People Operations Manager

Remote - Chicago, IL

Who We Are: The Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA)

Hello, World! CSTA is a non-profit membership organization that supports and promotes the teaching of computer science, providing opportunities for K–12 teachers and their students to better understand computer science and to more successfully prepare themselves to teach and learn. We are fully remote with engaged teammates spread from California to Massachusetts and we blend our collective experience gained from our past roles in non-profits, K-12 schools, higher education, and hospitality to create high-quality teaching and learning experiences for teachers worldwide.

Who We Are Looking For: A People-first HR leader who is Empathetic and Adaptable

CSTA is looking for our first People Operations Manager! As our ideal candidate for this role, you are passionate about creating and sustaining an exceptional employee experience. You balance strong business and organizational acumen with being a thoughtful, empathetic partner to the team.  You are a strong communicator who maintains a high degree of confidentiality and builds and maintains trust to foster a positive, inclusive culture. You value DEI efforts and have a history of championing and implementing programs and policies that prioritize employee performance and well-being.  

How You’ll Contribute: Essential Duties and Responsibilities 

As People Operations Manager at CSTA, you will play a critical role in implementing and managing people programs and strategies that support and develop our team and culture. You will positively impact CSTA by reinforcing and strengthening our values, and ensuring consistent delivery of inclusive and equitable processes and practices. Under the guidance of the CFOO, you will align People Operations strategies with organizational goals across CSTA. 

In your day-to-day, you will:  

  • Provide functional day-to-day HR support for a team of 25-30 staff members. You’ll be the first point of contact for team member questions. You will work with CSTA’s PEO and CFOO to ensure compliance with federal, state and local laws. 
  • Manage essential people operations. You'll support our HRIS & payroll systems management, and liaise with our PEO.
  • Own end-to-end recruiting and hiring. You’ll help CSTA continue to build a diverse, high-performing team and ensure a positive candidate experience.  
  • Oversee onboarding and craft our new hire experience. Partner with hiring managers to help create thoughtful and thorough onboarding plans, set and develop initial goals; serve as new hires' primary point of contact from day one. 
  • Manage our annual performance review process and recommend areas for improvement; help build and support a culture of regular, ongoing feedback throughout the year.   
  • Coach and empower managers to be able to own and navigate these critical People programs and processes such as onboarding, employee relations, compensation, performance and people development.
  • Support the internal and external advancement of CSTA’s commitment to DEI work and advancing equity. 
  • Manage and help resolve any team member relations issues. Conduct effective, thorough, and objective investigations when issues arise. 
  • Determine the proper cadence for and collect regular feedback from the team; assess, examine findings; propose and iterate on solutions; communicate feedback results and proposed actions to the team.    

What You Bring to the Table: Experience & Qualifications 

As our ideal candidate, you are passionate about addressing issues of equity in CS education. To thrive in this role, you ideally have experience supporting a multi-state team in a distributed, flexible, remote-first environment. You have broad generalist knowledge of people programs and policies, and a passion for inclusive teams and delivering exceptional internal ‘customer service.’ 

You also bring some combination of the following:

  • Have 5+ years of experience in a People, Operations, Payroll, or Benefits Administration role with a focus on bringing organizational and operational best practices  
  • Expertise in and a passion for building and championing inclusive and equitable employee practices
  • Strong project management skills with experience owning and driving projects from beginning to end
  • Experience and proficiency using HRIS and/or Payroll systems
  • Comfort and proficiency in Google Suite, Asana, Slack, and/or other current tech tools
  • Are a great communicator with skills and experience interfacing with all levels of an organization
  • Are self-motivated, action-oriented, and eager to learn - you are constantly looking for opportunities to improve your craft and are receptive to feedback
  • Are detail-oriented with strong follow-up and follow-through skills

In addition, all candidates:

  • Must be a U.S. Citizen or authorized to work in the U.S.
  • Must pass a pre-employment background check
  • Must be able to travel up to 10% time within the U.S. and occasionally work outside normal business hours. Travel costs are covered by CSTA.

What We Offer 

As a nonprofit, we strive to be market competitive with similarly sized organizations, and internally fair in our pay practices. The hiring salary range for this role is $80,000 – $85,000 annually. This represents the target offer range given the scope and experience expectations for this role.  

In hiring, we are generally open to candidates in a varying range of experiences and levels, and recognize that as a candidate you may be less experienced or more senior than this job description as posted. If that's the case, an updated salary range will be shared with you if you move forward in our hiring process.

CSTA is proud to provide a flexible, engaging working environment with a great team. Other perks and benefits include:  

  • Flexible schedules with independent workday Fridays
  • Paid time off: three weeks vacation annually, ten days sick leave, ten holidays, one-week office closure for summer break, and one-week office closure at the end of December
  • Medical, dental and vision premiums paid at 100% for FT positions and subsidized dependent premiums
  • Paid parental leave (8-12 weeks)
  • Technology and work from home subsidy consistent with our bring-your-own-device environment
  • Option to participate in retirement savings plan with generous employer match after six months of employment

CSTA Leads Through Our Values

CSTA is committed to disrupting systemic inequities and developing inclusive teaching and learning practices. This extends to our internal team and we regularly seek opportunities to expand our knowledge and better our practices to foster internal equity and a sense of belonging within our team. Read about our values here

CSTA is honored to be an equal opportunity workplace. We realize that by bringing together a team rich in diverse backgrounds, thoughts and experiences, our people, organization, and our members flourish. We are committed to providing equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, creed, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation or gender identity), age, marital status, disability, military or veteran status; or any other protected classifications or characteristics under applicable local laws.

What to Expect From Us 

During the interview stage, you can expect:

  • Step 1: An initial “phone” screen (30 minutes). If there’s a good mutual fit for the role, you’ll be invited to next steps in our process. If you move forward, we’ll ask you to complete a brief exercise consistent with the typical work of this role. You can expect to spend about 60 minutes on this exercise.
  • Step 2: We’ll schedule a virtual interview loop with 3-4 team members you will work most closely with (3 hours total).
  • Step 3: Potential final interviews with the hiring manager and our Executive Director.   

All interviews will be remote via Zoom; we are happy to make accommodations you might need to feel set up for success in our process.