Program Manager, Alpha - $150,000/year USD

• On-site at an Alpha campus in Austin, TX or Scottsdale (Phoenix), AZ — relocation assistance available
• $150,000/year
• Full-time

When a child struggles, most elementary schools reduce expectations. You do the opposite. You understand that a six-year-old can accomplish far more than traditional classrooms demand, and you have used data to demonstrate this repeatedly.

Alpha operates on a two-hour learning model. Academic content is delivered through adaptive apps each morning, freeing your day for the work that genuinely transforms a child's life: motivation, life skills, coaching, and accountability. You directly manage a cohort of K-3 students while also coaching the Guides—Alpha's term for the adults who inspire and coach the children—who are responsible for their daily growth.

You remain actively involved every day, not directing from a separate office.

Your typical day alternates between three activities. You analyze performance data and Coachbot analytics to identify which students and Guides are falling behind. You conduct coaching conversations that result in concrete next steps rather than vague encouragement. And you engage a room full of five- to nine-year-olds during workshops on public speaking, focus, or giving and receiving feedback.

When you identify effective strategies, you document them. The playbooks you create establish the standard that every other Guide follows, allowing your impact to expand from a single cohort to the entire level. Demonstrating your ability to scale that excellence is the pathway to greater leadership roles here.

If you see lowering expectations as kindness, this role is not for you. If you view raising them as respect, apply.

What You Will Be Doing

• Using performance data, classroom observation, and direct feedback to coach Guides and students, then maintaining accountability to measurable goals for both
• Leading one-hour live workshops for K-3 students focused on life skills including public speaking, focus, collaboration, resilience, accountability, and giving and receiving feedback
• Conducting individual and small-group motivation sessions that link each child's goals and interests to tangible academic progress
• Creating and refining playbooks that convert your best practices into repeatable systems other Guides can implement reliably
• Training Guides on these playbooks and demonstrating excellence in facilitation to maintain standards as the team expands

What You Won’t Be Doing

• Teaching academic content or lecturing from the front of the classroom; adaptive apps handle instruction while you focus on coaching the humans
• Reducing expectations when a student encounters difficulty
• Managing from a distance like instructional coaches and principals typically do; you remain embedded with your own cohort each day
• Managing the entire campus's budget, operations, and parent relationships; a Campus Lead handles those responsibilities so you can concentrate on student and Guide outcomes
• Advocating for traditional teaching methods or adhering to a conventional K-12 curriculum

Program Manager Key Responsibilities

Fulfill Alpha's three promises to every K-3 student: they love school, learn twice as fast, and develop exceptional life skills and independence.

Basic Requirements

• Willing to work on-site at an Alpha campus in Austin, TX or Scottsdale (Phoenix), AZ; relocation support is available
• Bachelor's degree in Education, Psychology, Business, Organizational Leadership, Child Development, or a related field
• Minimum of 5 years working with elementary-aged children (approximately ages 5 to 9)
• Experience leading a team of 5 or more people, with authority to hire and remove individuals based on performance outcomes
• Experience building, launching, or substantially growing a program, team, school, or initiative from the ground up, not inheriting an existing structure
• Comfortable working in a school that rejects traditional teaching methods
• Legally authorized to work in the United States

Nice-to-have Requirements

• Master's degree in a related field
• Proven track record using metrics, dashboards, or analytics to diagnose issues and drive measurable improvement
• Experience coaching or managing other adults toward measurable outcomes, rather than only executing the work yourself
• Background in youth development, camp leadership, competitive coaching, tutoring, or enrichment programs where motivation was a core component
• Comfort and proficiency facilitating or public speaking in front of rooms full of young children

About Alpha

Join the team building school around student growth

Alpha reimagines the school day around faster learning, stronger mentorship, and more time for students to build real-world skills.

Roles with real student impact: Alpha hires teachers (guides), operators, admissions experts, school & curriculum leaders, and remote team members.

Education work that pays like it matters: Alpha offers six-figure roles for people ready to help build a radically better school experience.

A culture built for builders: Alpha is fast-moving, ambitious, and student focused. It’s for people who want to improve the system, not maintain it.

Alpha is where you can do the most meaningful work of your career.

There is so much to cover for this exciting role, and space here is limited. Hit the Apply button if you found this interesting and want to learn more. We look forward to meeting you!

Working with us

This is a full-time (40 hours per week), long-term position. The position is immediately available and requires entering into an independent contractor agreement with Crossover as a Contractor of Record. The compensation level for this role is $75 USD/hour, which equates to $150,000 USD/year assuming 40 hours per week and 50 weeks per year. The payment period is weekly.

Consult www.crossover.com/help-and-faqs for more details on this topic.

Crossover Job Code: LJ-5150-US-Austin-ProgramManager.003