Director of Enrollment Strategy, Analytics, & Special Projects

About Us

Middle Georgia State University (MGA), a multi-campus, baccalaureate and graduate degree-granting public institution, is the most affordable public state university in Georgia. MGA has five campuses-Macon, Cochran, Dublin, Eastman, and Warner Robins, all located in central Georgia-and global outreach through its fully-online campus. Its enrollment of 8,400 students is largely comprised of students from most of Georgia's 159 counties. The University has six academic schools, including Georgia's flagship aviation program, that support its mission to educate and graduate inspired, lifelong learners whose scholarship and careers enhance the state.

Job Summary

The Division of Enrollment Management leads the University's work in undergraduate admissions and recruitment, financial aid, and marketing and communications. The division uses data, disciplined execution, effective communication, and cross-university collaboration to expand access, strengthen enrollment, improve student progression, and advance MGA's reputation and public mission.

The Director of Enrollment Strategy, Analytics & Special Projects is a strategy-and-execution partner to the Vice President for Enrollment Management. The position turns complex data, ambitious ideas, and executive priorities into clear decisions, coordinated action, and measurable results across admissions and recruitment, financial aid, enrollment partnerships, and marketing and communications.

This is an intentionally hybrid role for a professional who can move confidently between analysis and action. Duties will include building an Excel forecasting model, evaluating marketing return on investment, and preparing executive briefings on various institutional projects. Facilitate and coordinate recruitment initiatives, build an advance plan for existing and new major events, manage project budgets, resolve implementation barriers, and ensure that every owner meets the next deadline.

The successful candidate will be a builder and finisher: highly self-directed, relentlessly organized, comfortable establishing accountability, positive under pressure, and committed to excellent work. The role requires intellectual curiosity, sound judgment, discretion, energy, resilience, and the perspective and appropriate sense of humor needed to help teams do demanding work well.

Responsibilities

Enrollment Analytics and Strategic Decision Support (30%) -
Develop, maintain, and analyze enrollment financial aid, marketing, and student success data to support strategic planning, forecasting, and decision making.
Produce and maintain reports, dashboards, forecasts, scenario analyses, that integrate and analyze data from student information, customer relationship management, financial aid, marketing, and related systems.
Translate complex data into actionable insights for executive and operational audiences.
Establish clear definitions, quality checks, documentation, and version control for enrollment metrics; partner with Institutional Research, Information Technology, Finance, and functional offices to resolve discrepancies and improve data reliability.

Strategic Initiatives and Project Management (30%) -
Serve as the Vice President's lead implementation partner for high-priority initiatives, converting goals into work plans with owners, milestones, decision points, dependencies, risks, budgets, and measurable outcomes.
Develop and maintain project plans, timelines, budgets, performance measures, and implementation strategies to ensure successful execution.
Prepare executive briefing books, talking points, decision memos, meeting agendas, presentations, project updates, and concise summaries of complex issues.
Facilitate project meetings that end with clear decisions, named owners, due dates, and documented next steps; respectfully hold participants accountable for execution.

Research, Innovation, and Development (15%) -
Conduct research to identify enrollment opportunities, threats, emerging audiences, and potential areas for investment.
Develop and evaluate business cases and pilot proposals for new recruitment markets, academic partnerships, communication strategies, technologies, revenue opportunities, and student-support interventions.
Research grants, sponsorships, partnerships, and other funding or resource-development opportunities that support enrollment and institutional priorities; assist with proposal development and implementation planning as assigned.

Budget, Marketing, and Performance Management (20%) -
Develop, monitor, reconcile, and forecast assigned budgets; track commitments and expenditures; identify risks and opportunities; and prepare clear budget and return-on-investment reports.
Partner with Marketing and Communications and Admissions to plan, monitor, and assess recruitment and brand campaigns across digital, email, text, print, event, and other channels.
Connect marketing activity to enrollment outcomes by analyzing audience, reach, engagement, conversion, cost per inquiry, cost per applicant, cost per enrolled student, yield, and other agreed-upon measures.
Support vendor research, scopes of work, procurement documentation, implementation, performance reviews, and contract-related planning in coordination with the appropriate university offices.

Other Duties (5%) -
Represent the Vice President and the Division of Enrollment Management on committees, project teams, and at events as assigned.
Perform other related duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

Educational Requirements
Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university in business, analytics, information systems, economics, marketing, public administration, higher education, or a related field.

Other Required Qualifications
Use of advanced Microsoft Excel capabilities, including PivotTables, Power Query, lookup and array functions, data validation, forecasting tools, charts, and financial models, to produce accurate and decision-ready analysis, as well as producing and maintaining SQL queries.
Ability to work occasional evenings and weekends and travel among MGA campuses and to university-related events as needed.

Required Experience
Five years of progressively responsible professional experience involving data analysis, project or program management, strategy, operations, enrollment management, marketing, finance, consulting, or a closely related field.

