Director of Student Engagement

Boston University Hillel

Role Overview

Make your mark on Jewish student life by joining Boston University Hillel as its Director of Student Engagement. This is a big, exciting job for BU Hillel, working at the largest private university for Jewish students in the world. This position will work on major aspects of undergraduate student engagement, serving 4,000 Jewish undergraduate students. We welcome candidates who are thirsty for being in relationship with Jewish people – from students to alumni, parents, donors, and other partners. If you’re team-oriented, never give up, and truly believe that you must “be the change you wish to see in the world,” then this is the position for you! This position reports to the Executive Director and works closely with the CEO, Campus Rabbi, and COO.

What You’ll Do

Undergraduate Student Life Work

The role brings a professional with talent, passion, and skills to Boston University to imagine and implement Jewish undergraduate student life. As the Director, you will serve as both the architect of a comprehensive, strategic, and robust undergraduate engagement plan and the primary practitioner implementing this plan with 4,000 Jewish undergraduate students. You’ll have the opportunity to impact thousands of students—Boston University is home to over 17,000 undergraduate students across 10 undergraduate schools and colleges thirsty for resources, engagement, and care from BU Hillel.

This position has significant responsibility overseeing key student engagement areas for BU Hillel, including: student engagement outreach strategies, mentoring projects, advising student leaders, leading cohorts around Boston and trips to Israel, and more. You also contribute to religious activities such as Shabbat services/dinner, holiday programs, Israel events, and more. You will teach in our award-winning Jewish learning seminars with Jewish text at the center of each class. You will partner with BU Hillel’s senior rabbinic leadership on strategy and content for each of these programs, and receive guidance.

You’ll receive training from BU Hillel and Hillel International professionals, and learn from Jewish leaders on how to seamlessly weave Judaism into your work as a Hillel engagement professional. Each day you will be charged with empowering students to engage in meaningful and joyous Jewish lives, weaving in Jewish values, texts, and history.

Student Engagement and Outreach

• Manage Hillel’s marketing and outreach to all undergraduate colleges and residence halls—working with individual college partners and student groups.
• Director strategies for outreach and relationships with undergraduate students, conducting daily 1x1 initial and follow-up meetings.
• Strengthen and support student leadership cohorts ranging from engagement interns, to marketing interns, and career focused fellowships.
• Mentor various students in their desire to bring passion projects to campus.
• Grow Hillel’s capacity to meet engagement goals through detailed management and analysis of the CRM Database.
• Drive key insights on undergraduate student engagement and population for further growth of the program.
• Works with Hillel’s staff and student leaders to identify micro-communities and opportunities for students to engage within those micro-communities. These include but are not limited to: class years, majors, Jewish Greek life, Jewish residence hall life, arts and culture, volunteerism, and social justice.

Jewish Life and Learning

• Develop, lead, and recruit 1-2 Jewish learning fellowship classes and 1-2 experience groups in Boston per semester
• Weave Jewish education into social and cultural programs across campus.
• Co-lead immersive travel trips to Israel or community service trips to international destinations weaving Jewish content, text, and learning into each day of travel.
• Co-lead experience groups around Boston that have 3-5 parts to each group focused on fun, friendship, Jewish identity, and exploration. These cohorts attend fun events like Celtics games, fitness studios, best restaurants of Boston, musical concerts, theater shows, and more.

On a day to day basis you will

• Meeting with a group of students or individual students over coffee or a meal to understand which issues are most important to them and developing a plan of action together.
• Designing and executing a strategic engagement plan for undergraduate students, including planning educational, social, cultural, holiday, or Shabbat programs across a wide variety of undergraduate schools, students, and disciplines.
• Participating in a conversation with student leaders of all types of faith, ethnic, and racial backgrounds to build key relationships and partnerships.
• Developing key insights through 1x1 conversations on how to create an engagement program with high levels of reach and depth.
• Working Shabbat, holidays, and otherwise supporting the rest of your Hillel team—sometimes on nights and weekends.
• Participating in a professional development webinar.
• Teaching and facilitating Jewish learning through an undergraduate student lens.

What You’ve Accomplished

• 3–5 years of experience
• Bachelor's degree required; master's or advanced degree preferred (could be rabbinic, Jewish education, business, social work, or other relevant fields to this work).
• Significant computer skills, including Microsoft Office, Google Docs, CRM, and social media
• Must be willing to work nights and occasional weekends
• Requires discretion and independent judgement in performing all aspects of the position.
• An entrepreneurial spirit, willingness to take risks and the ability to learn from efforts that don’t work out as planned

What You’ll Bring to the Job

We are most interested in someone who is organized, driven, and mission-focused. The most important experience we are looking for is the ability to be a Jewish leader, organize people and projects, and inspire commitment and action. In terms of prerequisite requirements, we are open to candidates with the following:

• We are interested in people with backgrounds in PR, Communications, Marketing, Communal Engagement, For Profit Business, Customer Service and/or
• Significant Jewish communal life experience in any of the following: Hillel, Jewish nonprofit, Jewish camping, Jewish education, or Rabbinic leadership. and/or
• Significant experience with relationship-based work in areas such as: student engagement, community partnerships, nonprofit management, corporate social responsibility, or arts management. and/or
• Significant experience in for-profit environments that is relatable to this work, alongside a very strong Jewish lay leadership background.

What You’ll Receive

• High-level professional development to help develop core skills and gain expertise from changemakers, engagers, and Jewish life experts.
• Mentoring and career coaching to help you during and after your position.
• A network of terrific colleagues from across the Hillel movement.
• Travel opportunities, both domestically and internationally, multiple times per year.
• A comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance, Tax Deferred Retirement Plan, Life, AD&D, and Long-Term Disability insurances, Flexible Spending Plan, generous vacation/sick time, and parental leave.
• A salary of $55,000–$65,000 depending on level of experience.

About Boston University Hillel

Boston University Hillel is at the hub of a world-class university, in the thriving city of Boston, right near Fenway Park. Home to 4,000 Jewish undergraduates and 2,000 Jewish graduate students, BU Hillel’s mission is to inspire, educate, and empower BU students to lead meaningful and joyous Jewish lives. We engage 4,000 students per year, 600 of whom qualify as in-depth relationships. 200 students travel with BU Hillel each year. We have 160+ student leaders and 120+ lay leaders.

Boston University Hillel is affiliated with Hillel International. Hillel International enriches the lives of Jewish students so they may enrich the Jewish people and the world, and envisions a world where every student is inspired to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning and Israel.

About Hillel International

In 1923, Rabbi Benjamin Frankel started Hillel with humble means, a noble mission and a breathtaking vision: to convey Jewish civilization to a new generation. Today, Hillel International continues to enrich the lives of Jewish students and is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world at nearly 1,000 colleges and universities across North America and around the world. As Hillel evolves as an organization, the mission remains steadfast: to create lasting connections with every Jewish student that foster an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning, and Israel and train them to become the next Jewish leaders.

Hillel is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to creating an accepting and inclusive environment for all.