Associate Director of Student Recruitment & Enrollment Operations

Position Summary

KIPP Public Schools Northern California is in search of a dynamic operational leader for the role of Associate Director of Student Recruitment & Enrollment Operations. KIPP NorCal’s mission is to create joyful, academically excellent TK-12th grade schools (tuition-free) that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose—college, career and beyond—so they can lead fulfilling lives and create a more just world.

The Associate Director of Student Recruitment & Enrollment Operations will join our Recruitment and Enrollment team of 10+ staff and oversee, improve and scale new and existing student recruitment and enrollment operations for KIPP NorCal’s network of 20+ schools across seven cities in the Bay Area and Stockton. Building strong relationships with diverse stakeholders, positively leading teams to drive results, and overseeing recruitment and enrollment operational systems and processes with excellence and a strategic lens will be critical to the Associate Director's success. The ideal candidate will be a strategic thinker, systems-minded leader, and excellent project and people manager with a successful track record of effective change management and improvement of processes and systems.

This role will report to the Director of Student Recruitment and Enrollment. This is a hybrid role with an expectation of at least 2 days per week onsite at our Regional Support Office in Oakland as well as regular travel to our schools and local communities, as needed.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

Core functions include operational oversight of the region-wide recruitment and enrollment roadmap, management of student recruitment and enrollment staff, ownership of our lead generation and school application platforms, and operational planning and execution of our school lotteries in the spring, in strong partnership with school leadership and cross-functional partners. Key activities include, but are not limited to:

Operational Leadership and Systems Management

Recruitment Ops – Lead annual applications and in-house lottery processes across all KIPP NorCal schools. Track lead and applicant data to enable systematic progress monitoring and reporting to key stakeholders. Recommend and implement improvements to recruitment tactics to maximize student and family demand for our schools.

Enrollment Ops – With the Regional and School Operations teams, drive conversion efforts of applicants to students in seats along with systematic progress monitoring and reporting to key stakeholders. Recommend and implement improvements to conversion tactics to maximize enrollment.

Enabling Systems – Develop and improve the tools, systems, and processes to support the effective execution of student recruitment and enrollment operations across the region. Ensure people and teams are trained on how to use them.

Platform Ownership and Optimization – Serve as the business owner of all student recruitment and enrollment systems (SchoolMint, Hubspot, and others).

Other duties as assigned.

Team and People Management

Effectively manage and develop a centralized recruitment team of 6+ staff, cultivating a collaborative and inclusive team culture that empowers leaders, and where diverse backgrounds and perspectives are respected and valued.

Execute an annual professional development program across the cohort of recruitment leaders and their staff to improve their efforts based on experience and best-practices.

Own hiring of new recruitment leads across our regions, as needed.

Cross-functional Collaboration and Communication

Collaborate regularly with other departments in the Regional Support Office including Regional Operations, Marketing & Communications, Finance, Data and others.

Understand each school’s value proposition, culture and community dynamics. Establish credibility with KIPP schools’ leadership team (principal, operations manager, etc.) and effectively articulate recruitment and enrollment progress along with upcoming activities on a regular basis.

Required Education

Bachelor's Degree or equivalent experience.

Required Experience and Qualifications

Strong integrity and commitment to KIPP’s mission and values.

5+ years of professional experience in an operational leadership role.

3+ years of professional experience managing direct reports, people managers and teams.

Well-honed attention to detail paired with an ability to “zoom out” to a broader strategic lens.

Excellent oral and written communication.

Strong project management skills with the ability to prioritize and balance competing priorities.

Adept at building and cultivating effective working relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders; strong interpersonal skills.

Results oriented.

Service oriented.

Values a culture of giving and receiving feedback with respect, empathy and transparency.

Preferred Experience and Qualifications

Experience in one or more of the following: TK-12 education sector, non-profit sector, student recruitment and enrollment operations, and/or a multi-site organization.

Experience with SchoolMint.

Experience using a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool, such as Hubspot.

Experience using a work management tool, such as Asana.

Familiarity with technologies including Google productivity tools like Gmail, Google drive, and video conferencing tools like Zoom.

Fluency in spoken and written Spanish.

Understanding of TK-12 public education and school operations.

Physical, Mental and Environmental Demands

Physical: Ability to navigate office and school campuses, and hold meetings in different spaces. Traditionally, much of the day involves sitting. Ability to access and utilize technology. Occasional lifting/carrying of equipment 1-20lbs. Physical agility to move self in various positions in order to execute duties effectively, which may include kneeling, walking, pushing/pulling, squatting, twisting, turning, bending, stooping and reaching overhead.

Mental: Stress of deadlines and normal professional work standards. Ability to analyze problems and generate alternatives, memorize and recall objects and people.

Environmental: Canvassing, event tabling, and flyering in the field may require work outdoors. When working remotely, the individual will establish a productive, remote work environment (e.g., be able to reliably connect through phone and computer to recurring meetings).

Classification

Full-time, exempt position based on RSO calendar and time-off policy.

About KIPP Public Schools Northern California

We are a thriving nonprofit network of 22 free, public charter schools open to all students. At KIPP, we believe all children should grow up free to create the future they want for themselves and that schools can and should be a critical factor in making that vision a reality. Together with families and communities, we create joyful, academically excellent schools that prepare students with the skills and confidence to pursue the paths they choose—college, career, and beyond—so they can lead fulfilling lives and build a more just world.

Our student community consists of nearly 7,000 elementary, middle, and high school students in East Palo Alto, Oakland, San Francisco, San Lorenzo, San José, Redwood City, and Stockton. 81% qualify for free or reduced price lunch, 34% are multilingual learners, and 12% have special needs. We strive to cultivate a representative team of teachers and leaders that reflect our students’ diversity.

Compensation

KIPP Northern California is dedicated to you and your family's well-being! KIPP offers a competitive salary as well as a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental, vision, 401k, and transportation benefits.

We benchmark annually against comparably-sized non-profit organizations in the regions where we operate, to offer competitive salaries. The salary range for this position is between $102,000 and $125,000. Most candidates would be compensated at $109,000.

How to Apply