Senior College Counseling Manager (Player-Coach)

ESM Prep•Sacramento, CA

8d•$110,000 - $120,000•Remote

About The Position

ESM Prep | College MatchPoint, part of Guidewell Education, is seeking a Counselor Manager for a hybrid leadership role that is equal parts subject matter expert and people leader. This position will lead a dedicated group of coaching staff to achieve excellence in student outcomes while maintaining a personal roster of students. The role involves upholding the highest standards of counseling, providing mentorship, maintaining operational systems, and ensuring families receive expert guidance and support.

Requirements

5+ years of experience in college counseling with a proven track record of student success and a deep understanding of current admissions trends.
3+ years of experience in a leadership or mentorship capacity, with a proven ability to manage team performance toward defined quarterly and annual goals.
Proficiency in building team culture and fostering "psychological safety" in a distributed or hybrid work environment.
Proficiency in managing employee capacity and sales/service matrices.
Comfortable with data-driven decision-making and performance reviews.
Exceptional presence for public-facing webinars and presentations.
Ability to provide high-level strategic feedback on student work.
The ability to turn knowledge or skills into templates, webinars, or guides that the entire team can use.

Nice To Haves

Preferred experience beyond simple CRMs, such as using tools like Asana, AirTable, or Notion to track workflows.
Preference for active membership or prior experience in organizations such as NACAC, IECA, or HECA.
Preference for prior professional experience in a high-growth organizational structure.

Responsibilities

Ensure Guidewell Education counselors are best-in-class and provide students with up-to-date advice reflecting current admissions trends and meeting all standards of quality.
Manage counselors to quarterly and annual performance outcomes, including capacity thresholds, sales targets, milestone achievement, and scorecard expectations.
Establish and maintain regular one-on-one sessions with counselors to discuss student progress, capacity, goals, and professional development.
Review college lists, essays, summer plans, academic courses, extracurricular activities, and other planning aspects with supervised counselors to ensure quality control.
Conduct performance reviews, set team-wide and individual goals for counselors, and communicate performance outcomes to leadership.
Collaborate with other Counselor Managers on counselor development and oversight for a consistent experience.
Act as a liaison to client services and sales teams, ensuring counselors communicate student needs and opportunities (tutoring, test prep, essay coaching, executive functioning).
Lead and facilitate regular counseling team calls, sharing best practices and ensuring the team is up-to-date on industry trends.
Participate in the recruiting, evaluation, and onboarding process for new college coaches.
Lead the training and shadowing process for new counselors, integrating them into the team and providing ample shadowing opportunities.
Collaborate with the counseling sales team to communicate counselor availability and maintain a sales/service matrix.
Work directly with students as a Senior College Coach, guiding them through the college search, planning, and application process.
Review and update college coaching resources, including the counseling handbook, college list templates, and essay guides.
Develop new resources to advance the team's work with students.
Meet annual sales targets for college coaching.
Stay current on admissions trends through reading, networking, and attending presentations.
Share knowledge with coaches via internal communication channels.
Lead webinars and events to build presence and offer advice to clients.
Perform other responsibilities as required by leadership.