Description
The Executive Director of Orientation and Family Engagement leads the vision, strategy, and execution of the University’s student and family onboarding experience. In this highly visible role, the Executive Director shapes how new students and their families first understand, connect with, and experience the University. This leader ensures that Orientation, Family Engagement, and Texas Parents programs not only welcome students but inspire belonging, academic readiness, and long-term engagement.
Serving as the University's chief architect of the onboarding and family experience, the Executive Director builds a cohesive, institution wide approach to transition programming. This role partners closely with the Dean of Students, the Vice President, Enrollment Management, University Events and Experience, First Year Experience, academic colleges, and key campus collaborators to deliver a unified, polished experience from the moment a student commits to the University.
The Executive Director oversees Orientation and Texas Parents staff, including direct supervision of the Director of Orientation and the Associate Director of Texas Parents. The Executive Director establishes long-term strategic direction, advances a high touch customer service model, and ensures the fiscal health and sustainability of the portfolio through budget oversight, revenue generation, fundraising, and donor/partner cultivation.
The Executive Director leads efforts to set the tone, brand, and overall feel for Orientation and Family Engagement programs. Through thoughtful program design, robust communication strategies, and strong partnerships across campus, they create seamless experiences—whether welcoming thousands of new students, coordinating high profile events, or ensuring families are informed and engaged throughout their student’s journey.
In addition to program leadership, the Executive Director is the institution’s central coordinator for family communication, ensuring consistent messaging, timely updates, and a personalized, responsive customer experience. They guide crisis and reputational risk mitigation for major events, direct assessments and national landscape scans, implement ROI and satisfaction measurement tools, and ensure alignment with evolving University policies, laws, and national best practices.
Ultimately, this leader ensures that every student and family encounter with the University reflects the institution’s mission, values, and commitment to student success.
Core Areas of Focus
Strategic Leadership & Experience Design
The Executive Director designs and continually elevates a comprehensive Orientation and family experience that prepares students for academic life, fosters community involvement, and sets the foundation for their long-term engagement. This includes developing the program’s identity and feel, integrating Orientation with academic and cocurricular units, and implementing metrics to evaluate program impact and customer satisfaction.
Operational & Financial Stewardship
This role oversees multimillion dollar budgets, staffing, and operational processes; leads revenue generation strategies; conducts fundraising; and cultivates relationships with donors, foundations, corporations, and government partners. The Executive Director ensures efficient operations through assessments, national environmental scans, and adherence to relevant laws, policies, and trends.
Program Development, Events, & Communication
The Executive Director leads the development of major University programs, including new student, transfer, and family orientations; Family Weekend; and other high profile initiatives. They serve as the primary liaison to University Events and Experience and external vendors, and they coordinate institution wide communication strategies for families. This includes crisis mitigation planning, consistent messaging, and stewardship of the University’s Orientation and Family Engagement brand.
Supervision & Team Development
The Executive Director provides vision and supervision for the Director of Orientation, the Associate Director of Texas Parents, and the broader staff portfolios that deliver Orientation and Family Engagement programming. They foster a collaborative culture, oversee cross unit staffing models, and guide teams in delivering polished, high impact services and events.
This role requires a bachelor’s degree (master’s preferred) and extensive experience in management, event leadership, fiscal oversight, customer service strategy, and staff supervision in settings such as nonprofits, corporate environments, or higher education. Candidates should bring strong financial acumen, experience with high visibility programming, comfort managing reputational risk, skill with ROI and customer satisfaction analytics, and demonstrated success building partnerships and leading multifaceted teams.
Required Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in business, hospitality management, public administration, nonprofit management, higher education, or a related field
Minimum of 5-8 years of management experience in nonprofits, corporations, or higher education, including fiscal oversight and staff supervision
Experience designing and implementing high visibility, large-scale events
Experience implementing customer service protocols, including for high-profile clients
Experience measuring ROI and providing reports to executive leadership for events and other initiatives
Experience conducting and planning assessment activities
Ability to collaborate and share resources based on programmatic needs
Strong fiscal acumen, including knowledge of corporate partnerships, fundraising, revenue generation, and financial forecasting
Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with stakeholders
Professional demeanor and ability to maintain sensitive information
Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills
Equivalent combination of relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.
