Operations Associate - Customer Support

We’re headquartered in Chicago (West Loop). This is an in-person role with the possibility of working remotely on occasion. The first couple months are largely in-person, and can reduce to several days in-person per week once you’re working fully independently and hitting goals.
About the company:
Trala is a tech-powered online music school. Our mission is to make world-class music education accessible to every single person on Earth.
Right now, music education is so expensive that the joy of music is available only to the rich and urban. Imagine instead a world where all 4 billion people who will pick up an instrument in the next 30 years could get a world-class education. That is the future we’re creating.
Our first product, Trala: Learn Violin, is a mobile application that teaches anyone how to play violin. We do this using movie-quality tutorial videos featuring diverse violinists, signal processing that listens to students play their real violins and gives instant feedback on every mistake, and a curriculum that prioritizes accessibility and diversity.
Over the last 5 years, we have grown Trala to 500,000+ downloads, students in 183 countries, and support from some of the most famous violinists in the world (such as Joshua Bell). Our students are ages 7 to 70 and live in rural Montana, Lebanon, tiny Pacific islands, Hong Kong, and our hometown of Chicago. They’re not businesses or governments, they’re people. They’ve dreamt of learning violin for years and we’re fulfilling those dreams.
In the next 18 months, we will grow our 1-on-1 lessons program from 2000 lessons/month to 10,000+ lessons/month, and build a best-in-class teacher organization for violin. This is where you come in.
The role:
Now: Be the primary point of contact for violin students in both a support role as well as an advisory role. Your goal is for Trala students to continue learning, meaning they attend lessons (attendance) and renew month-over-month (retention) . Duties may include assisting students in scheduling lessons, using the curriculum and practice app, attending free group classes and community events, or managing their subscription. You'll be fostering student relationships by proactively touching base with students to understand their Trala experience, their violin journey, and if their teacher is the right fit. You will also be helping support our team of violin teachers and handling communications related to hiring, onboarding, and training. We will look to you to help define and provide concierge-level service to Trala students, teachers, and Trala leaders alike.
Where it can lead in the near future: Success in an operations role at a tech start-up will provide exposure and potential opportunities in data analysis, customer experience, recruitment and employee training, workforce management, team leadership, quality assurance, and more.
Is this role right for me?
You will be measured on student retention, which is achieved by offering high-quality and proactive support. You will be among the first in this role at Trala, and help define and refine it.
This position is for someone who can masterfully combine technical skills with interpersonal skills. Learning an instrument is not easy, and both busy beginner students and new teachers may feel particularly vulnerable and prone to give up. The person in this role understands the level of support people in these situations need, and draws satisfaction by being superb at providing it.
The right candidate is someone who thrives on being part of a highly motivated team, and who gets energy from being challenged and given opportunities. They are excited to build a department, and are ready to define what 'excellence' means within it. They have the confidence and emotional intelligence to succeed as a student-advisor, a problem-solver, a technician, a product expert, and a voice of encouragement for both students and teachers.
Success on the Operations team is achieved by being genuinely curious, by having a fine attention to detail, and by showing eagerness to learn new tools and systems. Good communication is a must, whether you're speaking to a frustrated beginner musician, training a new hire, or reporting your work and research to our founders. Success at a start-up means you’ll be surrounded by highly motivated and focused individuals with a common goal. Work is fast and at most times challenging. Systems and processes are not perfect. You are helping to build a company, which requires communication, autonomy, curiosity, making calculated judgements, and constant iteration. It also brings an enormous amount of job satisfaction to the right person, and growth potential.
On the day-to-day, you’ll serve mostly our students. Students will need help modifying their account, rescheduling their lessons, or solving a technical issue that is keeping them from practicing or joining their lesson. You will follow up with students after their first lesson just to hear how it went, and help them develop a plan to keep making progress. You will check in, cheer on, and reward our students.
You will be part of a very small and dedicated team. You will own this role, directly impact company success, and work very hard punching both above and below your weight class. In addition to the VP of Operations (direct manager), you will work with our Head of Teaching, Lead Product Manager, and Curriculum Manager in addition to a small handful of other Operations folks.. You will solve complicated tasks, recommend how to improve processes, and make a positive impact on people around the world trying to bring music to their own lives or their students' lives.
Requirements

• Musical and/or teaching background is a plus, but not required. Start-up experience is also a plus.
• Have previous experience (2+ yrs) providing top level customer-level or associate-level support, with high efficiency and empathy.
• Have excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Be action-oriented. Move with purpose, urgency, and adventure.
• Ability to expertly combine technical skills with interpersonal skills.
• People with experience serving students in an academic center or institution are highly encouraged to apply.
• Be ambitious & hands-on. Willing and eager to learn new skills.
• Be comfortable with technology. We will train you on our software.

Benefits

• Trala is funded by amazing people like the CEOs of LinkedIn and Duolingo. These folks are leaders in education & growth and are our mentors. They can be your mentors, too.
• Medical, Dental, and Vision benefits
• Free weekly violin lessons
• The opportunity to make an immediate positive impact on musicians, educators, and students. A unique experience of being part of an energetic start-up team, where growth and professional development come with success.
• Starting salary $45-50k plus monthly bonus potential of $50-$1000 (March was $475)
• You’ll work with people who are the best at what they do. Read up about the types of people you’ll be working with at https://www.trala.com/about
• Flexible PTO
• Equity in Trala, Inc
• Trala deeply impacts peoples’ lives all across the world. These are dreams you’ll be fulfilling, not “leveraged data monetization” or whatever value Facebook claims to provide these days.
• Read up about the types of students you’ll be serving at www.trala.com/student-stories
• Eligibility for 401k, FSA, transit benefit, and Trala's music education stipend

Some of the people you would work with:

• Molly: People Operations. Reads psychology research for fun, teaches yoga, and hosts french baking shows with her cat.
• Rachael: Head of Teaching and professional violinist. Played at that white-tie gala we weren’t invited to.
• Seina: Program Manager. Violinist, violist, dabbles in ukulele. Obsessed with her Golden Retriever, Cooper. Former gymnast turned outdoor enthusiast. Sometimes found working out in VR.
• Erik: VP of Operations. Avid traveler, aspiring drummer, and constantly in search of the perfect one-liner. Won Wheel of Fortune. Lowkey.
• Vish: CTO. Signal processing expert. Armchair economist. Private pilot in the making. Vibes: 00000KT 10SM CLR.
• Read up on our team at https://www.trala.com/about
• Mark: Operations Associate. Saxophonist, vocalist, actually thinks Excel is pretty cool. Loves pizza and bagels, lukewarm on pizza bagels.
• Sam: CEO. Violinist and engineer. Architect of Trala’s musical pedagogy. Uses words like ‘pedagogy’.