VP, Operations (Degreed Programs)

About Stepful:

Stepful is a workforce platform redefining how America's largest health systems build, train, and retain their talent. Since our founding in 2021, Stepful’s trained over 32,000 practice-ready healthcare workers.

Layering onto our successful direct-to-consumer training, Stepful partners with leading healthcare institutions to address the growing national shortage of healthcare workers. We’re improving access to quality healthcare for everyone, everywhere, and improving access to healthcare career ladders for those who need them most.

Our students form the talent pipelines for major employers such as NY-Presbyterian, Mt. Sinai, HCA, Providence, CVS, and Walgreens. We have partnerships with half of the top 10 health systems in the US and are in process with many more.

Stepful is backed by Y Combinator, Reach Capital, and AlleyCorp, with a recent $55M Series C led by Oak HC/FT. We were named the #1 EdTech company in the U.S. by TIME for 2025.

Our values:

We credit much of our success to our exceptional team. We’re looking for mission-driven builders who thrive in fast-paced, ambiguous environments, and embody our four core values:

• Care first: We do whatever it takes for our students to succeed.

• Learn quickly: We test, learn with data, and iterate.

• Build together: We win when we rely on each other.

• Own it: We show up, take initiative, and show pride.

As VP, Operations (Degree Programs), you'll lead our Strategy and Operations Function for all of our Degrees, including Nursing, Imaging, and Respiratory programs housed under Stepful College. Degree programs have more regulation, longer timelines, and higher clinical-site requirements than our certificate programs. You will own the operating model that allows us to scale them without losing outcome quality, student satisfaction, or compliance.

You will lead strategy, organizational design, budget, and contribution to Stepful's growth. You'll lead a layered team of Operations Directors and Clinical Leaders who independently drive their own initiatives forward while you set the direction, standards, and operating rhythm that enables our degree programs to scale.

This role reports to our SVP, Operations, and is hybrid in NYC (with regular travel to our campuses and clinical sites).

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  Lead and evolve Stepful College’s operating model, currently organized by Schools (Nursing, Imaging, and Respiratory), each led by an Ops Director in partnership with Clinical and Academic Leaders and Faculty.

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  Set the strategy to deliver our degree programs at the highest quality at scale. Build the operating cadence that lets each School Lead run their school independently while you manage the full portfolio of degree programs.

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  Own the department's budget and resource allocation, making tradeoffs across schools and geographies.

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  Design how the department is organized as it grows, including where to add leadership layers and which senior roles to hire next.

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  Lead Operations and Clinical Leaders who own their programs end to end, coaching them and setting clear expectations for performance and accountability across every layer of the department

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  Partner with Learning, Product, Legal, Growth, and Workforce Solutions to grow enrollment, deliver an exceptional student experience, and meet the needs of our healthcare employer partners.

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  Push AI adoption across schools.
  

• 12+ years of experience, including 5+ years leading multi-layered organizations (managers of managers) in operations or program leadership

• A track record of owning a department or business unit, including its strategy, budget, and org design, and scaling it through significant growth

• Experience leading regulated, licensure-track education programs (such as nursing or allied health), including direct work with state boards and accreditors

• Proven ability to drive workflows across multiple domains at once, and to build operating systems that let your leaders move independently

• Executive communication skills: clear, concise writing and the ability to align executives, regulators, faculty, and employer partners

• A highly analytical, data-driven approach to diagnosing problems and making decisions

• Comfort leading in a fast-paced, sometimes ambiguous environment, and a willingness to get into the details when it counts

• Genuine curiosity about AI and a habit of experimenting with it to improve how your teams work

• You've worked at a high-growth startup or in a venture-backed healthcare or EdTech company

• You have a clinical background (e.g., RN or registered radiologic technologist)

• You've run multi-state or multi-campus operations, or launched new campuses or integrated acquired schools

• You hold an advanced degree (e.g., MBA, MSN, EdD)

• Introductory call with Talent Acquisition team member

• Interview with Hiring Manager

• Take-Home Assignment

• Virtual Panel Interview

• On-Site Panel Interview