Director of Residence Life

Director of Residence Life

Company: Jackson College

Category: Residence Life and Housing

Type: Full-Time

Salary: $65,000.00 - $75,000.00 Annually

Location: Jackson, MI

Job Type: Administrator

Department: Residence Life

Opening Date: 02/10/2026

Closing Date: 5/11/2026 11:59 PM Eastern

POSITION SUMMARY

The Director of Residence Life provides vision-driven and operationally disciplined leadership for campus housing as a living, learning community that prepares students for life beyond college. The Director is responsible for creating and sustaining a residential environment where care and accountability coexist, community standards are clear and consistently applied, safety is visible and reliable, and students are supported as they learn how to live responsibly with others.

This role is not centered on hotel-style service delivery or reactive problem management. Instead, the Director serves as the chief steward of housing culture and operations, ensuring that Residence Life functions as an extension of the educational mission and a primary environment where the Maroon & Gold Standards are lived daily.

The Director is expected to be a visible, engaged presence within the housing community and to lead a team that is proactive, relational, and responsive, ensuring students feel safe, noticed, supported, and held to clear expectations.

This position requires living in a residence hall in a one-bedroom apartment provided by the College.

Essential Functions

CORE PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

The Director of Residence Life is responsible for:

• Translating the Housing & Community Vision into daily operational practice
• Establishing housing as a learning community, not a lodging operation
• Building a culture of shared responsibility, safety, and care
• Ensuring students are supported while being held accountable fairly and consistently
• Leading Residence Life staff to be present, proactive, and aligned
• Delivering reliable operations, risk management, and measurable performance

ESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Culture, Community, and Learning Environment

1. Lead the development and sustainment of a housing culture grounded in Human-First principles, academics, safety, and preparation for independent living.
2. Ensure community standards are clearly communicated early, reinforced often, and applied consistently with fairness and good judgment.
3. Establish housing as a learning environment where students practice communication, shared living, accountability, repair after harm, and stewardship of space.
4. Set clear expectations that students are community members, not customers, and reinforce the shared impact of individual choices.

2. Leadership, Supervision, and Staff Development

1. Hire, train, supervise, and evaluate professional and paraprofessional housing staff.
2. Build a Residence Life team that is proactive rather than reactive, relational rather than transactional, and confident and consistent in setting expectations.
3. Ensure strong supervision structures, regular check-ins, and accountability for staff presence, follow-through, and student engagement.
4. Establish non-negotiable training standards, including scenario-based drills, crisis response competencies, conduct process training, and duty preparedness.
5. Organize and facilitate ongoing professional development that reinforces community-building, student development, crisis response, and Human-First practice.

3. Student Support, Engagement, and Early Intervention

4. Safety, On-Call Response, Compliance, and Risk Management

5. Housing Operations, Facilities, and Security

6. Operational Accountability, Reporting, and Performance Management

7. Auxiliary, Financial, and Strategic Responsibilities

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE IN THIS ROLE

Minimum Qualifications

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree preferred
• Progressive experience in residence life or student housing; community college experience preferred.
• Demonstrated commitment to student development, community-building, and equity-informed practice
• Demonstrated strong supervisory, communication, and crisis-response skills
• Ability to lead with clarity, consistency, care, and operational discipline

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES

CONTACTS AND PURPOSE OF CONTACTS

WORK ENVIRONMENT AND WORK HOURS