Senior Associate

Role Overview

At Mesa, the program is the product and career outcomes are the scoreboard. This role owns execution across both.

If you’re great at “coordination” but weak at ownership, this will be miserable. If you’re an operator who can build systems, ship weekly, and drive readiness, you’ll thrive.

What you will work on

A) Program delivery (core ops)

• Own the academic calendar end-to-end (terms, sessions, labs, assessments, events).
• Run weekly execution: session readiness, room/A-V setup, pre-reads, links, deadlines, attendance, follow-ups.
• Ensure every session ships with: objective → pre-work → live agenda → assignment → rubric → submission link → evaluation plan .
• Run term retros and implement improvements

B) Career prep engine (execution + outcomes)

Own end-to-end execution of Mesa’s career prep journey:

LinkedIn → sector deep-dives → data & insight drills → product/growth thinking → decision frameworks → tools training → networking → mock interviews → last-mile prep

What this actually means:

• Build a weekly execution plan (sessions + deliverables) and ensure it ships on time.
• Maintain a readiness scoreboard by domain and ensure students improve week-on-week.

Run the mock interview machine

• Own mentor ops: scheduling, briefing, calibration, scorecards, logistics.

Ensure every mock generates:

• structured scores (role fit, problem solving, communication, behavioral)
• 3–5 actionable next steps (not generic feedback)

Close the loop:

• track whether students implemented changes
• run re-mocks/follow-ups for low performers
• escalate repeat offenders (no accountability = useless program)

Drive domain-wise readiness tracking

Maintain dashboards for Founder’s Office / Product / Marketing / VC / Sales with:

• Rubric-based scores: problem solving, comms, role fit, execution maturity
• Proof-of-work tracking: case decks, teardowns, portfolios, projects, outcomes
• Red/yellow/green status per student + next actions

Own career prep ops systems

• Dashboards, trackers, SOPs
• Session feedback → improvements shipped
• Scheduling, comms, escalation handling

C) Mentor and faculty operations (program + career)

• Build and maintain a reliable bench of mentors/operators for sessions + mocks.
• Onboard mentors properly: brief, context, expectations, rubrics, sample “good” outputs.
• Maintain a mentor quality tracker (reliability, ratings, repeat rate, student impact).

Who this role is for

Must-haves

• 2–4 years in program ops / project management / cohort delivery / education ops / CS ops / community ops in a fast environment.
• Excellent written communication: crisp, structured, no confusion.
• Strong execution hygiene: trackers, SOPs, follow-through, escalations.
• Comfortable working with senior stakeholders (founders/mentors) without getting intimidated.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience running career prep / interview programs / assessment systems.
• Strong Google Sheets/Notion/Airtable + automation mindset.
• Exposure to startups, fellowships, bootcamps, or high-intensity cohorts.