The Black Men Teach Mission is to recruit, prepare, place, and retain Black male teachers in elementary schools. 

The Black Men Teach Vision is a community in which all students have the opportunity to attend schools staffed with racially and culturally diverse teachers and leaders, reflecting the students’ race, ethnicity and cultures, creating an environment that affirms students for who they are.  

Minnesota’s education system is a paradox. Minnesota is considered to have one of the best public education systems in the country, but at the same time it is one of the most inequitable. The graduation rate for Black high school students in Minnesota ranks 50th among 50 states. Minnesota has the second largest Black-White education achievement gap in the nation, and Black students are suspended or expelled at eight times the rate of their White counterparts. 

Research and experience reveal that a diverse teacher corps improves student outcomes for all children, especially children of color. For example, Black boys in elementary school who have just one Black male teacher are 29% less likely to drop out of school. Those who have two Black male teachers are 32% more likely to enroll in post-secondary education. Black Men Teach focuses on closing the teacher gap and is seeking to do this by building a robust pipeline that recruits, develops, supports, and helps retain Black men in elementary classrooms. Within six years, the organization is committed to seeing 20% of the teacher pool in its partner schools as Black men.

Position Purpose:

Black Men Teach is seeking a strategic, mission-driven, and execution-oriented Chief Operating Officer (COO) to lead the operational excellence and organizational effectiveness of the organization. The COO will oversee systems, processes, and people to ensure Black Men Teach operates with clarity, alignment, and efficiency as it scales its impact. This leader will translate vision into action, driving strong cross-functional collaboration, strengthening infrastructure, and ensuring the organization has the capacity and stability to make an excellent education a reality for all kids in Minnesota.

Principal Responsibilities:

This role is approximately:

• 80% Internal Leadership & Integration: Operations, data management, people and program oversight, and systems alignment.
• 20% External Partnerships & Strategic Collaboration: Representing BMT with partners, funders, and community organizations as needed.

How You’ll Spend Your Time (not limited to the following):

1. Organizational Operations & Systems Lead day-to-day operations, ensuring clarity, accountability, and seamless cross-functional execution.

• Implement and refine operational systems, workflows, and decision-making processes.
• Manage internal communications, documentation, and knowledge management systems.
• Develop and track organizational performance dashboards aligned to BMT’s strategic goals.
• Ensure sound financial management, regulatory compliance, and responsible stewardship of the organization’s resources.

2. Program Strategy & Implementation

• Manage and support the lead of the program team to ensure that the goals, milestones, and success indicators are clear and in alignment with the organizational objectives.
• Build processes that enhance program fidelity, evaluation, and growth.
• Ensure strong integration between program, data, and operational functions.

3. Data & Impact 

• Develop and manage BMT’s data strategy, including systems for tracking key performance indicators, fellow outcomes, and organizational metrics.
• Ensure data integrity and compliance across all systems and platforms.
• Partner with the CEO and program leads to use data for continuous improvement and decision-making.

4. People, Culture & Talent Systems 

• Build equitable systems for recruitment, onboarding, evaluation, and growth.
• Partner with HR and Talent to strengthen organizational culture and accountability.
• Ensure clarity of roles, responsibilities, and performance standards.
• Model inclusive, mission-centered leadership that fosters trust and belonging.

5. Finance and Accounting Oversight

• Oversee all financial aspects such as budgeting, forecasting, accounting, financial reporting, and tax compliance.
• Analyze financial data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities and provide strategic recommendations to maximize financial health and profitability.
• Lead the development of financial reports and metrics to support profitability analysis and financial planning.
• Work closely with director of finance (internal or outsourced) to align operational financial management with overall strategy.

6. Strategic Planning & CEO Partnership 

• Translate the CEO’s vision into actionable plans and measurable results.
• Serve as a thought partner and proxy to the CEO on key initiatives and decisions.
• Drive leadership team meetings and ensure follow-through on priorities.
• Support financial management, resource planning, and grant compliance.

About you: 

• Operational Excellence: You design systems and structures that improve efficiency and performance.
• Data-Informed Leadership: You understand how to turn data into actionable insight and continuous improvement.
• Program Oversight: You balance big-picture vision with the details of implementation.
• Strategic Agility: You connect vision to execution with clarity, prioritization, and flexibility.
• Equity & Inclusion: You lead with a commitment to fairness, belonging, and cultural authenticity.
• Collaborative Leadership: You bring people together, navigate tension productively, and drive accountability with care.
• Entrepreneurial: You will be the first person to ever hold this role; you have to be willing to embrace ambiguity and have the ability to do what it takes to get things done.  

What skills and experience do you NEED?

• Attention to Detail: Ability to ensure accuracy through demonstrating a thorough concern for all areas involved, checking work or information, while organizing time and resources efficiently.
• Collaboration: Ability to identify partners and work with others to accomplish goals or solve problems. Ability to bring others along and influence to drive work forward to achieve goals.
• Comfort in Ambiguity: Experience working without all the information and being able to drive clarity with partners or resources to move work forward; proven experience navigating in the gray
• Communication: Ability to build internal and/or external partnerships. Ability to drive awareness or change with a diverse audience through various communication vehicles. Ability to present ideas to all levels of the organization.
• Consulting: Ability to partner with stakeholders at varying levels to understand needs/opportunities, develop strategic solutions, and implement. Ability to ask questions to ensure understanding of nuances or key business needs.
• Critical Thinking: Ability to proactively connect and evaluate ideas using facts and data; identifying themes in service to prioritizing problems to solve. Ability to develop recommendations or solutions that fit within the strategy and goals.
• Project Management: Ability to manage multiple priorities, tight deadlines, and special projects with minimal direction. Ability to interact with and manage stakeholders in varying roles and levels. 

What skills and experience will you GAIN?

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Experience partnering across the organization to support and advance the work of the work. Work with multiple partners from our collective impact coalition as well to align strategies.
• Cross-Functional Project Management: Experience scoping, defining, prioritizing, and managing multiple priorities. Experience leading the management of all project documentation and providing regular updates to cross-functional partners and leadership. Ability to deliver projects on time and on budget.
• Long Range and Short-Term Strategy Planning: Build knowledge and experience of the strategic planning  to drive the growth and sustainability of the organization.
• Navigate Ambiguity: Ability to self-direct and manage several complex bodies of work at the same time with degrees of variation. Experience navigating interactions and work with incomplete information and shifting circumstances.
• An opportunity to work on highly impactful and fulfilling work!

Salary & Benefits:

The salary range for this position is $120,000- $160,000 based on qualifications and experience. Black Men Teach also provides a comprehensive benefits package that includes:

• Reimbursement for a portion of your health care insurance premium.
• 401k plan with company match.
• Paid time off (PTO) which will accrue at the rate of 15 days per year.
• Nine paid holidays per year: New Year’s Day, MLK Day, Good Friday or other religious holiday your choice, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and Juneteenth

Deadline: The job will remain open until filled 

Black Men Teach is an equal opportunity employer. We strongly encourage applications from diverse candidates. All decisions regarding recruiting and hiring will be made without unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, age, pregnancy, disability, work-related injury, covered veteran status, political ideology, genetic information, marital status, or any other factor that the law protects from employment discrimination.