Student Development Director

Cal Alumni Association•Berkeley, CA

5d•$85,000 - $105,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Cal Alumni Association (CAA) provides all Cal graduates with rewarding connections to the university, to fellow alums, and to current students. Founded by the original graduates of the University of California in 1872, the Cal Alumni Association today represents more than half a million alums living throughout the world. Our mission is to cultivate a lifelong relationship with our alma mater by connecting and inspiring alums, students, and the campus community through meaningful and inclusive opportunities. We foster a culture that celebrates diversity, creates a sense of belonging, and advances equity. The Student Development Director serves as the operational anchor of the alumni headquarters while championing the professional growth, and financial wellness of UC Berkeley students. Reporting directly to the Senior Director - Facilities Operations, this leader maintains multi-faceted oversight over a dedicated team of front desk staff and a separate, permanent cohort of undergraduate student interns. Operating within a matrixed and highly complex institutional landscape, the Director manages daily facility hospitality operations, implements strategic planning for student workplaces, and serves as the lead architect and strategist tasked with scaling a compact student intern unit into a dynamic, impactful workforce within CAA. This role transforms the headquarters in a strategically designed learning laboratory that requires navigation at various levels of the higher education environment to deliver critical experiential financial support to undergraduate students.

Requirements

4–6 years of experience in student affairs, higher education administration, hospitality management, facilities operations, or front-office leadership.
Deep institutional understanding of the modern higher education environment, with proven success navigating and collaborating across multiple departmental silos, administrative tiers, and structural hierarchies.
Proven success or demonstrated capability in program selective hiring, cross-departmental integration, or transforming small teams into high-impact workforces.
Proven success maintaining oversight over complex business units, including the direct supervision of permanent operational staff.
Demonstrated capability or familiarity with spatial planning, workspace optimization, or managing flexible collaborative office layouts.
Familiarity with higher education financial frameworks, collaboration with finance and senior leadership budgetary directives.
Elite interpersonal skills; able to seamlessly transition between mentoring undergraduate students, managing daily operational staff, and briefing executive leadership.

Nice To Haves

Demonstrated capability working directly within the University of California (UC) ecosystem, showcasing the ability to effectively communicate and align strategies at various levels—from direct engagement with undergraduate students to collaboration with executive campus leadership and senior campus partners.
Demonstrated experience collaborating with UC Financial Aid departments.

Responsibilities

Architect and execute a growth strategy to scale a compact student intern unit into a highly visible, dynamic, and integrated workforce amongst all CAA departments.
Design, implement, and facilitate a professional development and career-readiness curriculum for the undergraduate intern cohort, through real world organizational deliverables, in collaboration with CAA objectives.
Oversee the administration, tracking, and compliance of student experiential stipends designed to directly offset individual costs of student attendance. Monitor, allocate and budget funds effectively, in collaboration with CAA senior leadership.
Partner directly with campus departments, external partners, and the UC Berkeley Financial Aid & Scholarships Office to coordinate student placement, stipend eligibility, and adherence to university financial aid packaging regulations.
Provide individual coaching and oversight, structured performance reviews, and career-readiness mentorship to help students leverage their financial awards into early career placement.
Oversee the recruitment, training, daily duties, and performance evaluations of the front desk staff team.
Direct the daily visitor experience, security protocols, multi-line phone routing, mail/shipping distribution, and lobby logistics for the CAA headquarters.
Manage a multi-faceted operation to ensure proper utilization and staffing of applicable CAA spaces.
Establish and enforce standard operating procedures (SOPs) to maintain a exemplary hospitality environment for visiting alumni, faculty, and VIP guests, while enhancing organization-wide communication, efficiency and productivity.
Strategically plan, configure, and manage the physical layout of the student workspace to maximize footprint utility and ensure an environment conducive to organizational needs and requirements.
Maintain physical workspace layouts that adhere to campus safety guidelines, resource efficiency, resource allocation and professional workstation standards.
Oversee the procurement, setup, and maintenance of the physical assets, technology, and flexible furniture configurations necessary to support an evolving, high-occupancy student cohort within the facility.
Formulate and manage the front desk operational budget, reception supplies, vendor contracts, and digital visitor-check-in systems.
Compile programmatic data, track student retention metrics, and author progress reports detailing the career placement success, spatial efficiency, and financial benefit metrics of the internship program.

Benefits

healthcare benefits
retirement plan with company match
generous vacation and holiday time-off benefits
many UC Berkeley staff programs
professional development and networking opportunities
discounts on campus
excellent health care and supplemental benefits packages
403(b)
generous paid time-off benefit
Health Care Benefits: CAA employees are required to contribute 10% of their total medical premium for the employee and 20% for any eligible dependents.
CAA pays 100% of the premiums for Dental and Vision benefits for the employee and any eligible dependents.
Paid Time Off Benefits: Vacation: 16 days/year for first 2 years of service, 18 days/year after completing 2 years of service, 21 days/year after completing 5 years of service.
Sick time: 12 days/year
Holidays: 11 total per year
Paid time off between Dec 26 and Dec 31
Birthday Holiday: 1 Day off
Professional Development: As affiliates to UC Berkeley, CAA employees are eligible to participate in many of the on-campus professional development workshops, seminars and professional networks available to UCB employees. Please note that this does not include undergraduate or graduate courses offered to students.
CAA has a partnership with UC Berkeley Extension that offers our employees a discount on enrollment fees.
Financial Benefits: 403(b) retirement savings plan with a company match
Supplemental Insurance with 100% of premiums paid by CAA: Life Insurance, AD&D Insurance, LTD Insurance
Option to purchase supplemental insurance plans from AFLAC
Commuting and Parking: pre-tax public transit commuter benefit
Cal Bear Pass: Take advantage of UCB’s partnership with AC Transit. The partnership offers a cost savings of up to 70% off the standard monthly bus pass rate! CAA employees are eligible to purchase an AC transit pass at the faculty/staff discount rate with pre-tax payroll deductions.
UCB Campus Parking Permit: As affiliates to UCB, our CAA employees are eligible to purchase a campus parking permit at the faculty/staff discount rate with pre-tax payroll deductions.
Access to Campus Programs and Discounts: Eligible to join the Recreational Sports Facility (RSF) at the Faculty/Staff discount rate
Special campus events
Free admission to the University Art Museum
Discount tickets for Cal Performances, Pacific Film Archive, and Hertz Hall
AirBears: wireless internet access on campus