Associate Director, Graduate Business Student Services

Santa Clara University•Santa Clara, CA

1d•$34 - $41•Hybrid

About The Position

The Associate Director of Graduate Business Student Services serves as a dynamic, working operational lead within Graduate Business Programs (GBP), balancing advanced individual student advising with the progressive development of departmental leadership capabilities. Operating with a high degree of autonomy and minimal supervision, this position manages an active student portfolio while driving the daily operational success of the Student Services team. Positioned strategically between the Assistant Director and Senior Director roles, the Associate Director translates high-level strategic vision into actionable daily workflows, provides direct work direction and mentorship to Assistant Directors, and partners closely with the Senior Director on programmatic design, enterprise technology implementation, and registration/enrollment forecasting.

Requirements

Understanding and support of the Jesuit tradition of education and a commitment to the fundamental values of service to others, community, and diversity.
Advanced, structural knowledge of student records management, student life models, and academic advising architectures in a graduate business setting.
Strong management, administrative, and coaching skills with a proven track record of providing direct work direction and evaluations to professional staff while managing an active individual workload.
Experience with or quick aptitude for enterprise student systems (Workday, PeopleSoft, Slate) and data-driven reporting tools.
Exceptional interpersonal skills tailored for cross-functional collaboration, crisis management, and empathetic student advising.
Ability to work independently, set own priorities, and make sound operational decisions with minimal supervision.
Ability to act as a collaborative "bridge" leader—comfortably shifting between frontline student advising and administrative leadership meetings.
Ability to effectively motivate, supervise, and communicate persuasively with faculty, staff, students, and executive leadership.
Bachelor's degree required.
1-3 years of progressively responsible experience in higher education administration, student services, or program management, demonstrating clear readiness to assume personnel management and strategic design tasks.
Considerable time is spent at a desk using a computer terminal.
May be required to travel to other buildings on the campus.
May be required to attend conference and training sessions within Bay Area or In- or out-of-state locations.
May be required to occasionally travel to outside customers, vendors, event locations, or suppliers.

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree (MBA or Master’s in Higher Education/Leadership) preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead the implementation and continuous improvement of the academic support strategy; lead the execution of academic record-keeping structures utilizing current platforms and future admissions/student lifecycle management systems.
Formulate and spearhead the comprehensive advising and academic counseling framework designed to optimize retention and satisfaction. Maintain an active, specialized graduate student advising caseload, providing expert guidance on complex degree requirements and academic planning.
Oversee and authorize critical data updates within the Workday platform for GBP, ensuring absolute data integrity regarding student academic histories.
Lead the evaluation, production, and escalation workflows for quarterly academic standing portfolios, managing formal processes for academic warnings, probations, and prestigious recognitions (e.g., Dean’s List, Beta Gamma Sigma), preparing complex cases for Senior Director review.
Architect and manage operational timelines for quarterly registration cycles; direct the generation of strategic enrollment intelligence reports, oversee complex waitlist logistics, and continuously analyze metrics to streamline registration workstreams.
Serve as an institutional champion and liaison to the Bursar’s Office, navigating complex tuition, fee structure, and student account escalations.
Direct the end-to-end graduation and degree auditing lifecycle; provide executive-level consulting to students on degree path completion and orchestrate the strategic data aggregation required for Commencement exercises.
In collaboration with the Sr. Director, oversee the execution and logistical integration of all high-impact programming, managing multi-tier dependencies including off-site programming, catering, grading workflows, and course evaluation tracking.
In collaboration with the Sr. Director, oversee the planning, coordination, and execution of student life programming, ensuring a cohesive and engaging student experience.
Maintain budget expenditure tracking, and projections for all student engagement initiatives, facilitating data for the Senior Director's budget creation.
Partner with and lead departmental collaboration alongside the Title IX Office to guarantee total student compliance with federally mandated training guidelines.
Champion and cultivate external vendor networks to source and curate high-quality branded collateral that elevates GBP’s institutional identity.
In collaboration with the Sr. Director, conduct comprehensive quarterly analyses and data-driven projections of Student Life operations to evaluate program effectiveness, and optimize future event programming.
Research initiatives including "Faculty ASK" data modeling (analyzing unit trends, headcount capacity, and enrollment velocity) to provide the Senior Director with actionable insights for future Academic Year (AY) course offerings and capacity planning.
Act as a consultant and institutional liaison across core university pillars, including the Office of Student Life (OSL), Auxiliary Services (AOE), Office of the Registrar, One-Stop, the Bursar's Office, and the Office of the Dean.
Chair and lead continuous evaluation discussions to rigorously audit services, identify operational friction points, and maximize efficiency across all GBP segments.
Oversee student messaging schedules, web content, surveys and newsletters in collaboration with Sr. Director.
Co-lead signature GBP events in close partnership with the Senior Director of Graduate Business Programs; oversee the unified deployment of program communication channels including web infrastructure, newsletters, blogs, and targeted campaigns.
Provides daily operational tasking, mentorship, and delivers annual performance evaluations to Assistant Directors and student workers.
Act as an internal consultant and champion for quality assurance initiatives, driving systemic changes that directly elevate departmental service delivery.
Conduct comprehensive diagnoses of operational bottlenecks and systemic issues; formulate and deliver formal executive recommendations to senior leadership to optimize established workflows.
Maximize departmental output by troubleshooting legacy processes and establishing high-efficiency workstreams via the deployment of advanced software tools, structured staff training, and performance metrics.
Evaluate workflows and provide enrollment/program data to the Senior Director. Synthesize complex operational metrics into executive summaries and progress reports, delivering critical strategic counsel to the Senior Director and the Assistant Dean of GBP to steer long-term institutional goals.