Director of Enrollment Management

Job Description

Position Type
Full-time, senior administrative leadership position (calendar and benefits per school policy)

Department
Enrollment Management (Admission, Retention, and Enrollment Marketing)

Reports To
Head of School

Leadership Team Status
Member of the School's Leadership Team

Supervises
Director of Early Childhood Admission; Director of K-8 Admission; Director of 9-12 Admission; Digital Marketing/Communications Specialist; Admission Assistant (and additional seasonal/temporary staff as needed)

Collaborates Closely With
Business Manager/CFO; Director of Development/Advancement; Director of Digital Communication (or equivalent); Division Directors; Director of Alumni/Community Engagement (as applicable); faculty and staff who support retention and student experience; board leadership and relevant board committees

Board Committee Service
Serves on the Board's Development Committee and Marketing Committee (or comparable committees, per governance structure)

Position Summary

The Director of Enrollment Management is the School's chief strategist and operational leader for enrollment health. This role has principal responsibility for achieving short- and long-term enrollment goals and for leading a comprehensive enrollment management program that integrates admission, retention, marketing/communications, and financial-aid strategy into a single, outcomes-driven system.

Reporting directly to the Head of School, the Director is accountable for building an enrollment plan aligned to mission, program, and financial sustainability, and for ensuring that the School's market position and messaging are clear, differentiated, and consistently executed. Contemporary independent-school benchmarks increasingly define this role as owning the full enrollment lifecycle-sourcing, attracting, yielding, enrolling, and retaining students-supported by data-informed decision-making and close partnership with finance, advancement, and communications.

The Director is also responsible for overseeing the School's financial aid strategy and annual financial aid budget deployment in accordance with Board policy. Given the central role of net tuition revenue in independent-school sustainability, the Director must be fluent in the relationship among tuition pricing, enrollment composition, discounting, and net tuition revenue, and must be able to communicate clearly with leadership and trustees about options and tradeoffs.

Core Responsibilities

Strategic enrollment leadership and institutional planning

Develop, implement, and continuously refine a multi-year strategic enrollment plan that advances the School's mission and strategic priorities. The plan should include clearly defined goals and tactics for enrollment by division and grade, inquiry/applicant pipeline health, yield optimization, retention, compositional priorities, and net tuition revenue sustainability-reflecting the sector's move toward "strategic enrollment management" rather than admissions in isolation.

Serve as a strategic thought partner to the Head of School and leadership team on enrollment forecasting, program-market fit, school size/composition, and the competitive landscape. Peer-school searches explicitly position the director as a leader on optimal school size and enrollment composition to support net-revenue goals and long-term mission success.

Prepare regular enrollment updates and planning documents for the Head of School, Leadership Team, and Board of Trustees, translating data into decision-ready insights and actionable recommendations.

Admission operations and enrollment pipeline management
Provide direct leadership for all aspects of admission across divisions, ensuring a consistent, mission-aligned, high-touch family experience from inquiry through enrollment. Recent benchmark postings emphasize that prospective families should experience clarity, warmth, and authentic connection through the entire decision cycle.

Oversee recruitment strategy, outreach, campus visit programming, event strategy, interview and review protocols, and decision communications. Maintain high standards of professionalism, hospitality, and responsiveness across all touchpoints.

Develop and manage annual yield strategy, including targeted engagement for admitted families and a disciplined approach to follow-up and conversion.

Financial aid leadership and net tuition revenue stewardship

Manage and oversee admissions and financial aid; administer the annual financial aid budget and the deployment of institutional financial aid resources in alignment with Board policy and the Head of School and Business Manager/CFO.

Partner with finance leadership to align enrollment outcomes with the School's financial model, recognizing that net tuition revenue is a foundational metric for independent schools and is explicitly defined in NAIS/DASL as gross tuition and fees less tuition discounts (financial aid, merit awards/scholarships, or tuition remission).

Lead development of a yearly financial aid awarding plan that advances access, mission alignment, and enrollment sustainability, and supports a well-composed student body across divisions. NBOA's framing of shared stewardship among board, head, business officer, and enrollment leader supports positioning this work as a leadership responsibility rather than a back-office function.

Oversee needs analysis and file review processes (including use of third-party systems such as FACTS, if applicable), ensuring consistent documentation, confidentiality, and timely communication with families.

Retention strategy and re-enrollment execution

Develop and implement, in partnership with Division Directors, an annual retention plan aimed at supporting student success, strengthening family engagement, and reducing attrition. Sector guidance explicitly pushes enrollment leaders to treat retention as central to the job, not peripheral.

Design and manage re-enrollment workflows, including annual family communications, re-contracting timelines, retention risk identification, and interdepartmental coordination for at-risk situations.

Design and administer satisfaction and exit-feedback processes (surveys and/or interviews), analyze trends, and recommend improvements to enhance the family experience and strengthen long-term enrollment health.

Marketing, communications, and brand stewardship

Design, implement, and coordinate a comprehensive enrollment marketing and communications program that clearly articulates the School's value proposition and differentiators and supports the full admission decision cycle.

Partner closely with communications and digital strategy leaders to deliver integrated, consistent messaging across website, print collateral, email journeys, social media, and events. Benchmark roles emphasize disciplined storytelling and bold, outcomes-based narratives that resonate with families in competitive markets.

Collaborate with the Director of Development/Advancement on strategy and activities that strengthen the School's visibility, reputation, and resources, recognizing the close relationship among enrollment, philanthropy, and community trust.

Data analytics, market intelligence, and reporting discipline

Build and maintain a robust enrollment analytics program, including funnel metrics (inquiry - application - admit - enroll), yield analysis, retention/attrition analysis, financial-aid distribution patterns, and longitudinal trend tracking across divisions.

