Director of Strategic Engagement

Hillel at Kent State University

Role Overview

Join Hillel at Kent State University as our Director of Strategic Engagement as a leader who helps to ensure we foster an environment in which everyday Jewish students feel empowered to meaningfully engage with Judaism. You’ll be excellent in this role if you can’t leave the coffee line without chatting with the person next to you and have an infectious curiosity about the world. The  Director of Strategic Engagement is the leading face of Jewish student engagement on campus, coordinating our student-facing initiatives in partnership with the Director of Jewish Student LIfe, Israel Fellow, and Senior Jewish Educator. You’ll meet students, university partners, and stakeholders across Kent and Akron’s campuses, as well as throughout the vibrant Jewish communities of Cleveland and Akron, Ohio.

What You’ll Do

Lead the Student Life Team

• Supervise the Director of Student Life; guiding, directing and supporting their professional growth and success.
• Create and implement a student engagement plan for the University of Akron. 
• Collaborate with the Israel Fellow and Senior Jewish EducatorCoordinate clear, stretch goals for each member of the student life team.
• Meet weekly with the student life team to ensure they have full support to achieve their goals and remove barriers.
• Create a collaborative, strong team dynamic with a “win together, fail together” mentality.
• Lead with Jewish and organizational values at the forefront of decision making; inject Jewish values and wisdom into leadership approach.
• Work with the student life team to manage the programming budget.
• Empower staff and students to ideate regularly, providing appropriate time, space and resources to drive creativity.
• Reward team for innovative behaviors: bringing forward new, unique ideas; making mistakes and sharing their reflections/learnings; bringing “outside-in” perspective based on benchmarking and research from other similar organizations or peers.
• Manage student engagement database.
• Distill and analyze data which will enable the organization to make better decisions and track on an ongoing basis.
• Work with the student life team to build automated reports that will enable the organization to measure success over time.
• Review reports regularly and to draw correlations and measure ROI of programs/initiatives.

Be An Organizational Leader

• Serve as a part of the Kent Hillel leadership team. Be viewed as a leader across the business – with students, staff, community members, donors and other key stakeholders.
• Encourage calculated risk taking and independent decision making where appropriate.
• Support building a culture of philanthropy throughout the organization. Every leadership team member is expected to participate in fundraising conversations and initiatives.
• Understand and communicate the impact of our work in a way that resonates in a compelling way with donors and community members.
• As a part of the Student Life team, we expect every team member to:
• Hold at least 5 relationship-building meetings/ a week to develop 1:1 relationships and gain a deeper understanding of our various target audiences. 
• Be a part of the staff rotation for Shabbat and holiday programming, ensuring each and every student feels warmly welcomed into Hillel’s “doors.” 
• Be an active leadership presence for key events and initiatives throughout the year as determined in partnership with the Executive Director.
• Support recruitment for immersive experiences such as Birthright Israel, Onward, Fact Finders and Jewish Learning Fellowships
• Participate in ongoing Jewish learning and professional development.

What You’ve Accomplished

• 3+ years of work experience, ideally within a Jewish setting
• Experience as a professional in a Jewish nonprofit organization is preferred
• Bachelor’s degree required, Master’s degree preferred. Candidates with Jewish experiential education and the relevant experience are also encouraged to apply.
• Proven success in: 
  
  • Management of multiple projects while maintaining quality
  • You understand the needs of a highly diverse, social student population, and know how to navigate a large campus environment. 
  • Creating structures and opportunities that assist and empower students to take initiative and ownership for their communities 
  • Communicating needs and vision clearly in an ever-changing environment

What You’ll Bring to the Job

• An outgoing, welcoming, warm, and inclusive personality that embodies a true commitment to Jewish pluralism – in concept and in practice.
• Strong communication skills with an aptitude for meeting students where they’re at.
• Excitement to work within a pluralistic Jewish community.
• The ability to work both independently and as part of a team, as well as collaborate with University and community partners.
• Thoughtfulness and creativity; have great attention to detail and strong project management skills, and be able to juggle many projects and responsibilities simultaneously while remaining calm. 
• Exceptional time management and organizational skills, conducive to managing and navigating the many facets of Hillel’s work. 
• Comfort helping to prepare and serve food as part of programs, Shabbat, and relational meals during learning cohorts.
• The ability to help create an environment in which students want to be. 
• A strong self-motivated, flexible, resilient work ethic.
• A sense of comfort with one’s own Jewish self, and the interest in and ability to help support students on their authentic Jewish journeys.

What You’ll Receive

• A salaried, exempt position with an estimated salary of $52-62k, depending on experience. 
• A flexible work schedule; the ability to work remotely during parts of school breaks and during the summers; the ability to take extended time off during the summer season for travel, professional development, etc. 
• A comprehensive benefits package including health insurance; employer-contributed retirement plan upon vestment; Life, AD&D and Long-Term Disability (LTD) insurances; generous vacation/sick time; and parental leave.
• Great professional development, mentoring, and skill building opportunities.
• The opportunity to work with a small, welcoming, supportive team on a beautiful campus.
• Occasional travel for conferences, training, special events.
• Plenty of Hillel Swag!
• Please note: Due to the nature of student life, during the semesters this position will require several nights/weekends, including for Shabbat and holidays.

About Hillel at Kent State University

Hillel at Kent State is the foundation for Jewish life at Kent State University, the University of Akron, and beyond, serving 1,250 Jewish students. We seek to inspire Jewish undergraduate and graduate students to make enduring commitments to Jewish life in ways that are meaningfully relevant to their lives. Our home, The Cohn Jewish Student Center, opened in 2009 as an 11,000-square foot state-of-the-art facility which sits in the heart of Kent’s campus. It is the first Hillel building on campus at a state school. Hillel at Kent State is located 25 minutes from Akron, Ohio and 40 minutes from Cleveland’s east side, home to a thriving Jewish community of 80,000+. Hillel at Kent State University is a partner agency of Jewish Federation of Cleveland, one of the premier Federations in the country, and additionally received support and partners with JewishAkron, the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation, and Canton Jewish Federation. 

The Jewish communities in Akron and Cleveland are large enough to have your choice from a variety of synagogues, Jewish organizations and cultural opportunities, but small enough that you’ll soon know people at the kosher butcher. They offer big city opportunities with midwest appeal. 

Questions? Please contact Rachel Felber, Hillel at Kent State University Executive Director, rfelber@kenthillel.org

Hillel at Kent State University is affiliated with Hillel International. Hillel International enriches the lives of Jewish students so they may enrich the Jewish people and the world, and envisions a world where every student is inspired to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning and Israel.

About Hillel International

In 1923, Rabbi Benjamin Frankel started Hillel with humble means, a noble mission and a breathtaking vision: to convey Jewish civilization to a new generation. Today, Hillel International continues to enrich the lives of Jewish students and is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world at nearly 1,000 colleges and universities across North America and around the world. As Hillel evolves as an organization, the mission remains steadfast: to create lasting connections with every Jewish student that foster an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning, and Israel and train them to become the next Jewish leaders.

Hillel is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to creating an accepting and inclusive environment for all.