Executive Director of International & Graduate Admissions

The Executive Director of International & Graduate Admissions leads comprehensive student recruitment strategies to attract, recruit, engage, and enroll highly qualified graduate and international students. The Executive Director is a key member of the strategic Enrollment Management team and reports to the Vice President of Enrollment Management. This is a strategic and operational role requiring the experience and market knowledge to develop and manage international recruitment partnerships, navigate graduate and undergraduate international markets, and drive enrollment growth through both partnerships and direct recruitment activity.

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KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Develop, grow, and manage the recruitment of international students for both graduate international and domestic markets. Maintain relationships with international recruitment partners, with the guidance of Executive Cabinet.
• Leverage an established personal network of international recruitment agents to generate immediate pipeline activity, particularly for PhD and undergraduate international programs.
• Track and report enrollment volume as a primary KPI, including info session registrants, inquiry counts, application counts, and confirmed enrollments attributed to agent networks as a first source.
• Ensure all partnership agreements comply with institutional policies and applicable regulatory requirements; escalate contract and compliance concerns to the Vice President of Enrollment Management.
• Direct the implementation and maintenance of a strategic engagement and recruitment plan for graduate, online, and international enrollment; assess and evaluate the effectiveness of recruitment initiatives on an ongoing basis.
• Facilitate and expand student networks for international recruitment at all levels through travel, info sessions, conference attendance, and other appropriate channels.
• Represent the University at key international recruitment conferences including ICEF, NAFSA, and AIRC.
• Develop and execute international social media strategies for target markets, including proficiency in international platforms such as WhatsApp, Douyin, Weibo, and comparable channels relevant to target student populations.
• Design and deliver information sessions for international prospective students across academic programs, including executive session audiences, PhD programs, and undergraduate international pipelines.
• Develop relationships and maintain regular communication with all graduate program directors to collaborate on enrollment strategies for graduate programs.
• Lead recruitment strategy for PhD programs as an immediate priority, including international and domestic pipelines.
• Oversee domestic graduate admissions operations, including programs such as MBAi, until enrollment volume warrants a dedicated position.
• Collaborate with the Office of Institutional Research, University partners, Deans, and Program Directors to forecast graduate admissions enrollments.
• Support international undergraduate recruitment as an immediate priority alongside graduate and doctoral pipelines, leveraging partnerships and direct outreach strategies.
• Coordinate with the Marketing and Communications team on the development of a strategic marketing, engagement, and recruitment plan for graduate and global enrollment; develop target market profiles for each program to drive recruiting activities.
• Communicate with graduate faculty, Marketing and Communications, and IT/web services for review and updates of all program admissions marketing materials and website information.
• Analyze data to track students through the application and enrollment process to gauge the success of recruiting efforts and strategies.
• Coordinate with the Director of Admissions Operations to ensure enrollment data collection, process integrity, and accurate reporting.
• Work directly with the Vice President of Enrollment Management on budget planning and development of graduate and global recruitment activities.
• Responsible for institutional reporting through annual assessments.
• Coordinate on-campus and off-campus recruiting activities for all graduate programs; travel to recruiting, admissions, and community-based events to market HU's academic programs to prospective students.
• Hire, train, supervise, support professional development, and evaluate professional staff members.
• Represent the Office of Graduate Admissions on university committees, both internal and external, to contribute to decision-making and institutional development regarding graduate, online, and international student recruitment, retention, and student success.

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MANAGERIAL LEADERSHIP PRACTICES

• Regularly meets with subordinate associates (weekly one-to-one, weekly or bi-weekly with teams) to discuss overall business context, plans, and problems; build understanding of how their roles connect to the organization’s mission and vision; and seek feedback. 
• Develops and executes plans and budgets for achieving departmental/unit goals. 
• Assigns tasks so associates know what is required of them (quality and quantity), by when and what resources are available. 
• Appraises how effectively associates use their judgment and discretion in role accountabilities; creates an ongoing dialogue with them about the appraisals. 
• Coaches associates to increase their effectiveness and develop strengths in their role. 
• Continuously improves systems and processes; identifies new project opportunities. 
• Recommends team additions and dismissals; solicits, screens and selects candidates for consideration. 
• Effectively orientates and trains new associates into role requirements, working relationships, company requirements and culture

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EXPECTATIONS OF ALL STAFF

• Applies best efforts and full capability each day to the work assigned by their manager.   

• Advises the manager when: 
  • An assignment is not understood.   
  • An assignment conflicts with knowledge of the circumstances, current skills, or available time/resources.   
  • Obstacles to completing the assignment exist or are likely to occur.   
  • Opportunities to better complete or improve the assignment exist or may occur.   
• Understands and demonstrates our cultural expectations.

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MINIMUM ROLE REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution required; Master's degree strongly preferred or relevant work experience within the international recruitment field.
• At least 5 years of experience in admissions, recruitment, or enrollment management in a post-secondary setting, with a minimum of 3 years focused on international and graduate admissions or recruitment.
• Demonstrated experience managing or working directly with international recruitment partnerships and agreements.
• Demonstrated knowledge of international higher education markets, including distinctions between graduate and undergraduate international recruitment pipelines.
• Familiarity with international social media and communication platforms used for student recruitment, including WhatsApp, Douyin, Weibo, and comparable tools.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with marketing teams, creative teams, and program directors.
• Experience managing a complex workload across multiple programs with varied admission cycles.
• Demonstrated ability to work under pressure and consistently meet deadlines while maintaining attention to detail.
• Ability to plan, prioritize, and manage multiple concurrent tasks and deadlines.
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively within a team environment.

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WORK HOURS

The university work week is Sunday through Saturday. Most employees are expected to work within the core hours of 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. To accommodate business needs, employees may be assigned to other workdays and/or hours, including weekends and evenings, and may be required to work overtime.