Use research and data to identify internal and external factors affecting enrollment and to advise leadership on market trends and strategic opportunities. EMA frames enrollment management as increasingly reliant on integrating data to build predictive models and varied pathways to enrollment success.

Use benchmark research to evaluate investment and effectiveness in recruitment and admission practices. NAIS's Cost-Per-Enrollment study offers sector benchmarks for cost-per-inquiry, cost-per-enrollment, and tuition ROI, reinforcing the expectation that enrollment leaders understand the relationship between investment and outcomes.

Team leadership, culture, and professional standards

Lead and manage the admission and enrollment team by setting clear goals, performance expectations, professional growth plans, and consistent accountability. Benchmark job profiles emphasize empathy-driven but outcome-oriented leadership, including empowering and developing a seasoned team to deliver results in recruitment, retention, and overall strategy.

Strengthen cross-school enrollment culture by building shared ownership for retention and ensuring faculty and staff understand enrollment priorities, timelines, and key messaging.

Ensure all enrollment operations reflect high ethical standards, nondiscrimination commitments, confidentiality expectations, and professionalism in working with families.

Job Requirements

Required Qualifications

The School seeks a highly skilled expert-someone who can lead at both strategic and operational levels and who can connect enrollment decisions to institutional sustainability and mission outcomes. Independent-school advisory guidance argues that the chief enrollment leader must be positioned at the executive level to integrate pricing, strategic financial aid, and constituent buy-in into an effective enrollment strategy.

A successful candidate will have:

A bachelor's degree (required) and an advanced degree strongly preferred (Master's or higher) in education leadership, business, marketing/communications, analytics, public administration, or a related field.

At least 8-10 years of progressively responsible experience in independent-school (or mission-aligned) enrollment management, admissions leadership, and/or strategic marketing, including documented success meeting enrollment goals across multiple cycles and adapting strategy to shifting market conditions.

Demonstrated expertise building and executing a comprehensive strategic enrollment plan that integrates admissions, marketing, retention, and financial aid-reflecting the sector's shift toward systemic enrollment management.

Advanced fluency in financial aid strategy, tuition discounting, and net tuition revenue concepts, including the ability to collaborate credibly with finance leadership and trustees. NAIS/DASL's definition of net tuition revenue and SAIS's framing of tuition-based economics underscore why this competency is essential in independent schools.

Strong analytical capability, including forecasting, dashboarding, longitudinal trend analysis, and the ability to translate data into strategic recommendations. EMA guidance characterizes enrollment management as increasingly dependent on integrated data and predictive modeling.

Proven leadership and people-management skills, including the ability to lead and develop a team, build healthy systems, and drive consistent execution.

Exceptional communication skills-written, verbal, and presentation-along with demonstrated ability to represent the School to prospective families, community leaders, and trustees in compelling, mission-aligned ways.

Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functionally with advancement, communications, and academic leadership. Benchmark postings consistently describe close partnership across these externally facing functions.

High professional judgment and discretion in confidential matters, especially related to financial aid, family circumstances, and sensitive communications.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience leading enrollment strategy across multiple divisions (PK-12 or equivalent), including significant retention program leadership.

Experience presenting to boards and board committees and supporting governance-level decision-making related to enrollment, pricing, and financial aid.

Experience using independent-school enrollment benchmarks such as cost-per-enrollment and ROI metrics to inform budget and strategy.

Expertise in integrated marketing strategy for independent schools, including audience segmentation, lifecycle communications, and measurable campaign execution tied to enrollment outcomes.

Experience partnering in strategic planning and institutional positioning during periods of change or growth.
Personal Attributes and Professional Dispositions

The successful candidate will be warm, credible, and mission-driven, with the executive presence to lead across departments and the discipline to execute consistently. They will combine human-centered relationship skills with rigorous planning and data practice, and they will understand that sustained enrollment health is achieved through both recruitment excellence and retention strength.

Mission

The School's mission centers on maximizing the potential of young people through a challenging, enriching, and supportive learning environment-helping students build a foundation for lives of purpose, passion, and meaning.

Nondiscrimination and Equal Opportunity

The School is committed to nondiscrimination in its educational programs and employment practices. It admits students and hires employees without unlawful discrimination, and it does not discriminate in the administration of its educational policies, financial assistance programs, hiring practices, or other school-administered programs.

Leadership scope and measures of success

Independent-school benchmarks increasingly frame the Director of Enrollment Management as a senior leader responsible for disciplined execution and for integrating strategy across departments-particularly pricing, financial aid deployment, retention, marketing, and the student/family experience.

First-year success indicators

Success in the first year is typically reflected in outcomes such as:
A clear, Board-ready multi-year strategic enrollment plan, including division-by-division targets and a defined approach to pipeline growth, yield improvement, and retention.

A cohesive admissions system with improved conversion rates at key funnel stages and a consistent, high-quality prospective family experience from inquiry to enrollment, reflecting benchmark expectations for clarity and authentic connection.

A financial aid awarding model and communication practice that is policy-aligned, mission-forward, and explicitly connected to net tuition revenue sustainability, consistent with NAIS/NBOA framing of shared leadership stewardship.

A retention program with defined annual rhythms, early-warning indicators, and measurable reduction in avoidable attrition, consistent with NAIS guidance that enrollment leaders should be deeply involved in retention.

A reliable, decision-ready reporting cadence for leadership and trustees, including longitudinal enrollment trends, financial aid distribution patterns, and cost-per-enrollment benchmarking, aligned to NAIS benchmark research.