Purchasing Operations Assistant

DonorsChoose makes it easy for anyone to help a teacher in need, moving us closer to a nation where students in every community have the tools and experiences they need for a great education.

Since 2000, more than 5 million people and partners have contributed $1 billion to support 2 million teacher requests for classroom resources and experiences. Projects range from art supplies to build the set for a school musical, to books and puzzles that affirm students’ identities, to bird seed for an at-home science project. We proudly serve all US public schools, public charter schools, and Head Start centers, and we combat systemic inequity by driving a majority of donations to schools that have been historically underfunded due to economic and racial inequity.

DonorsChoose has been recognized as a best place to work by GOOD Magazine and the Nonprofit Times, while Fast Company named DonorsChoose one of the 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World—the first time a charity has made this list. Our dedicated team works from across the United States bring classroom dreams to life.

Team Overview

The Purchasing Operations team is responsible for ensuring the resources and experiences teachers request on their projects are purchased and delivered. Our team manages and improves the purchasing operations and systems that ensure the right product or experience arrives at the right place and time. We strive for the same excellence to deliver a box of crayons for an art class as we do to purchase tickets for the planetarium. Along with our colleagues on Procurement, we help to keep our promise to deliver both materials and financial transparency to teachers and donors.

If you are motivated by how we support teachers through our equity lens and are excited to join a team that works hard everyday to make a difference, we want to hear from you!

Primary Responsibilities

The Purchasing Operations Specialist is directly responsible for helping to purchase and pay for the materials that students and teachers need most. In this role, you’ll -

• Assist with daily tasks related to: ordering, reconciling payments, tracking deliveries, fulfillment support, and more with support from tenured teammates
• Embrace flexibility to support automated and manual tasks across purchasing, invoicing, and fulfillment support
• Take responsibility of training modules and apply feedback to support growth  
• Navigate competing priorities with accuracy to respond to urgency based on work volume
• Actively contribute to maintaining our team culture, which includes a positive and constructive work environment, such as  engaging in our team meetings (i.e. stand ups, work sessions, etc.) 
• Communicate with teachers about their project status via email and phone (when necessary), resolving questions quickly and effectively.
• Understand how DonorsChoose applies an equity lens to work and begin putting our approach and tools into practice

On a day to day basis, you will - 

• Purchase online materials and track deliveries for teacher customers
• Approve vendor payments and reconcile invoices
• Answer and resolve customer questions about online orders and payments primarily by email and when necessary, by phone
• Collaborate with teammates to deliver on our service-level-agreements to internal and external stakeholders
• Manage time effectively to achieve your individual performance goals
• Ensure efficient purchasing of and payments for materials and experience

Qualifications

This position may be a fit for you if you are: 

• A solid communicator, collaborator, and problem-solver; you’re often praised for your organization and attention to detail.
• Comfortable online shopping, using spreadsheets and similar skills
• A do-er; you like to check items off of your to-do list and are ready to help others when they need it without being directed to do so.
• Curious, creative, and open to sharing and learning from mistakes and implementing feedback
• Flexible when needs change and judgment calls have to be made based on knowledge, policies and processes
• Team oriented and believe that a successful day is best reflected by accomplishing a collective goal.
• Comfortable working in an online environment and enjoy learning new programs and systems

Compensation and Benefits

Our compensation philosophy ensures that we are both externally competitive with tech-forward nonprofits of a similar size and internally fair in our pay practices. The following ranges represent the target offer range given the scope and experience expectations for this role.

• The hiring hourly rate for this role is $17.00 - $18.75
• We have a hiring hourly range of $17.78 - $20.67 for specific higher cost of labor locations, which include New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston, and Washington, D.C.

This role is an hourly, full-time position and is eligible for overtime pay under the provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. 

Once employees are hired, the salary range for their role increases to ensure that employees are able to receive performance-based raises and grow in their role. We are open to a variety of experiences, and recognize that the person we hire 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 candidates if they move forward in our hiring process.

In addition, we offer full-time staff 25 paid vacation days per year and 11 paid holidays, a rich employer-paid individual and family health plan, a matching 401(k) plan (up to 5% of base salary), annual professional development stipend, and casual and flexible work environment. To learn more about what it is like to work for DonorsChoose, visit our careers page.

Hybrid Workplace and Other Details

In this role, you’ll have the option to work a flexible hybrid schedule in our NYC office, or to work fully remotely from CA, DC, FL, GA, IL, IN, MD, MI, NJ, NY, OR, PA, TX, or WI. 

Candidates who are not in the NYC area should expect to travel to our NYC office on as-needed basis, about 4-6 times per year. All work-related travel expenses will be covered by the organization and proper safety precautions will be taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

DonorsChoose is a fully vaccinated workplace and all new employees, regardless of their work location, will be asked to share proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 within two weeks of their hire date or request an exemption from this policy due to a disability or sincerely held religious belief or practice.

To Apply

Please submit your resume online and answer the application questions. A cover letter is optional and may be addressed to, Erin Evers, Purchasing Operations Manager.

A Final Note

The DonorsChoose team works toward a nation where students in every community have the resources needed for an excellent education. To do this we hire and support a diverse team of the best and the brightest talent available.

We are an organization increasingly representative of the varied races and ethnicities, genders and sexual orientations, religious and political beliefs, and abilities that comprise our nation. DonorsChoose focuses on attracting, retaining, and advancing diverse talent because it makes us more effective, high-performing, creative, and resilient.  

If you are passionate about our mission, highly skilled in your field, and looking for a place where you can bring all of yourself to work, we want you.