Boca Raton, Florida
San Francisco, California
Posted: 27-Feb-26
Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana
Type: Full Time
Categories:
Preferred Education:
Position Title
Director of Enrollment Management
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
Collaborates Closely With
Business Manager/CFO; Director of Development, Director of Marketing and Communication, Division Directors; faculty and staff, board leadership and relevant board committees
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. This role owns 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. 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.
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.
Oversee needs analysis and file review processes 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.
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 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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Strong analytical capability, including forecasting, dashboarding, longitudinal trend analysis, and the ability to translate data into strategic recommendations.
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.
How to Apply:
Qualified candidates are invited to submit a single PDF document including the following materials:
- Cover letter (letter of interest)
- Current résumé/CV
- Brief statement of educational philosophy
- Names and contact information for three professional references
Please email your application materials to Autumn at ademott@canterburyschool.org, with the subject line: [Position Title] Application – [Last Name].