Preferred Qualifications
Master’s degree in business, hospitality management, public administration, nonprofit management, higher education, or a related field
More than 8 years of management experience in nonprofits or corporations, including fiscal oversight and staff supervision
Experience with high level project management and directing multifaceted units
Demonstrated work with and understanding of reputational and financial risks
Experience with customer satisfaction metrics (e.g., Net Promoter Score, CSAT, CES, or other service level agreement metrics)
Experience building partnerships and collaborating across departments
Experience supervising Associate Director or Director level staff (or equivalent)
Proven ability to assess program outcomes qualitatively and quantitatively
Demonstrated ability to enhance revenue streams
Salary
$150,000+, commensurate with experience.
Working Conditions
Standard office environment.
Full-time, in-person.
Semi-frequent afterhours work, for events.
Required Materials
Resume/CV
3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor
Letter of interest
To be considered for this position, please complete an online application on the UT jobsite: https://utaustin.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/UTstaff/job/Executive-Director-of-Orientation-and-Family-Engagement_R_00044278
Important for applicants who are NOT current university employees or contingent workers: You will be prompted to submit your resume the first time you apply, then you will be provided an option to upload a new Resume for subsequent applications. Any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) will be uploaded in the Application Questions section; you will be able to multi-select additional files. Before submitting your online job application, ensure that ALL Required Materials have been uploaded. Once your job application has been submitted, you cannot make changes.
Important for Current university employees and contingent workers: As a current university employee or contingent worker, you MUST apply within Workday by searching for Find UT Jobs. If you are a current University employee, log-in to Workday, navigate to your Worker Profile, click the Career link in the left hand navigation menu and then update the sections in your Professional Profile before you apply. This information will be pulled in to your application. The application is one page and you will be prompted to upload your resume. In addition, you must respond to the application questions presented to upload any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) that were noted above.
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Employment Eligibility:
Regular staff who have been employed in their current position for the last six continuous months are eligible for openings being recruited for through University-Wide or Open Recruiting, to include both promotional opportunities and lateral transfers. Staff who are promotion/transfer eligible may apply for positions without supervisor approval.----
Retirement Plan Eligibility:
The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length. This position has the option to elect the Optional Retirement Program (ORP) instead of TRS, subject to the position being 40 hours per week and at least 135 days in length.----
Background Checks:
A criminal history background check will be required for finalist(s) under consideration for this position.
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Equal Opportunity Employer:
The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.
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Pay Transparency:
The University of Texas at Austin will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.
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Employment Eligibility Verification:
If hired, you will be required to complete the federal Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form. You will be required to present acceptable and original documents to prove your identity and authorization to work in the United States. Documents need to be presented no later than the third day of employment. Failure to do so will result in loss of employment at the university.
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E-Verify:
The University of Texas at Austin use E-Verify to check the work authorization of all new hires effective May 2015. The university’s company ID number for purposes of E-Verify is 854197. For more information about E-Verify, please see the following:
E-Verify Poster (English and Spanish) [PDF]
Right to Work Poster (English) [PDF]
Right to Work Poster (Spanish) [PDF]
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Compliance:
Employees may be required to report violations of law under Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). If this position is identified a Campus Security Authority (Clery Act), you will be notified and provided resources for reporting. Responsible employees under Title IX are defined and outlined in HOP-3031.
The Clery Act requires all prospective employees be notified of the availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety report. You may access the most recent report here or obtain a copy at University Compliance Services, 1616 Guadalupe Street, UTA 2.206, Austin, Texas 78701.
Requirements
Required Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in business, hospitality management, public administration, nonprofit management, higher education, or a related field
Minimum of 5-8 years of management experience in nonprofits, corporations, or higher education, including fiscal oversight and staff supervision
Experience designing and implementing high visibility, large-scale events
Experience implementing customer service protocols, including for high-profile clients
Experience measuring ROI and providing reports to executive leadership for events and other initiatives
Experience conducting and planning assessment activities
Ability to collaborate and share resources based on programmatic needs
Strong fiscal acumen, including knowledge of corporate partnerships, fundraising, revenue generation, and financial forecasting
Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with stakeholders
Professional demeanor and ability to maintain sensitive information
Excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills
Equivalent combination of relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.
Preferred Qualifications
Master’s degree in business, hospitality management, public administration, nonprofit management, higher education, or a related field
More than 8 years of management experience in nonprofits or corporations, including fiscal oversight and staff supervision
Experience with high level project management and directing multifaceted units
Demonstrated work with and understanding of reputational and financial risks
Experience with customer satisfaction metrics (e.g., Net Promoter Score, CSAT, CES, or other service level agreement metrics)
Experience building partnerships and collaborating across departments
Experience supervising Associate Director or Director level staff (or equivalent)
Proven ability to assess program outcomes qualitatively and quantitatively
Demonstrated ability to enhance revenue streams
