CITY DIRECTOR

JOB DESCRIPTION

ABOUT MINERVA UNIVERSITY

Minerva University, based in San Francisco, California, offers a unique undergraduate experience for the brightest, most motivated students in the world. Minerva has been deliberately designed to teach the capabilities needed to solve complex challenges. Combining a reinvented curriculum, rigorous academic standards, cutting-edge technology, and an immersive global experience, Minerva provides an exceptional and accessible education to prepare future leaders and innovators across all disciplines.

Minerva undergraduate students come from all over the world to spend their first year in residence in San Francisco, and then live and study in a different major world city every semester thereafter: Seoul, Hyderabad, Berlin, Buenos Aires, London, and Taipei. These rich international experiences provide students with deep global understanding and skills.

ABOUT STUDENT LIFE

The Student Life team oversees the growth and development of students outside the classroom. Student Life staff members work within and across teams focused on residential life and Minerva community development, civic engagement and city/cultural immersion, mental health and wellbeing, and professional development of students to prepare them for post-graduation employment or graduate and professional school. These teams are unified by a shared goal of providing and/or supporting opportunities for integrated learning for our diverse and global student community.

THE ROLE

This role is ideally suited for someone who is passionate about student growth and development, believes deeply in experiential learning, enjoys building relationships with partners, excels at project management, gets energized looking for creative solutions and has experience leading and managing a team. The City Director is the most senior representative of Minerva on the City Team and works collaboratively with staff throughout the organization to provide a high quality experience for the current students while also supporting the institution to have a strong presence and recognition in the region.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Reporting to the Global Director of Student Life with advisory collaboration with the Global Directors of Counseling And Psychological Services (CAPS) and Coaching and Talent Development (CTD), the City Director will lead the Student Life Team in San Francisco.

Directly reporting to the City Director will be the Residential Life Manager (RLM), Experiential Education Manager (EEM), Civic Engagement and Partnership Manager (CEPM), and Milestone Event Production Manager (MEPM) in San Francisco. This team, referred to as the City Team, will support all activities in the city and provide students with a holistic semester experience.

In addition to the core general functions outlined below, the City Director will have overall responsibility for the following:

• The full operation of the rotation city in collaboration with their assigned Global Director and in the supervision of their own direct reports.
• Ultimately responsible for development and implementation of the high-level strategy, overarching narrative and cohesion of goals and timeliness of messaging to students and staff relative to their rotation city, holding the Student Life Team accountable to content deadlines, facilitating meetings and checking in and providing feedback on deliverables, in collaboration with the entire Global Oversight team.

The City Director will oversee and be responsible for:

• Leading, managing, and supporting members of the city-based Student Life Team to support their development, growth, and potential in their respective roles
• Manage the administration of city life, collaborating with appropriate government, partner, and in city resources to ensure a smooth running city operations.
• Oversight and management of the city budget
• Crisis and emergency management response (HSSE): implementation and management
• Effective team delivery of major events (the City Director will project-manage student orientation, and oversee the production of milestone community events/traditions (as relevant) in collaboration with the MEPM and in coordination with the global Student Life Team.
• Oversee the creation of local strategic and operational partnership in collaboration with the CEPM and entire City Team meant to engage the external community with Minerva and its students.
• Maintaining ongoing relationship(s) with residence hall property management, the local technology provider in collaboration with Minerva's technology consultant, and the local visa partner (if applicable). Will be the primary point of contact for partnership opportunities with local professionals and organizations, passing on contacts to the Partnerships Manager when applicable.
• Using a student development framework, respond to and report student policy violations in the city including formal student conduct cases in collaboration with the relevant Global Director.
• Other duties as assigned.

STUDENT LIFE GROUND TEAM RESPONSIBILITIES

In addition, the City Director will be responsible for a set of common, core Student Life Team functions as a key member of city management which are shared among the City Team Student Life members.

These responsibilities will include the following, along with others to be determined by local need and guided by the City Director:

• City preparation, opening and closing, including check-in and check-out duties

• Close collaboration on all events, including milestones, with assigned lead responsibilities overseen by the in-city Student Life Team lead. This includes collaboration in event planning and preparation, facilitation and closing.
• Emergency support and health and safety management with relevant training provided.
• Holding the city's Emergency Phone for one weekend out of every five, across the academic term, during which the on-duty employee must remain in the Bay Area.
• Defined visibility during the Monday to Friday working week inside the residence hall; with demonstrable active contributions during the entire semester, including the requirement for some weekend or evening work.
• Meeting attendance and participation: Attendance at all Student Life Team Meetings and any others as designated by the City Director and/or Global Director.
• With the oversight of the Global Director, collaboration on program and event budgeting and the localization of experiences when implementing event templates

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE WILL POSSESS…

• Bachelor's Degree in related area, advanced degree preferred
• Experience in the following four areas and be an expert in at least one: (a) partnership relations, (b) leading and managing a team, (c) experiential and programmatic design, and (d) community building and conduct philosophies.
• Experience working with a diverse group of individuals around the world, able to empathize and connect with
• The ability to inspire other staff members, lead a team to successful execution through detailed planning, enact careful training, and create a trusting team dynamic
• The desire to work across departments to support cross-team initiatives
• Familiarity with approaches to student development, student engagement, and higher education policy compliance (including FERPA, Title IX, and Clery).
• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal) and an understanding of the primacy of effective communication in this role; conflict resolution; rapid problem-solving; deep awareness of intercultural dynamics; team building and collaboration; adaptability and flexibility
• Emergency response and health and safety protocol design and daily administration; operations and logistics;

APPLICATION PROCESS

Applications received by April 28, 2023 April 19, 2023 will receive priority consideration.

Candidates should include a Resume, Cover Letter, and Supplemental Question Responses to the below questions as three separate documents:

• What excites you about this role and Minerva's Student Life department?
• What are two important qualities you hope to find in individuals working on your team?
• What specific strengths or contributions do you hope to bring to this role?
• What changes do you foresee in this role compared to your previous role?

Minerva is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, gender, religion, marital status, registered domestic partner status, age, national origin or ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or mental disability, or any other consideration made unlawful by federal, state, or local law.

Compensation:

Hiring starting salary for the position is between $91,200 - $96,700