Associate Director - NEST

Compensation Range:

Position Summary

Under the strategic guidance of the Senior Director of the Nest, the Associate Director of the Nest – Escondido provides leadership and supervision in the operation and management of the campus, the center or associated offsite locations and programs. Assists in location level growth, population specific retention efforts through partnership with the Academic and Student Finance Leadership, quality of student services, community engagement, and serves as a support liaison to the full time, associate, and adjunct faculty. Maintains comprehensive knowledge of university programs, policies, and procedures and applies this knowledge in training and developing student services support staff, maintaining institutional standards and resolving student concerns. Regularly plan, facilitate, and participate in and support institutional and center level programmatic enhancement activities.

Essential Functions:  

• Plan, organize, oversee, and direct the daily operations of team members and physical space.
• Identify, hire, and retain top talent.  
• Create and maintain a culture of excellence and inclusivity through team activities, initiatives, and open communication. 
• Track and monitor schedules and attendance of team members. 
• Administrate payroll and timecard reporting for team members. 
• Leads team meetings and participate in Student Services Leadership Team meetings. 
• Uphold the University standard of conduct and all other policies and procedures. 
• Identify opportunities and recommend changes to improve the University. 
• Participate in training, continuous education, and leadership development activities to improve skill set. 
• In conjunction with Senior Director, engage in regional and programmatic outreach with local community colleges, other colleges, local governmental agencies, school districts and businesses as well as civic organizations to promote strategic partnerships. 
• Serve as the University representative and liaison between the University and the on-site partners
• Assists in creating a strategic vision, in collaboration with senior leadership, for annual goals and outcome-based projects. 
• Compliance oversight through Quality Assurance Activities and aligned coaching/feedback engagements. 
• Interdepartmental collaboration across university to ensure transparency, partnership, and holistic representation of all perspectives in decisions and implemented initiatives within department. 
• Develop and conduct training programs to improve team members’ technical and soft skills. 
• Provide mentorship, professional development, and coaching to each of their team members through individualized development plans, performance management, and ongoing 1:1’s. 
• Provide leadership and operational guidance to ensure effective team member support of students as they walk into a campus and/or center
• Analyze team data and metrics to determine and facilitate change, to meet organizational expectations and goals. 
• Evaluate reporting to ensure student service expectations are met via phone/email/text and follows up as needed.  
• Evaluate internal audits and provides coaching as needed to ensure compliance with regulatory and accreditation guidelines. 
• Create and maintain a culture of excellence and inclusivity through team activities, initiatives, and open communication. 
• Ensure compliance with university policies, procedures, practices and philosophies. 
• Assist in developing and monitoring both short- and long-term strategic plans for the location and associated programs.  
• Assists in the guiding and monitoring and scheduling of all onsite courses and all aspects of the location’s academics to ensure quality educational opportunities are provided to students. 
• Liaises between escalated students and proper University personnel and departments while providing students with required resources in coordination with academics. 
• Develop and provide operational reports to Senior Director.
• Collaborates with college stakeholders in planning and coordinating the programmatic class scheduling. 
• Ensures compliance with all University regulations, procedures, guidelines and policies.  Communicates challenges, provides suggestions and presents potential solutions to policies hindering operations.
• Coordinates with the Technical Resource Coordinator (TRC) on administrative and academic technology, hardware and software activities.
• Works closely with the Senior Director on the organization-wide initiatives that are focused and aligned on improving operational and program efficiencies and effectiveness; works interdepartmental with common goal of student success.
• Supports special projects and assignments as designated.
• Other related duties as assigned by the Senior Director and AVP.

Supervisory Responsibilities:   

Supervisor duties to include: 

• Direct oversight of at least one (1) team member. 
• Hire, train and develop Campus Support Specialists, Laboratory team members, and other Campus Operations staff. 
• Implement and lead individualized development plans for all team members. 
• Direct oversight for all performance management actions inclusive of direct coaching, performance action delivery, and termination of team members. 

Requirements: 

Education & Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in management, business, human behavior, psychology, or marketing required. Master’s degree preferred.
• Minimum of six (6) years’ experience, and one (1) year of supervisory experience in administrative management, preferably in higher education.
• Experience in higher education administration, facility maintenance or finance.

Competencies/Technical/Functional Skills:

• Ability to handle multiple tasks in a demanding environment.
• Demonstrated ability to motivate and provide leadership and training in complex areas.
• Established problem-solving abilities and resource application.
• Able to professionally represent the University in marketing and public relations activities.
• Organization and follow through.
• Analytical and logical thinking skills.
• Strong communication skills; both verbal and written
• Knowledge of academic and business workings of a higher education institution. 
• Knowledge of University policies and procedures. 
• Ability to work independently in a leadership role and foster a cooperative spirit within a large and/or small team of diverse cultures and across the organization at all levels. 
• Knowledge of leadership principles and practices. 
• Working knowledge in building teams. 
• Ability to resolve conflict and performance manage team members as appropriate. 
• Ability to coach to improve development and skills.  
• Skill in verbal and written communication. 
• Ability to problem-solve. 
• Ability to collaborate effectively with others and build and motivate a team. 
• Excellent customer service and communication skills. 
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills. 
• Demonstrated ability to motivate and provide leadership and training in complex areas. 
• Established problem-solving abilities and resource application. 
• Proven analytical abilities and logical thinker. 
• Able to professionally represent the university in marketing and public relations activities. 
• Skill in being a role model, while anticipating and planning for change. 
• Effectively able to communicate the vision to the team with the ability to lead, direct, and/or influence others to obtain results using a wide degree of creativity and latitude.  
• Understands the implications of decision and actions, including a deep understanding of overall big picture of the business; able to take an idea from concept to reality. 
• Ability to focus on achieving results consistent with the organization’s objectives and develop goals based on the organization’s vision, mission and strategic goals and objectives. 
• Actively able to seek opportunities to influence, build effective relationships and gain alignment with peers, functional partners and/or external partners to accomplish business objectives. 
• Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations; apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written or oral form. 
• Advanced use of computers and Microsoft Office Suite Applications such as Word, Excel, Power Point, Outlook and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software applications used within a University setting. 
• Organizational and follow through skills. 
• Strong administrative skills to facilitate operations. 

Location: On-site Escondido 

Travel: Some Travel Required 

#LI-Onsite

Candidate receiving offers will be offered a salary/pay rate commensurate with experience that vary based on a candidate’s qualifications, skills, and competencies.  Absent exceptional circumstances, candidates will be offered a salary within this range for this position. The minimum salary will be offered based on the minimum exemption threshold based on state of residency. Base pay is one component of National University’s total rewards package, as we are dedicated to supporting the needs of the “whole you” with our holistic approach to employee benefits by offering comprehensive well-being benefits for you and your family.  For full details about our benefit plan offerings, please visit benefits.nu.edu. For Part-time benefits, please click here.

National University is committed to maintaining a high-quality workforce representative of the populations we serve. National University employs more than 4,500 faculty and staff and serves over 45,000 students. We are united in our mission to meet the global education demands of the 21st Century and are dedicated to creating a supportive academic and work environment that allows students, faculty and staff to develop their interests and talents while experiencing a sense of community. With programs available both online and at our many campus locations, National University is a leader in creating innovative solutions to education and meeting the needs of our student population, including adult learners and working professionals.

National University (NU) is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant per applicable federal, state and local laws. At NU, a mix of highly talented, innovative and creative people come together to make the impact of a lifetime for each of our student learners. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment, education, and admission at National University.