Director of Enrollment Management

Position Description

Santa Catalina School is a vibrant, independent, Catholic school offering student-centered co-education to PreK through grade 8 and an all-girls’ boarding and day college preparatory upper school serving grades 9 through 12. Santa Catalina exists to develop in each student a striving for excellence, a maturing awareness of moral and spiritual values, a sense of responsible purpose, and a determination to serve the world with courage, grace, and compassion. With the cornerstones of excellence, spirituality, service, and responsibility, the school is committed to providing a supportive learning community for each student to grow in their intellectual, personal, and spiritual life, making Santa Catalina a transformational educational experience for its students.

Position Summary

Santa Catalina School, a nationally recognized PreK-12 independent, Catholic school in Monterey, California, seeks an experienced and strategic-minded enrollment and admission professional to serve as the school’s first Director of Enrollment Management. This position provides an exceptional opportunity to build on a robust admission history while bringing an all-school admission and enrollment lens to student and family management. Reporting directly to the Head of School, the Director of Enrollment Management is a member of the Leadership Team. The Lower and Middle School Admission Director, Upper School Admission Director, and Director of Financial Aid report to the Director of Enrollment Management.

Description

The Director of Enrollment Management (Director) provides oversight and is responsible for creating, leading, and managing a comprehensive enrollment program that incorporates best practices in recruitment, admissions, enrollment, retention, institutional research, tuition, and financial aid. The Director reports to and works closely with the Head of School to establish and clearly articulate an ambitious vision for enrollment management. The enrollment program will be built upon quantitative analysis, strategic decision-making, and an ethos of continuous improvement while fostering a culture that emphasizes strong personal relationships, high-touch customer service, communication and transparency, entrepreneurism, flexibility, and collaboration. Expectations include maximizing the exposure, visibility, demand for, and understanding of the school with both internal and external audiences; maintaining capacity enrollment of mission-appropriate students; providing access through financial aid programs; establishing strategic direction, goals, policy, work plans, workflow, and budget; overseeing the admission teams; and ensuring effective attainment of enrollment management goals.

Santa Catalina School believes that each employee makes a significant contribution to its success. That contribution should not be limited by the assigned responsibilities. Therefore, this position description is designed to outline primary duties, qualifications, and job scope, but not limit the incumbent nor the organization to just the work identified. It is our expectation that each employee will offer his/her services wherever and whenever necessary to ensure the success of our endeavors.

Essential Responsibilities

• Cultivate and lead an enrollment management team composed of all admissions and enrollment-related employees. Foster a positive, collaborative, innovative, fun team culture committed to working together to accomplish enrollment management goals. Develop a strong sense of teamwork, equity, and investment in the mission across all functional areas and establish an environment of mentoring and support.
• Oversee all aspects of admission and financial aid operations including the development, implementation, and execution of a multi-year and annual comprehensive strategic enrollment plan with appropriate goals and strategies to achieve enrollment, retention, and revenue targets.
• Collaborate with key stakeholders to create a school culture that understands and values enrollment management. Establish close working relationships with the Head of School, senior administrative team, faculty, trustees, and others to engage in conversations about enrollment priorities, shifting demographics, recruitment, financial aid allocation, retention, branding, and the trade-offs and priorities that inform and shape enrollment programs.
• Provide strategic oversight of the financial aid program including establishing goals, policies, and procedures. Annually review financial aid policies and their efficacy.
• Partner with the Director of Marketing and Communications to develop and analyze enrollment and marketing metrics to make informed decisions about short- and long-rage enrollment goals, and co-create and implement integrated and effective marketing and communications strategies and tactics for the recruitment and retention of students to optimize enrollment opportunities.
• Ensure the integrity of the enrollment process to provide a positive experience for all applicant families; fair and ethical assessment procedures; transparent admission decisions; and the enrollment of students and families that are consistent with the school’s mission and values.
• Oversee institutional research areas related to enrollment management including recruitment and admissions. Assess the effectiveness of the student experience and family satisfaction to inform retention strategies and the school’s value proposition in the marketplace. Collect and analyze data about student success factors and alumnae/i outcomes.
• Provide counsel to the Head of School on school-wide strategic initiatives. Serve on the senior leadership team.

Other Responsibilities 

• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

• BA or BS, with MA preferred
• Direct experience in independent school admissions 
• Management and supervisory experience including assembling, maintaining, and building teams 
• Demonstrated success working in enrollment and admissions, in boarding school preferred
•  A commitment to the mission and identity of Santa Catalina School 
• A desire to participate fully in the Santa Catalina community 
• Successful completion of a LiveScan criminal background check as required by law 

Competencies 

• Outstanding interpersonal skills; approachable and welcoming demeanor
• Knowledge of educational institutions, specifically independent and boarding schools
• Cultural competence and enthusiasm for working with a diverse and dynamic community
• Knowledge of best practices and industry standards on school finance, financial aid, and tuition setting
• Strong interpersonal skills, including good listening, humor, tact, intuition, and confidentiality
• Understanding of current independent school challenges, trends, and issues facing independent schools and their enrollment goals
• Excellent writing, communication, and verbal skills
• Strong organizational and record-keeping skills and digital literacy 
• Understanding of the dynamics of a school community 
• Ability to assess and respond to the needs of the school and act as a representative of the school 
• Understanding of how information systems are used for quantitative analysis 
• Commitment to professional growth and education 
• Ability to function well under stress 

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Directly supervises the Director of Upper School Admission, Director of Lower and Middle School Admission, and Director of Financial Aid 
• Responsible for evaluation of the Enrollment Management team, including hiring and termination decisions in consultation with the Head of School. 

Working Conditions and Compensation

• Work at a desk and computer screen for extended periods of time each day
• Ability to access buildings and facilities throughout a 36-acre campus, with reasonable accommodations, in order to meet with students and faculty 
• Work in a school environment with a wide variety of challenges, deadlines, and people
•  Additional time is required beyond a normal day or week for evening and weekend meetings
• Santa Catalina School offers competitive insurance and retirement benefits 
• Salary Range: $90,000-$140,000 annually, depending on experience, and dependent on on-campus housing availability 

Equal Employment Opportunity Santa Catalina School is an equal-opportunity employer. Employment at Santa Catalina School is based solely on qualifications and competence for a particular position, without regard to race, color, national origin, citizenship, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, disability, marital status, or any other category protected by the law. To Apply Interested candidates should visit our website to complete and submit an application, resume, and cover letter: https://www.santacatalina.org/upper-school/who-we-are/employment/staff-openings Electronic submission of candidate papers in .pdf format is preferred. Santa Catalina provides reasonable accommodations to employees and applicants with disabilities. Applicants who need accommodations to participate in the application process should contact HR Generalist Maria Chavez at maria.chavez@santacatalina.org.