Assistant Director, MBA Enrollment Management Operations

Position Summary

Rice Business is a globally recognized, top-ranked graduate business school distinguished by its rigorous academic standards and a full portfolio of MBA programs, including Full-Time, Professional (Weekend and Evening), Hybrid, Executive, and Online modalities.

Reporting directly to the Assistant Dean of Recruiting and Admissions, the Assistant Director of MBA Enrollment Management Operations will support the daily management of the admissions system, including the current CRM system(SLATE) and various related platforms that guide the application journey for prospective students across all program formats. Joining the newly formed Operations team within the RAO area, the Assistant Director of MBA Enrollment Management Operations works in collaboration with Rice Business operational stakeholders, including Academic Program and Student Experience, Marketing, and Alumni Relations, but most consistently with the CRM lead.

This position will also supervise the student MBA Admissions Ambassadors and will manage the Rice Business application interview process from an operations perspective across all programs.

The position will provide technical expertise to ensure the effective use of technology, systems, workflows, and data throughout the admissions lifecycle, supporting the strategic priorities set by the Assistant Dean and CRM lead in service of meeting/exceeding enrollment targets. The Assistant Director is critical to the applicant assessment journey and provides operational best practices. This position will serve as an SME for operations in coordination with our CRM lead.

Ideal Candidate Statement

The ideal candidate for this position is detail-oriented, technically savvy, and passionate about improving and/or creating processes to enhance operational efficiency. The ideal candidate should thrive in a fast-paced environment and take a proactive approach to professional responsibilities. This person has a firm grasp of graduate management education and impressive organizational skills to manage competing priorities and high-volume workflows. This person is committed to operational excellence, is service-oriented, collaborative, and resourceful. The candidate is forward-thinking and able to work autonomously.

Workplace Requirements

Rice Business primarily delivers residential classes and activities taking place almost daily between 7 am and 10 pm. We value a highly collaborative and community-based culture, with expectations to provide in-person support and services to all members of our community. Remote work options are limited. Most employment activities are required to be performed in-person and on-campus. This in-person approach is central to the successful achievement of our research and academic missions.

This position is exclusively on-site, necessitating all duties to be performed in-person at McNair Hall on a 5-day in-office schedule with an 8:30am - 5:00 pm workday. Remote work opportunities will be assessed and approved on an as-needed basis following the successful conclusion of the probationary period

This position does include a high volume of professional events occurring both nights and weekends and may include travel both domestically and internationally as needed.

Business professional attire is often required, with the flexibility to shift to business casual on non-event, external-facing interactions.

Per Rice policy 440, work arrangements may be subject to change.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree (No substitutions permitted)
• Two or more (2+) years of professional higher education/systems management/operations experience (In lieu of the experience requirement, additional related education above and beyond what is required may be substituted on an equivalent year-for-year basis.)
• Strong knowledge of enrollment management systems operations
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills
• Excellent planning and organizational skills
• Demonstrated creativity, problem-solving, critical analysis, initiative, judgment, and decision-making skills
• Ability to accomplish goals working through formal and informal channels with diplomacy and tact
• Ability to manage priorities and handle numerous time-sensitive projects with conflicting and varied deadlines

Preferences

• Experience working in enrollment management
• Experience working in application management operations
• Experience working in graduate management environments
• Experience working with Slate or a comparable CRM system
• Experience supervising student volunteers

Essential Functions

• Subject Matter Expert (SME) for the application management workflows for prospective students driving applications from submission to final review.
• Supervise Full-Time and Working Professional student ambassadors who facilitate community assessments for prospective students
• Manage the prospective student interview process, ensuring interview options are made available to prospective students and coordinating all essential communication to applicants in collaboration with Assistant Directors.
• Ownership of the incomplete application process coordination and communication, driving applications to completion throughout the entire application cycle.
• Support the creation and refreshing of all CRM forms associated with the application review process.
• Primary point of contact for all integrated external systems, ensuring downloads of external application requirements are properly linked to the application file for each prospective student.
• Support the management of term-limited Application Readers as they assess applicants for completion and review candidates for initial reads of application packages.
• Offers operational support during the evaluation of candidates during Admissions committee meetings.
• Supports the data, query, and report requests made internally to ensure proper engagement with candidates during the application process.
• Offers operational support to strategic partners during the annual review of application updates
• Offers support to the internal annual review of application workflows, particularly annual application updates.
• Performs all duties as assigned.