Director of Enrollment Strategy

DIRECTOR OF ENROLLMENT STRATEGY (Confidential Search)

Los Angeles County, California

An independent school in Los Angeles County seeks a thoughtful, strategic, and community-centered leader to serve as its next Director of Enrollment Strategy.

Rooted in progressive education and guided by a mission to challenge the mind, nurture the heart, and celebrate human dignity, this K–12 independent school known for its inquiry-driven pedagogy, commitment to belonging, and emphasis on authentic relationships. As the School advances its Strategic Plan and looks toward its next chapter—including programmatic refinement, a strengthened middle school identity, and long-range sustainability planning—it seeks an enrollment leader who can bring clarity, coherence, and strategic vision to the full enrollment lifecycle.

Reporting to the Head of School and serving on the senior administrative team, the Director will lead institutional enrollment strategy across recruitment, admissions, retention, and outreach.

This leader will guide both short-term enrollment execution and long-term forecasting, ensuring alignment between enrollment practices, the School’s mission, and its financial model.

The Director will also help strengthen the School's visibility within the independent school landscape, working closely with Communications and Advancement to ensure the School’s distinctive approach to progressive education is clearly and compellingly communicated to prospective families and community partners.

The Director supervises the Director of K–12 Admission and key admissions team members and collaborates closely with Communications, Advancement, Finance, and Division Heads.

This role is well-suited for a seasoned systems-builder and storyteller—excited by the prospect of increasing awareness of an excellent progressive school education experience. This is someone who sees enrollment not merely as a transactional process, but as a mission-centered function that integrates strategy, market awareness, and relationship-building at the heart of school vitality.

STRATEGIC PRIORITIES

The Director will approach the role with curiosity and optimism, prioritizing the following:

• Develop and implement a comprehensive strategic enrollment plan integrating recruitment, admissions, retention, indexed tuition strategy (our flexible tuition process for socioeconomic diversity), long-range forecasting, and market positioning.
• Establish data-informed enrollment modeling practices that support financial sustainability, socioeconomic diversity, and balanced division enrollment.
• Strengthen retention systems so families feel known, supported, and aligned with the School's mission throughout the K–12 journey.
• Design and implement a cohesive outreach and marketing strategy that expands awareness of the School's educational model and strengthens the enrollment pipeline through feeder relationships, community partnerships, mission-aligned organizations, and strategic communications.
• Partner with Communications/Advancement to articulate the School's value proposition clearly and consistently across recruitment materials, digital platforms, and events.
• Build institutional clarity and accountability around enrollment goals, metrics, and cross-divisional collaboration.

THE POSITION: Strategic Enrollment Leadership

• Develop and execute a multi-year strategic enrollment management plan aligned with institutional priorities.
• Forecast enrollment trends and model enrollment scenarios in partnership with the Head of School and CFO.
• Monitor key performance indicators including inquiries, applications, yield, retention, indexed tuition distribution, and revenue impact.
• Advise the Head of School and Board on demographic trends, market conditions, and competitive positioning.
• Oversee enrollment-related policy development and process refinement.
• Ensure alignment between enrollment strategy and the School’s commitment to diversity, equity, and belonging.
• Collaborate with Communications to translate enrollment insights into targeted outreach and recruitment initiatives.

OUTREACH AND MARKET DEVELOPMENT

Design and implement a proactive outreach strategy that expands awareness of the School

and strengthens enrollment pipelines, including:

• Feeder school cultivation
• Internal and external marketing for retention
• Community partnerships
• Access organization relationships
• Employer and scholarship partnerships
• Engagement with educational consultants and community networks
• Represent the School at regional and national admissions associations and events.
• Partner with Communications to ensure compelling, consistent storytelling across recruitment channels. Use enrollment data to identify pipeline gaps and develop targeted recruitment initiatives.

LEADERSHIP AND SUPERVISION

Supervise the Director of K–12 Admission, who oversees:

• Interviews
• File review
• Admissions committee process
• Family communication
• Admissions events
• Provide strategic direction to admissions staff while ensuring operational excellence and mission alignment.
• Develop systems that clarify roles, workflows, and accountability within the admissions office.
• Foster a culture of professionalism, ethical practice, and warmth in all family-facing interactions.
• Ensure the admissions process reflects the School's values and clearly communicates its educational experience.

RETENTION AND ENROLLMENT EXPERIENCE

• Develop and implement a comprehensive retention strategy in partnership with division leaders.
• Track attrition patterns and conduct longitudinal enrollment analysis.
• Ensure the enrollment experience—from inquiry through re-enrollment—reflects the School's values of dignity, respect, and belonging.
• Partner closely with the Business Office to align indexed tuition practices with enrollment strategy.

QUALITIES AND ATTRIBUTES

The School seeks an enrollment leader who combines strategic discipline with relational depth. The successful candidate will be:

• A systems thinker who can translate mission into measurable enrollment outcomes.
• Deeply relational, able to build trust with families across diverse socioeconomic and cultural contexts.
• Data-informed without losing sight of the human relationships that define independent school communities.
• A compelling communicator who can clearly articulate the value of a progressive, inquiry-based K–12 education.
• A collaborative partner across divisions and departments.
• Comfortable navigating complexity and institutional growth.
• Committed to long-term institutional sustainability and stewardship.
• Attuned to independent school market dynamics and skilled at connecting mission-driven education with families who will value it.

This leader understands that enrollment is not simply about filling seats—it is about curating a

community.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
• Demonstrated success in admissions and/or enrollment management leadership.
• Experience developing strategic enrollment plans informed by data, sales knowledge, and market analysis.
• Familiarity with financial aid and indexed tuition models and Clarity (Application used for assessing indexed tuition and issuing family contracts)
• Strong analytical and forecasting skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication abilities.
• Demonstrated cultural competency and commitment to diversity, equity, and belonging.
• Experience supervising and developing professional staff.
• Independent school experience preferred.
• Experience collaborating with communications or marketing teams to support mission-aligned recruitment and institutional visibility is highly valued.

Salary Range: $100-$150K