Head of Admissions

Head of Admissions USA

Location: Remote, United States

Type of Contract: Permanent, Full time

Start Date: ASAP

Salary: $65,000 - $80,000 per year depending on experience

Job purpose

Responsible for leading the admissions area for U.S based partnerships to support and expand our international student enrolment initiatives. This will involve the execution of efficient and streamlined processes for all stages of the admissions process: assessing applications and documents, applying entry criteria from a variety of markets, working closely with counterparts and colleagues based in the United States and overseas, liaising with faculties and schools where required and contacting applicants and third parties to progress applications to ensure the swift issuance of an offer letter and other related admissions documents in line with Service Level Agreements (SLA’s), progressing students through to enrolment.

To be the admissions expert on all matters related to our U.S portfolio, with a comprehensive knowledge of qualifications and admissions procedures and policy. You will consistently have a detailed understanding of our application pipelines and the number of applications on each status within your portfolio.

You will be a final assessor on nonstandard applications and make sound judgement on their acceptance, you will lassie with academics to gain approvals to ensure applications are proactively processed from a pending status to a final decision. The post holder will need to report and present admissions updates and produce reports to colleagues that will support and drive our recruitment efforts.

Main duties and responsibilities

• Responsible for first contact resolution, ensuring queries that arise for your designated college are handled fully first time and well-documented – preventing the need for future contact to be made on the same issue.
• Responsible for representing OIEG at regular operations meetings with your designated university partners and effectively following up on any actions/items where applicable.
• To ensure Letters of Admission (LOA) & Unconditional Offer (UO) quality remains high for your designated university partners, identifying any issues with quality and ensuring they are corrected.
• You will inform the GRT & other Stakeholders in the wider business ahead of upcoming deadlines at your designated universities, to ensure they have an accurate track of their students impacted.
• Responsible for ensuring pathway toolkits are accurate and continuously updated and accessible to the wider business.
• Assisting in ensuring compliance with University admissions entry policies and procedures are maintained and adhered to.
• Work to the professional standards, boundaries, guidelines and general responsibilities articulated by OIEG or University policies and procedures.
• Engage effectively with admissions, international services, OIEG Campus Staff members and other stakeholders at your designated portfolio to ensure admissions related matters can be managed effectively.
• Communicate with the relevant OIEG Campus Staff members to secure a timely decision in respect of non-standard applications in line with agreed SLA’s.
• Support in setting application deadlines in line with business expectations and needs, allowing OIEG to maximise its recruitment efforts.
• Responsible for training internal admissions staff when amendments to admissions processes are made, ensuring that all applications are retrospectively assessed and re- evaluated accordingly.
• Have a solid understanding of blocks and issues arising within your portfolio at all times and lead on the resolution for any issues effectively.
• Visit your designated university partners in accordance with the schedule agreed by the Director of Global Admissions and US Higher Ed Leadership in order to build effective working relationships with stakeholders.
• To proactively look for improvements or efficiencies in systems and procedures to constantly drive an increase in productivity thus improving customer service and recruitment performance for your designated university partner.
• To keep up to date with regional qualification changes, sector development changes, legislation changes e.g. SEVIS, CMA, GDPR, FERPA and other necessary regulations to ensure compliance at all times.
• Assist with any other such duties within the scope and spirit of the job title

Planning & Organising

Plan and manage own work load to ensure that SLA’s are achieved at all times. This will include the need to prioritise own workload on a daily basis, expediting and chasing urgent cases with colleagues across the business when necessary in pursuit of SLA’s. Support in the planning and development of the Admissions Strategy with other colleagues from within the prescribed university.

Relationships & Communication

To build strong working relationships with staff within admissions both internally and at your designated university partners and establish regular lines of communication with Admissions Officers based overseas, Regional Managers & International Officers, International Student Advisors, Business Development Officers, International Conversion Officers as well as with the Head of Conversion, Deputy Admissions Directors and The Director of Global Admissions. This shall also include US Higher Education Leadership and US Direct and Pathway Campus Staff.

Prospect and Implementation Support:

Conduct enrolment and admissions research and analysis on potential university partners that align with Oxford International's strategic goals and expansion plans in coordination with US Higher Ed Leadership. Coordinate with university stakeholders and OIEG team members to facilitate the smooth onboarding of new partnerships. Support OIEG Admissions and Marketing during implementation, documenting university partner consensus for approved admissions and enrolment content and ensuring alignment.

Data Management and Reporting:

Proactively track and analyse student progress on visa acquisition including applications, visa appointments, embassy processing times and student interview feedback to continuously enhance and adapt visa preparation according to current trends and insights. Prepare regular reports and presentations for management and university stakeholders, highlighting pipeline and enrolment statistics, conversion rates, and other key performance indicators. Track and monitor key metrics of internal and external service level agreements, providing solutions for optimization. Maintain accurate records of student interactions and application progress using shared spreadsheets, CRM systems or databases.

Person specification

Legal requirements

• Eligibility to live and work in the United States of America
• Satisfactory Enhanced DBS Disclosure

Education / Qualifications

• Educated to Degree level or equivalent
• An advanced degree and / or second language (Desirable)

Knowledge & Experience

• Significant work experience within a US international admissions function within a higher education setting.
• Knowledge of US F-1 visa regulations.
• Experience of working in a process driven environment
• Experience of working in a customer focused environment
• Delivery of customer service excellence
• Detailed knowledge of managing a complex customer journey
• Experience in reporting against metrics and presenting to peers
• Advanced Proficiency with MS Office, CRM and Admissions systems (i.e. SLATE, etc.) (Desirable)
• Experience of working with colleagues across multiple locations (Desirable)

Skills & Abilities

• Ability to work well under pressure in a fast-paced target driven, service focused environment
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines efficiently.
• IT literate with good numeracy skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to work within clear process guidelines but have the ability to make sound decisions where there is no set process.
• An appreciation of other cultures; the global reach of OIEG and its international agenda.
• Appropriate international and cultural awareness skills and sensitivity.

Personal attributes

• A strong communicator, comfortable with stakeholders at all levels.
• Be able to solve problems and make decisions. Results orientated, ambitious and highly self- motivated.
• Be able to provide and receive constructive criticism to and from peers.
• Able to empathise with colleagues, customers and other stakeholders

Other requirements

• A flexible approach to working hours and location, including a willingness to travel, locally, nationally or overseas, as required.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines efficiently.
• IT literate with good numeracy skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to work within clear process guidelines but have the ability to make sound decisions where there is no set process.
• An appreciation of other cultures; the global reach of OIEG and its international agenda.

This job description is provided as a guide to the role. It is not intended to be an exhaustive description of duties and responsibilities and may be subject to periodic revision.

Oxford International is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Recruitment checks, including checks with past employees, are undertaken in accordance with our Recruitment and Selection policy.

Oxford International is an equal opportunity employer. Every applicant and employee has the same opportunities regardless of race, colour, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender, gender identity or expression, or veteran status.