Preferred Qualifications

Preferred Educational Qualifications
Master's Degree, Master of Business Administration (MBA) or related degree strongly preferred.
A master's degree in business analytics, data science, information systems, marketing, public administration, higher education administration, or a closely related field will also be considered.

Preferred Experience
Experience with a student information system, customer relationship management platform, business-intelligence tool, and marketing analytics platform; experience with Banner, Salesforce/TargetX, Tableau, or Power BI is desirable.
Experience supporting an executive leader, campaign, public official, consulting team, or similarly fast-moving organization in which advance planning, rapid response, research, briefing preparation, and disciplined follow-through were essential.
Experience developing business cases, evaluating return on investment, managing vendors, conducting market research, or launching new programs or pilots.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

Knowledge of enrollment strategy, research design, descriptive and inferential analysis, forecasting, performance measurement, and data visualization.
Knowledge of budget development, financial analysis, purchasing, and responsible stewardship of university resources.
Knowledge of marketing strategy, audience segmentation, campaign measurement, conversion analysis, and return on investment.
Advanced skill in Microsoft Excel and working skill in SQL, with the ability to produce accurate, reproducible, and well-documented analysis.
Skill in project design and execution, including developing work plans, setting milestones, anticipating risks, coordinating logistics, and driving work to completion.
Skill in research, business writing, executive briefing, presentation development, and communicating complex information clearly to varied audiences.
Skill in decision-making, problem-solving, negotiation, and respectful accountability.
Skill in building productive relationships and coordinating work across organizational boundaries without relying solely on formal authority.
Ability to manage competing priorities, remain composed and constructive under pressure, and adjust quickly as conditions change.
Ability to combine high standards and urgency with optimism, collegiality, empathy, and an appropriate sense of humor.
Ability to ask incisive questions, challenge assumptions respectfully, recognize when additional evidence is needed, and recommend a clear course of action.

USG Core Values

The University System of Georgia is comprised of our 25 institutions of higher education and learning as well as the System Office. Our USG Statement of Core Values are Integrity, Excellence, Accountability, and Respect. These values serve as the foundation for all that we do as an organization, and each USG community member is responsible for demonstrating and upholding these standards. More details on the USG Statement of Core Values and Code of Conduct are available in USG Board Policy 8.2.18.1.2 and can be found on-line at https://www.usg.edu/policymanual/section8/C224/#p8.2.18_personnel_conduct.

Additionally, USG supports Freedom of Expression as stated in Board Policy 6.5 Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom found on-line at https://www.usg.edu/policymanual/section6/C2653.

Institutional Values

Middle Georgia State University is committed to four core values in what we do and represent: CORE VALUES: Stewardship - Engagement - Adaptability - Learning

Equal Employment Opportunity

Middle Georgia State University is committed to ensuring a safe learning environment that supports the dignity of all members of the University community. Equal opportunity and decisions based on merit are fundamental values of the University System of Georgia (USG) and Middle Georgia State University. Pursuant to Board of Regents Policy Section 6.6 , federal and state laws and regulations, and our vision, mission, and values, Middle Georgia State University prohibits discrimination on the basis of an individual's age, color, disability, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, or veteran status ("protected status"). No individual shall be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or otherwise subjected to unlawful discrimination, harassment, or retaliation under, any USG program or activity because of the individual's protected status; nor shall any individual be given preferential treatment because of the individual's protected status, except that preferential treatment may be given on the basis of veteran status when appropriate under federal or state law.

Other Information

This is a full-time, 12-month, exempt (salaried) staff position and includes a comprehensive benefits package. Benefits include:

• Health insurance
• Dental
• Vision
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)
• Health Savings Account (HSA)
• Life Insurance
• Sick Leave
• Vacation Leave
• Parental Leave
• Retirement
• Employee discounts
• Tuition reimbursement

Background Check

Employment offer is contingent upon completing a background investigation, including a criminal background check demonstrating your employment eligibility with MGA, as determined by MGA in its sole discretion, confirmation of the credentials and employment history reflected in your application material, and, if applicable, a satisfactory credit check.

Organization

One of 31 institutions in the University System of Georgia, Middle Georgia State was created in 2013 by the consolidation of Macon State College and Middle Georgia College.

Middle Georgia State College strives to offer bachelor's degrees that enhance the educational, economic, and cultural lives of Middle Georgians. Additionally, the college offers a wide array of associate's degrees that meet the educational interests of traditional and non-traditional students in the region. With low tuition, robust financial aid, a commitment to the success of each student and a vibrant residence life program on three of our five campuses, Middle Georgia State promises an affordable, challenging, and rewarding college experience leading to degrees of proven quality. Our success is measured best by the accomplishments of our graduates in their chosen professions, as well as by the contributions they make to their communities.