To apply for this position, please email your cover letter and resume to hr@twc.edu with the position title in the subject line.
Reports to: Chief Growth and Strategy Officer
Department: Enrollment & Education Partnerships
Salary range: $135,000 – $145,000
The Washington Center (TWC) is a nonprofit organization committed to equitable access to experiential learning. Earned revenue sustains that mission: every student TWC enrolls advances it, and growth in enrollment allows TWC to serve more students, institutions and communities.
The Senior Director, Enrollment & Education Partnerships leads TWC’s enrollment enterprise: the strategy, marketing, partnerships, admissions and financial aid that fill TWC’s Academic Internship Program (AIP), academic seminars and short-term programs. AIP is TWC’s largest source of earned revenue, and this role is accountable for the enrollment and revenue goals that sustain it across U.S. and international markets.
TWC enrolls students through relationships with college and university partners. The Senior Director understands the enrollment process in depth (the funding rules, each partner’s financial arrangements and the economics of each program) and uses it to build an enrollment strategy that turns scholarship dollars and partner relationships into enrolled students.
The role is an enrollment, marketing and sales role first, with partnerships as one of its channels. The Senior Director sets the strategy and targets for each segment of affiliated institutions (110-160 active in any year), directs the recruitment marketing executed by Marketing & Communications, and works from the data every week to track leads, applications, conversion and revenue against goals. They own TWC’s relationships with its college and university partners, lead the partnerships, admissions and financial aid team, and travel regularly to recruit, cultivate partners and open new markets.
The Washington Center is a remote/hybrid organization with most employees working on average one day per week in TWC’s Residential and Academic Facility, conveniently located near Union Station and public transportation in the NoMa neighborhood of Washington, DC. Given our organizational mission focus on skills, workforce development and collaboration, there are times where cross-collaboration among teams and departments will require more than one day per week in the office. The individual in this role is expected to reside in the greater Washington, DC metropolitan area.
Essential Functions
Enrollment Strategy, Forecasting & Analytics
- Own the annual enrollment and partnership strategy for AIP, academic seminars and short-term programs, in alignment with the strategy set by the Chief Growth and Strategy Officer, and translate revenue goals into term-, program- and institution-level enrollment targets.
- Segment partner institutions by enrollment model (partner-led, TWC-recruited and mixed) and set the recruitment approach, resources and targets for each segment.
- Maintain the enrollment funnel model and weekly dashboards with recruitment status and revenue by term, program, state, and institution; identify risks early and adjust strategy and resources.
- Pull and analyze Salesforce data directly and produce enrollment pace analyses each cycle: applications by state and institution against prior years, conversion and melt at each stage, funded seats by state, and the gap to goal with the levers to close it.
- Produce enrollment and revenue forecasts for budgeting and leadership reporting and reconcile them with Finance.
- Track market trends, comparable programs and changes in higher education, state funding and student demand; recommend new programs, pricing or markets.
Recruitment Marketing, Sales & Lead Generation
- Serve as the internal client for Marketing & Communications on recruitment. Each cycle, deliver a recruitment marketing brief that defines target segments and institutions, audiences, messages, offers (including state-funded scholarships), channels, budget, timeline and success measures.
- Design and direct the lead-generation mix across campus visits, virtual events, digital campaigns, liaison channels and alumni referrals, deciding where in-person presence is essential and where digital outreach can substitute.
- Set and track conversion goals at each stage of the funnel and cost per application and per enrolled student by channel.
- Ensure marketing and recruitment staff understand program structures, state funding rules, eligibility and partner financial arrangements well enough to market them accurately.
- Use CRM and marketing automation (Salesforce, HubSpot) and, where appropriate, AI tools to scale personalized outreach, follow-up and reporting.
Partnerships, Business Development & State Funding
- Lead new business development with domestic and international institutions, including HBCUs and MSIs, and convert new relationships into sustainable enrollment pipelines.
- With the Chief Growth and Strategy Officer and Chief Financial Officer, negotiate partnership terms, including custom pricing, cohort and white-label programs, and memoranda of understanding.
- With Government Relations, steward state appropriations: plan their use, ensure enrollment fills funded seats, provide the data needed for reporting and renewal, and lead enrollment launches in newly funded states.
- Set TWC’s international recruitment and partnership strategy and ensure J-1 sponsorship compliance through the Financial Aid and J-1 function.
- Own TWC’s relationships with its college and university partners and personally manage a small number of strategic and new-market relationships; travel to campuses, state agencies and professional conferences.
Admissions, Financial Aid & Enrollment Operations
- Oversee admissions strategy, application review and commitment processes, with benchmarks for response time, review timeliness, and conversion.
- Oversee the allocation and administration of state, donor, and institutional scholarships to maximize enrollment, yield and access, in compliance with each funder’s requirements.
- Oversee registrar functions, grade transmission, and J-1 sponsorship processes.
- Improve processes and systems continuously to reduce administrative work and strengthen the student and partner experience.
Team Leadership & Collaboration
- Lead, develop and hold accountable for the partnerships, admissions and financial aid team.
- Set clear, measurable goals and review performance against them regularly.
- Train staff in data use, CRM, enrollment marketing and consultative partner engagement.
- Manage the unit’s operating, scholarship, and travel budgets.
- Work with Employer Relations, Programs, Housing and Community Life and Finance to deliver consistent student and partner experience from first contact through program completion.
Required Education and Experience
An equivalent combination of education, training, and experience will be considered:
- Bachelor’s degree
- 12+ years of progressive experience in enrollment management, recruitment marketing, sales or business development, including direct accountability for an enrollment or sales funnel and its revenue results, and at least 5 years leading teams
- Demonstrated success meeting enrollment or revenue targets of comparable scale, with results the candidate can document
- Direct experience designing or directing recruitment marketing and lead generation: funnel management, conversion, campaign strategy, and digital and in-person channels
- Experience with institutional or channel partnerships in which a partner organization helps reach the end customer (students)
- Sales and business development experience: moving institutional prospects through consultative conversations to signed agreements, and negotiating contracts
- Hands-on analytical skills: pulling data from a CRM such as Salesforce and personally building and interpreting enrollment funnels, forecasts and dashboards, including a single view of enrollment and revenue across programs, funding sources and markets
- Experience stewarding scholarship, appropriation or grant funding with compliance requirements
Preferred Education, Qualifications and Experience
- Experience in experiential education, study away, internship or continuing education programs
- Experience with state government funding or public university systems
- Experience with international recruitment and J-1 sponsorship
- Experience distinguishing earned revenue (tuition and institutional contracts) from philanthropic and public funding (donor scholarships and state appropriations), and working across both
Supervisory Responsibility
This is a leadership role that supervises the partnerships, admissions and financial aid team.
Travel Requirement
Travel of up to 20% is required, concentrated in the fall and spring recruitment seasons, to partner with prospective institutions, states that fund TWC scholarships, and professional conferences. Some evening and weekend work is required.
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This job description no way states or implies that these are the only duties performed by the employee occupying this position. Employees may be required to follow other job-related instructions and to perform other job-related duties as requested, subject to all applicable state and federal laws. Certain job functions described herein may be subjected to possible modification in accordance with applicable state and federal laws.
The Washington Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer. It is the policy of The Washington Center to provide equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, genetic information or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. Provisions in applicable laws providing for bona fide occupational qualifications, business necessity or age limitations will be adhered to by the organization where appropriate.
To apply for this position, please email your cover letter and resume to hr@twc.edu with the position title in the subject line.