Founding Operator

We are looking for someone who believes most kids are taught the wrong way and wants to spend the next several years doing something about it.

Every child learns differently. That is not a slogan for us, it is the entire product. Our original company, Chess by Stories has been a source of inspiration for hundreds of families in the New York Area because we teach every kid at their level, their pace, and in their language. Sapiora applies the same idea to AI literacy, so kids learn to question these systems instead of just obeying them.

This is not an admin job with a nice mission statement attached. This is the first operating hire at a company that is about to grow, and the person in this seat will make real decisions about how we reach families and what we say to them.

What you’ll actually decide

We are not hiring someone to wait for instructions. Within your first 90 days you will own these calls outright:

• Which channels we market through. Email, social, local partnerships, referral programs. You pick where the effort goes and you kill what is not working.
• What we say and when. The campaign calendar, the messaging, the creative. You write it and you ship it. We are not approving every email.
• Which schools and organizations we go after. You build the target list and you prioritize it.
• How families move through our funnel. Inquiry to trial to enrollment. If it is leaking, you redesign it.
• How the back office runs. Scheduling, billing cadence, onboarding process. If our system is bad, replace it.

You will also bring us recommendations on pricing, packaging, and new program ideas. Those are founder decisions, but they should start with your analysis, and if you make the case well you will usually win it.

What you’ll do

Growth and sourcing (roughly 40 percent of your week, protected time)

• Build and work outreach lists: NYC schools, PTA and PA leaders, parent coordinators, enrichment directors, camps, community organizations
• Run outbound sequences and keep every conversation moving
• Reactivate past families and respond to inbound inquiries fast
• Own the pipeline in our CRM so nothing sits untouched

Marketing

• Own the email program end to end for current, past, and prospective families
• Social content, light design, landing pages, website updates
• Test offers and messaging, measure what converts, and report what you learned

Operations and admin (roughly 60 percent)

• Scheduling and roster management across both businesses
• Family communications: enrollment, rescheduling, billing questions
• Invoicing and payment follow-up
• Instructor onboarding, background check coordination, document filing
• Semi-monthly payroll support and clean books for our accountant at quarter close

How the pay works

Base of $24 to $28 per hour depending on experience, for the operational and marketing work.

Commission on top: 10 percent of collected revenue for the first twelve months of every family you source, and 5 percent on school and partnership contracts. Paid on money actually collected, not contracts signed, so you and we are looking at the same number. No cap. As the business grows, this role grows with it, in hours, in base, and in scope. The compensation will also grow in accordance with it as well, as we want to reward this individual for their time and vision substantially

The path

The honest version: the first several months include work that is not glamorous. Payroll, invoice chasing, schedule repair, and a great many cold emails that go unanswered. Doing that well is how you learn the business from the inside, and it is why the person in this seat earns the right to run it.

From there, this becomes our operations and growth lead: setting strategy, hiring and managing the instructor team, shaping how we sell tailored instruction to schools, and sitting in the room where we decide what Sapiora and Chess By Stories becomes. Full-time, higher base, real authority over outcomes. That progression depends on results rather than tenure, but the seat is real and it is not filled.

What we’re looking for

Someone who closes loops and is not afraid to reach out to strangers. You notice the invoice that never got paid and the school director who never wrote back, and you chase both. You care more about whether a nine-year-old finally understood something than about what your title says this quarter. You are comfortable making a call without asking permission first, and comfortable being wrong out loud.

Preferred qualifications:

• Real interest in education, learning science, or how children are taught. Teaching, tutoring, coaching, camp, admissions, or curriculum experience all count
• 2 or more years in operations, marketing, business admin, or inside sales
• Hands-on marketing execution: you have written and sent campaigns yourself, not just briefed someone else
• Outbound outreach experience of any kind: sales, development, recruiting, admissions, fundraising
• Payroll or bookkeeping familiarity (Gusto, ADP, QuickBooks, or similar)
• Comfort with a CRM, email marketing tools, and basic design (Canva or equivalent)
• Proven ability to run your own day with no one watching, since this role is fully remote

How to apply

Email [email protected] with:

1. Your resume

2. A few sentences on the most disorganized situation you have ever cleaned up

3. One example of a time you brought in new business or a new client

4. One idea, even a rough one, for how you would get tailored instruction in front of more families

Subject line: “Founding Operator.” We read every one and we reply. Applications here will also be taken, but priority will be placed on emails.

Pay: $24.00 - $28.00 per hour

Work Location: Hybrid remote in New York, NY 10128