SPARK Program Operations Coordinator Office Provost

SPARK! PROGRAM OPERATIONS COORDINATOR, Office of the Provost Category Job Location

BOSTON, MA, United States

10/17/2025

Grade 46

Full-Time/Regular

About BU Spark

Founded in 2017, Spark! is an innovation and experiential learning lab for interdisciplinary computing and data science projects. Based at BU’s Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences, Spark! serves as the experiential learning engine for students majoring in computer science, data science, computer engineering and related disciplines, providing opportunities for students to work on real-world projects learning focused on the application of data science, machine learning, and software engineering skills.

The Program Operations Coordinator is a new position in a dynamic growing unit. This role reports directly to the Spark! Operations Director and works closely with other members of the Spark! and CDS team to help deliver high-quality experiences for students, university faculty and staff, and external partners engaging with Spark! experiential learning programs.

This role will support day-to-day administrative operations across Spark! programs including, but not limited to, academic courses, external projects and partnerships, event planning, and management of communication with internal and external community members. This role will administer and coordinate workflows across various program areas and be responsible for specific initiatives as determined by Spark!’s needs and the candidate’s interests. This position will supervise 35 student employees, on average.

The ideal candidate will be an individual with experience in dynamic, faculty and student-oriented environments. This role is a good match for someone who is proactive, detail-oriented, collaborative, and comfortable with working within an academic calendar and context. This individual will be involved in program operations and therefore will supervise student employees. A successful candidate will be patient, empathetic, flexible, and committed to centering the student experience in their work.

The candidate should be a creative problem solver and be comfortable navigating and resolving ambiguity.

We value curiosity and exploration on our team, so we hope to hire an individual interested in learning about and contributing to a wide range of operational areas within the university including academic programs and instruction, experiential learning and innovation, events and communication, and team development.

Support program administration across Spark!’s three initiatives:
Innovation (student driven projects), X-Lab (external projects for clients), and Community and Inclusion. The role will assist in the application and acceptance process for XCC courses, working closely with the BU XCC team, Spark! staff, and instructors to ensure students are registered and their questions are answered. The majority of program operations fall under CDS courses supported through the Spark!

X-Lab program and the programmatic on-ramps that prepare students for these courses. This role will coordinate two hackathon events per year, as well as other signature events, that serve as critical on-ramps for the Spark! x-lab program and future course enrollments. Responsibilities also include coordinating and assisting with project assignments for students and external partners involved with practicum courses, support of project management processes for the X-Lab program, contributing to project scoping, and aiding in class schedule planning and course registration.

Supervise student employees that support program initiatives and X-lab course support. Facilitate hiring and coordinate performance assessments. Help resolve any performance issues that may arise.

Conduct student training, review and approve hours weekly, and follow up with payroll issues.

Support positive relationships with the Spark! community including current and prospective students, instructors, mentors, partners, and BU faculty and staff. Track stakeholder…