and culture across the College.

Strategic Partnership

• Serve as a trusted thought partner and first line of review, pressure-testing work, providing feedback, and determining what requires senior leadership input or approval.
• Surface patterns, risks, opportunities, and organizational needs to leadership based on a close understanding of what is happening across the College.
• Develop first drafts of key narratives, presentations, and materials for College leadership across important internal and external moments.
• Partner with leadership to work through the College's stickiest problems, bringing structure, sound judgment, and a bias toward action to complex or ambiguous challenges.

Skills and Competencies

We recognize that some individuals from underrepresented backgrounds may hesitate to apply if they don't meet 100% of the listed qualifications. Please don't let that discourage you from applying! We value the unique skills, experiences, and perspectives that each applicant brings, and we encourage you to apply if you believe your background demonstrates the required skills and competencies:

Must Haves for all roles at Meritus College

• Committed to Merit America's mission to pave pathways to family-sustaining careers, break the poverty cycle, and create upward mobility for low-wage workers
• Demonstrated history of embodying our values, which inform our work and drive our organization's culture
• Shared sense of responsibility and ownership for our collective work in making a positive impact on the community we support, true to our value of Win & Lose Together
• Committed to continuous learning and growth in advancing inclusive excellence and closing gaps across lines of difference
• Passionate about fostering a workplace culture that embraces and values individual differences, aligned with our core value of inclusivity

Skills & Experience

• 10+ years of relevant experience, ideally including Chief of Staff, operations, consulting, program management, or similar roles in complex, multi-stakeholder organizations. Higher education experience is a plus, but not required!
• Education, Bachelor's degree required; an MBA or other master's degree is a plus but not required, particularly for candidates with substantial operations, or consulting experience in fast-scaling organizations
• Experience building in a 0→1 environment, including a startup, agency, nonprofit, or fast-scaling organization. A track record of creating and rolling out structure, systems, and processes.
• Highly organized with strong program management instincts, able to keep multiple interconnected workstreams moving while maintaining attention to detail and follow-through.
• Exceptional stakeholder management skills, with the judgment to navigate different perspectives, build trust, and tailor communication and approach to different audiences.
• A systems thinker and proactive problem solver, able to see around corners, connect dots, identify what's missing, and build practical solutions.
• Strong executive communication skills, able to synthesize complex information and turn it into clear, compelling narratives, presentations, recommendations, and decisions.
• High capacity and resourcefulness, comfortable moving between strategic thinking and hands-on execution. Willing to jump in wherever needed to get the work done.
• Comfort with AI and emerging technologies, with good judgment about where they can strengthen systems, workflows, and decision-making at a fast-scaling start-up college, and where they shouldn't be relied on.
• Sound judgment and executive presence, with the ability to serve as a credible thought partner to senior leaders while building strong relationships across all levels of the organization.

Other Logistics

• This position is full-time
• Location: Remote
• Salary: $148,000

We take care of our employees by providing the following perks and benefits (please note that some of the benefits do not apply to temporary employees):

• Medical, Dental and Vision insurance (100% Paid Employee Only Coverage)
• Flexible Spending Account and Health Savings Account
• Dependent care Flexible Spending Account
• Health Reimbursement Account fully funded by Merit
• Education & personal development reimbursement
• Catalog of courses for professional learning and development
• Short and long-term disability
• Flexible PTO (after a 90-day introductory period)
• Paid Parental Leave and Adoption benefits (after 1 year of employment)
• 11 federally recognized holidays
• 2 week holiday office closure in December/January
• 401(k) retirement plan with automatic Merit contribution
• Wellness Benefits/Wellness Resources
• Discount perks at work program
• Phone/technology stipend
• Home office setup stipend
• Affinity groups and community building via virtual, in-person, and/or regional meetups
• Eligibility for some benefits may vary based on employment status, full-time or part-time. Eligibility will be outlined during the hiring process.

Remote Work & Sponsorship

Candidates must reside within the 50 states or District of Columbia and have full authorization to work in the 50 U.S. states & the District of Columbia (international work abroad, including the U.S. territories (Puerto Rico, Guam, U.S. Virgin Islands, and other islands are excluded). In addition, Merit America doesn't offer employment visa sponsorship.

Equal Opportunity Statement

Building an inclusive, high-performing team that is diverse across lines of personal identity is integral to our success and we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. This means we do not discriminate against any job applicant or employee because of their race, ethnicity, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. This applies to all terms and conditions of employment. We actively strive and evolve to develop and maintain workspaces that are fully inclusive. We encourage candidates from underrepresented groups to apply. Still excited about our work? You can learn more about our work in this video we made with our founding partner, Google.

Fair Chance Ordinance

Applicants who have arrest or conviction records and are in unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County will be considered in accordance with the state's fair chance ordinance law. Employment under the ordinance includes part-time work, seasonal work, contract work, contingent work, work on commission, and work through the services of a temporary or employment agency.

E-Verify Statement

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. If E-Verify cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, this employer is required to give you written instructions and an opportunity to contact Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Social Security Administration (SSA) so you can begin to resolve the issue before the employer can take any action against you, including terminating your employment. Employers can only use E-Verify once you have accepted a job offer and completed the I-9 Form.