The Assistant Director, Student Engagement (AD) leads a team supporting key stages of the student life cycle for Carnegie’s university partners. This hands-on role involves setting daily priorities, coaching staff, and ensuring consistent, high-quality service aligned with client expectations. The manager uses strong project management and data-driven insights to optimize performance, collaborates with internal teams and external partners, and must be flexible with scheduling, including potential evening and weekend coverage.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- Enrollment Strategy & Performance
- Develop and execute enrollment strategies that drive application volume, yield, and start rates through phone, email, text, and virtual engagement channels.
- Partner with marketing and academic leadership to align outreach efforts with institutional recruitment goals.
- Admissions Operations Management
- Oversee the full application lifecycle through centralized, virtual workflows, including inquiry handling, application support, document collection, interview coordination, and admissions decisions.
- Ensure consistent, high-quality service delivery across all contact channels.
- Student Recruitment & Virtual Engagement
- Lead virtual recruitment team and their initiatives such as call campaigns, virtual open houses, online info sessions, and targeted outreach to prospective students.
- Understanding of and expertise in high-touch engagement methods
- Client Relationship & Pipeline Development
- Build and sustain strong relationships with the client schools through regular communications and meetings.
- Manage the day-to-day operations of assigned enrollment pipelines, ensuring appropriate engagement strategies are deployed.
- Apply a proactive approach to managing the student life cycle, ensuring performance benchmarks are met or exceeded.
- CRM, Data & Reporting
- Operate with the client school’s CRM and contact center systems, ensuring accurate tracking of leads, applications, and enrollment milestones.
- Analyze funnel performance, contact effectiveness, and agent productivity to inform staffing, outreach strategies, and process improvements.
- Prepare regular performance and enrollment reports for executive leadership.
- Compliance & Process Governance
- Ensure all admissions processes comply with institutional policies, accreditation standards, FERPA, and applicable state and federal regulations.
- Maintain consistent documentation and audit-ready admissions workflows.
- Call Center Leadership & Workforce Management
- Recruit, train, coach, and evaluate admissions representatives operating in a high-volume contact center environment (Five9/Zoom).
- Set performance expectations for service quality, conversion outcomes, and regulatory compliance.
- Partner with workforce management or operations teams to align staffing with inquiry and application demand.
Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:
- Experience leading admissions, enrollment services, or education-focused contact centers in higher education, career education, or K-12 environments.
- Proven ability to manage teams in structured, metrics-driven environments while maintaining strong student-centered service values.
- Strong operational and workflow management skills, including the ability to design, adjust, and optimize processes.
- Effective communicator able to provide clarity, guidance, and alignment across multiple teams and partners.
- Ability to interpret and apply CRM data to operational improvements and to manage performance and enrollment pipelines.
- Proficient in admissions CRMs, student information systems, call center platforms, and productivity tools (Slate/Five9/Slack/Zoom/Google Workspace).
- Ability to navigate telephony platforms (preferably Five9) to identify performance trends.
- Strong decision-making and critical-thinking abilities in a fast-paced environment.
- Demonstrated capacity to work cross-functionally and influence operational outcomes without direct supervision.
- Excellent organization, prioritization, and time management skills.
- Ability to learn and navigate multiple technology platforms simultaneously.
Performance Metrics
- Achievement of enrollment, start, and persistence targets
- Improvement in inquiry-to-application and applicant-to-enrolled conversion rates
- Contact effectiveness (speed to contact, contact rate, follow-up completion)
- Staff performance metrics including quality scores, productivity, and adherence to compliance standards in conjunction with CC data and quality personnel
Credentials and Experience:
- Bachelor’s Degree preferred; equivalent experience considered.
- Graduate level education or experience preferred
- Experience in enrollment services, student support operations, contact centers, higher education administration, or process management strongly preferred.
- Experience with CRM systems and enrollment communication workflows required.
- Demonstrated success contributing to operational, logistical, or process-driven work environments.