Today, 67% of students and 82% of low-income students can’t read at grade level by the end of third grade. That’s when students are supposed to go from learning to read to reading to learn. It’s America’s number one education crisis and we know how to fix it.
Ignite Reading delivers one-to-one virtual tutoring that teaches every student the foundational skills they need to become a confident, fluent reader. We pair students who need extra support with expert reading tutors who provide daily, 15-minute, Science of Reading-based instruction that rapidly closes their decoding gaps. We focus on the foundational reading skills—phonics, phonemic awareness, and sight words—kids need to master so they can decode a sentence. Students in Ignite Reading’s program achieve over 2 weeks of reading skills growth per week of instruction, and notably all students achieve the same outstanding results including students with IEPs, multilingual learners, students of color and those receiving free or reduced-price lunch.
Ignite Reading is a mission-driven public benefit corporation. We believe we can do well for our team members and shareholders while we solve one of the nation’s biggest challenges. We believe we will be more successful with a diverse team and are seeking candidates who have lived experience related to social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Your Role
As Vice President, Customer Experience, you will be responsible for crafting outstanding customer experiences from onboarding through expansion. As the first point of contact for our customers, you will gather and distill customer data and feedback; using this information, you will strategize, innovate and scale your teams and departments, readying them for hypergrowth as we strive to provide all of our school and district partners with an exceptional customer experience.
As part of the Senior Leadership Team, you will have the opportunity to work collaboratively with our marketing, sales, academics, tutor operations, finance, product and engineering teams to establish an extraordinary customer experience and an innovative, scalable future.
The VP, Customer Experience will report to the CEO.
Key Responsibilities:
- Oversee a team that is responsible for all customer activities and experiences upon contract signature
- Develop and manage a suite of KPIs including attendance, roster utilization, instructional time, customer NPS and satisfaction ratings, retention rates, renewal forecasting, and overall customer health
- Work alongside members of the leadership team to develop and execute a world-class customer experience strategy to ensure successful expansion of annual recurring revenues
- Establish a vision and plan for onboarding, customer success, and technical support that drives time-to-value for our customers and repeatable efficiency gains for Ignite Reading that:
- Successfully onboards customers [partners] with an eye towards improving scale and quality of our implementation processes
- Engages our customers [partners] focused on driving school and student attendance to ensure ongoing improvements to students’ literacy success
- Provides best-in-class technical support with a strong focus on speed and accuracy of solutions
- Leverage customer [partner] feedback and behavior to improve engagement and expansion within our accounts
- Recruit, develop, and train new team members while retaining and mentoring the current team leaders and individuals, ensuring a focus on service excellence and employee NPS
- Contribute to and help grow the strong culture of Ignite Reading, inspiring the team to learn-more and do-more as employees and humans
- Work with our Product and Engineering teams, ensuring our customers' needs are heard and included in the product roadmap
- Maintain deep knowledge of Ignite Reading’s platform, as well as education industry and policy trends
Skills & Competencies
- 15+ years of experience leading implementations/onboarding, customer success and technical support teams, preferably working with districts and schools
- 10+ years of leadership experience
- Experience building and scaling a high-performing CX function from 20 to 75+ team members
- Previous experience in a start-up or hyper-growth environment preferred
- Enterprise mindset and ability to collaborate with other departments of the business to ensure customer success
- Proven track record in creating, implementing and rolling out customer experience strategies that are scalable, repeatable, and geared towards excellence
- Track record of building senior client relationships
- Proven ability to hire, manage, and inspire teams
- Motivated to drive positive change for a growing team and company
- Always ready to get your hands dirty and help the team and our customers with a willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done
- Exceptional interpersonal skills, analytical, and critical thinking skills
- Ability to communicate with the C-Suite leaders both internally and externally
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, relevant graduate degree preferred
At Ignite Reading, we’ve decided to embrace a transparent compensation structure for a few reasons:
To promote fairness and equity: This approach supports fairness within our structure. When everyone knows how compensation decisions are made, it reduces the likelihood of pay discrimination based on factors like gender, race, relationships, or negotiation skills.
To provide accountability for our approach: The same role receives the same compensation, with no negotiation.
To build trust within the organization: When employees understand how their compensation is determined, they are more likely to trust organizational structures and decisions, which can lead to overall better culture.
To support legal considerations: Many states are moving to requiring compensation listed on job descriptions and we want to follow these rules.
Salary: $220,000 base + variable compensation (This is a full-time, exempt role)
We also ensure you have the tools you need to thrive both in and out of work.
- Employee Stock Options
- Medical, Dental, and Vision (80% employee coverage, 70% dependent coverage)
- 401k + matching
- Short-term disability (100% employer paid)
- Technology Stipend
- Unlimited PTO + 12 paid holidays
- Professional Development Stipend
- Wellness Reimbursement
- Internet Stipend
- 12 Weeks of Parental Leave
- Yearly Staff Retreat
- Voluntary Life Insurance
We believe in building and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace environment. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer where all applicants are considered for employment without attention to color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status. Research shows that candidates from underrepresented backgrounds often don't apply for roles if they don't meet all the criteria – unlike majority candidates meeting significantly fewer requirements. We strongly encourage you to apply if you’re interested!
We are seeking candidates who have lived experience related to social justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are a virtual organization with headquarters in the California Bay Area.
What We Do
When kids learn to read on time their opportunities in school and life improve profoundly. If a child cannot read by the time they are in third grade, they are four times less likely to graduate high school.* In 2022, only 33% of U.S. fourth graders and 31% of eighth graders were reading at grade level (National Assessment of Educational Progress reading assessment scores). Ignite Reading is on a mission to fix this.
Ignite Reading delivers one-to-one virtual tutoring that teaches K-8th graders the foundational skills they need to become confident, independent readers. We pair developing readers with expert reading tutors who provide daily, 15-minute, Science of Reading-based instruction that rapidly closes decoding gaps. Students across all demographics achieve the same outstanding results–an average of 2.4 weeks of reading skills growth per week of instruction–including students with IEPs, multilingual learners, students of color and those receiving free or reduced-price lunch. By ensuring all students master the foundational skills to fluently read any word, Ignite Reading empowers them to move forward and unlock everything school and life have to offer.
"Ignite Reading is one of the most, if not the most, successful interventions we have implemented in our district. The student results and program design are indisputable."
- Claudia Salvestrin, Assistant Superintendent, Red Bluff Union Elementary School District, CA