The Pingry School is seeking an energetic and forward-looking admissions leader to serve as its next Director of Enrollment Management. The expected start date is May/June 2022.

The Pingry School (Pingry) is a K-12 coeducational, independent day school recognized throughout the United States for its academic excellence, honor code, arts, athletics, and community and civic engagement. The School’s mission is to foster in students a lifelong commitment to scholarly exploration, personal growth, and social responsibility while preparing them to be global citizens and luminaries of the 21st century. At Pingry, students interact with diverse ideas through meaningful inquiry and respectful debate, never forgetting that they are members of a global community. The curriculum and school activities promote a deep commitment to exploration, academic engagement, and problem-solving both inside and outside the classroom.

Dr. John F. Pingry founded the school in 1861 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and today there are three campuses: grades K-5 in Short Hills, grades 6-12 in Basking Ridge, and a shared campus for grades K-12 in Pottersville that focuses on experiential education. The diverse student body comprises more than 1,100 students from nearly 100 New Jersey and New York towns.

This position reports directly to the Director of Institutional Advancement, alongside the Director of Development, the Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing, and the Director of Data Services; under an Office of Institutional Advancement model, and also serves on the Head of School’s senior leadership team. The Director of Enrollment Management (director) offers strong administrative oversight for the admissions process by creating strategies and designing implementation plans for the admissions process; overseeing the review of approximately 850 applications each year, and making admissions decisions consistent with school priorities; serving as a lead administrator of the admissions CRM (Veracross); developing and providing timely reports and insights on the enrollment cycle; and ensuring the integrity of the admissions and financial aid processes. The director will be involved in all areas of the admissions work, including recruitment events, campus tours, event oversight, student and family interviews, and travel. Additionally, they will be a strategic partner in creating and implementing a comprehensive enrollment plan informed by market and internal data and best practices.

This senior leader will join Pingry at a transformative and exciting moment in its history and will have a unique opportunity to collaborate with and serve as a key advisor to the school’s senior leadership on all enrollment matters. As such, the director is responsible for understanding issues regionally and nationally that impact independent schools and guiding recruitment and admission strategies accordingly. The admissions office is widely seen as having successfully integrated Pingry’s diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) goals and commitments in its work—the director will continue to develop innovative approaches and programs that guide the office’s work and honor Pingry’s values. They will be a collaborative leader who can mentor and supervise the admissions and tuition assistance staff and serve as a catalyst for genuine collaboration between the office of admissions and faculty and staff colleagues and current students and their families and alumni.

The admissions office at Pingry comprises seven team members who are responsible for all elements of K-12 admissions activities. The director oversees an annual operating budget of approximately $100,000 and a need-based financial aid budget of $6 million.

This position is an exceptional opportunity for an analytical thinker with a strong knowledge of enrollment management systems, functions, and emerging practices. Additionally, collaborative leadership is crucial to success in this position, namely strong partnerships with the development, communications, and data services departments. The successful candidate will possess outstanding communication skills at the individual, team, and organizational level; capacity for distributive leadership and strong management practices, including collaboration and delegation; and an unwavering commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in every facet of the office’s activities.

A bachelor’s degree (advanced degree preferred) and substantial documented progressive professional experience in an admissions office, with a minimum of five years of progressive management experience, are required. Excellent organizational, communication, interpersonal skills, and the ability to think strategically and problem solve are essential attributes of a successful candidate. They will be expected to have broad recruitment and admission experience, appreciate and seek to expand diversity among staff and the student body, and optimize technology to support a strategic recruitment model. This individual must have a deep enthusiasm for the experience of an independent school, the ability to engage students from diverse backgrounds, and have a high level of initiative, organization, and energy.

The search committee invites applications from candidates with a strong attraction to an increasingly diverse and innovative school environment, as well as a genuine interest in collaborating with faculty, staff, students, families, and alumni, and a commitment to be visible and accountable to all constituents. Experience with developing strategic enrollment management plans; leveraging data and producing metric-driven results; the ability to manage change with high levels of self-confidence to endorse new ideas; and the ability to be an inclusive leader and mentor that builds trusting, effective, cohesive teams and champions an inclusive and creative workforce are priority competencies for the next director.

Pingry has retained the services of Spelman Johnson, a leading national executive search firm, to assist with leading this search. Review of applications will begin Monday, February 7, 2022, and continue until the position is filled. A resume with an accompanying cover letter that addresses the responsibilities and requirements described in the position specification may be submitted via the Spelman Johnson website at https://www.spelmanandjohnson.com/open-positions/. Nominations for this position may be forwarded to Michel R. Frendian at mrf@spelmanjohnson.com. Applicants needing reasonable accommodation to participate in the application process should contact Spelman Johnson at 413-529-2895.

COVID Vaccination Requirement

Employment, or continuation thereof, at The Pingry School is contingent upon being fully COVID-19 vaccinated (unless a medical/religious exemption is received); proof of a COVID-19 vaccination is required before the start of employment.

Visit The Pingry School website at www.pingry.org and the Pingry Admissions website at www.pingry.org/admissions.

The Pingry School aspires to be an anti-racist community and is committed to the principles of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Pingry is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. The Pingry School's employment policy is that individuals will receive equal opportunity in all matters pertaining to recruitment, employment, salary, promotion, and assignment, regardless of race, religion, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, pregnancy status, genetic information, marital status, amnesty or status as a covered veteran, or other basis proscribed by federal, state, and local law. All employment is decided based on qualifications, merit, and business need.