Your opportunity
EF High School Exchange Year sponsors international high school students who spend a semester or academic year living with volunteer host families across the United States. In order to provide exceptional support for these students, we seek to hire a Program Advisor with a track record of proven success in the education sector, volunteer management, teenage mentorship, customer service or other related field.
Our international teenage students experience a true cultural exchange as they leave behind the familiarity of their home country, culture, and language, and immerse themselves in the local lifestyles of their host community. Imagine being a 16-year-old foreign student who has grown up living in a big city and is now on an exchange year living in a small town in the Midwest. What challenges might you encounter as you settle into a new community at the start of a new school year? How do you adjust to the expectations of your new host family? How do you manage homesickness and culture shock? Who do you turn to for guidance and support? The Program Advisor is a resource, mentor, and coach who is there to help with all challenges our teenage students face.
What You’ll Do
Our Program Advisors are responsible for supporting participants through the predictable and unexpected challenges of being part of exchange. The Program Advisor partners with a team of local coordinators to support high school exchange students, while also communicating with volunteer host families and colleagues in our recruitment offices abroad to ensure seamless collaboration. Our goal is to help students learn, grow and succeed in their American surroundings and provide personalized support to them along the way. Working across different cultures and time zones adds yet another global layer to this dynamic role! To further strengthen the support provided to program participants, you will also be tasked with overseeing projects that are aimed to enhance program quality. The Program Advisor monitors student safety and wellbeing in-line with the industry standards set forth by the US Department of State.
Members of our Program Support team experience seasonality with student support much like the academic calendar. The fall season is fast paced as students settle into their exchange year, with spring and summer focused on quality-driven initiatives to enhance team operations. Program Advisors join a team of responders to our 24/7 emergency support line, serving as a point of contact a several times per year.
Who You Are:
Your outstanding relationship building, communication, and mediation skills, combined with your passionate performance and creative approach, and your sincere interest in international education will ensure a positive program experience for all participants.
Bachelor’s degree or commensurate experience
3 years of previous experience in related field
Ability to travel 2-4 times per year
Ability to work a flexible shift a plus
Commitment to ensuring student safety and wellbeing
Relationship building, conflict resolution and mediation skills
Ability to communicate diplomatically with diverse program participants
Desire to find innovative ways to connect with and coach all program participants to success
Ability to make and implement difficult decisions and compromises while prioritizing competing projects and issues
Attention to detail and strong writing skills
Strong work-ethic, personal accountability, ability to work well both individually and in a team environment
Experience working with diverse cultures and backgrounds a plus
Why you’ll love working here: Perks, Benefits, and more!
This is the most fun, high caliber place you’ll ever work. Ask any employee why they love EF (whether they’ve been here 10 minutes or 10 years) and they’ll probably tell you the same thing: it’s the people. When you work at EF, you join a purpose-driven, international and energetic community that thrives on continuous learning, fearless innovation and mutual support.
In addition, you can expect:
Commitment to professional growth: robust monthly calendar of trainings and workshops
Starting salary $50,000-$55,000 annually
Four weeks paid vacation your first year, ten paid holidays, and two floating holidays
Exciting business travel opportunities
25% company match on your 401(k) contributions
Market-leading medical, dental and vision coverage, along with options for life and disability insurance, legal and pet insurance
Dependent care, healthcare and commuter Flex Spending Accounts (FSAs)
Access to fertility care and family-building support
Wellness benefits including a yearly fitness reimbursement
Frequent social and learning events, including access to our employee-run resource groups
Robust Employee Assistance Program
Tenure-based sabbatical eligibility
EF Product Discounts (discounts on travel, international language schools, Au Pair program and more)
Discounts at local venues and businesses
About EF Education First
Some companies are in the Business of Technology.
Others are in the Business of Finance….Sports…Or Soft Drinks.
At EF, we're in a different kind of Business.
One that's a little less tangible, and a lot more important.
Because our Business, what we make, makes everything else possible.
We're in the Business of Understanding.
Between people. Between cultures.
For over half a century we’ve been the leader in international educational programs and experiences designed to foster such understanding. Through Language, Cultural Exchange, Academic Studies, and Educational Travel, we create the kinds of immersive experiences that challenge biases, open minds, and pave the way for a more understanding world.
You’ll find our 115 offices located in some of the world’s greatest cities, and filled with smart, driven people who push each other to be better every day. And yes, we have technology, we have finance, we even have sports with our own professional cycling team. But it’s what we do with it – Building greater understanding, breaking down barriers, and creating a better world…that makes all the difference.
About EF High School Exchange Year
EF High School Exchange Year is a non-profit high school foreign exchange program affiliated with Education First. We’ve been promoting global awareness through student exchange for over 40 years. Our ideals are simple: we believe that cultural exchange makes the world a better place. We bring high school students from around the world to live with volunteer host families across the USA for a semester or full academic year. This J-1 Visa exchange program fosters cross-cultural understanding, tolerance, open-mindedness and global connections. For more information, please visit www.efexchangeyear.org.
