Director of Institutional Advancement, Alpha - $400,000/year USD

Families who enroll their children at Alpha rarely discover the school through paid advertising. They learn about it because another parent shared their story over dinner, saying simply: "This transformed my child." Your responsibility would be to own and grow that referral engine across an entire region—orchestrating the dinners, cultivating parent ambassadors, connecting with the mayor's office, and opening doors for a 14-year-old's first substantive project through relationships with CEOs.

In a typical week, you will move through four distinct settings. You will design and execute the region's event calendar, ranging from 150-person open houses to intimate eight-person dinners, hosting several each month. You will identify current parents eager to share their experience and pair them with prospective families. You will cultivate ties with municipal leaders and executives, converting those connections into event venues, support for campus expansions, and tangible opportunities for students. And you will activate the Alpha Networks—facilitating introductions, organizing expert-led masterclasses, arranging internships, onboarding alumni, and tracking every interaction family by family.

No complete playbook exists. You will create it as you execute, and the frameworks you develop will be adopted by colleagues building the same capacity in other cities. As your region expands, the performance bar rises rather than lowers: the number of doors opened per family must increase even as total enrollment grows. Success is measured by the proportion of new growth driven by genuine personal endorsements, assessed across multi-year trends rather than quarterly cycles.

No degree is mandatory, and no specific credential is preferred. An MBA, a background in consulting or wealth management, or a self-built career in community engagement, hospitality, or institutional advancement all carry equal weight. What matters is a demonstrated history of bringing people together and converting those relationships into measurable outcomes.

This position is based on-site in one of these regions: San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Greenwich, Miami, Atlanta, Boston, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Dorado, Nashville, or Park City. The role requires evening and weekend availability in settings with high-expectation parents, elected officials, and entrepreneurs, along with frequent local travel. You will become the most connected individual in your city, and you will invest that capital in the lives of students. If that exchange feels like the mission rather than a sacrifice, you should apply.

What You Will Be Doing

• Designing and executing the region's event calendar: open houses, curated dinners organized by city and grade level, and family retreats, hosting several per month while managing budgets
• Identifying and securing venues, hosts, and vendors, then serving as the live host for each gathering
• Recruiting current parents to serve as ambassadors, training them with authentic narratives, and pairing them with prospective families and campus tours
• Establishing relationships with municipal officials and business leaders, and converting those connections into event venues, support for new campus launches, and opportunities for students
• Connecting enrolled families into parent circles and placing students into mentorships, expert-led masterclasses, and real-world internships, while onboarding graduating families as alumni within 30 days
• Recording every event, introduction, and first-contact attribution in the CRM (customer relationship management platform) to ensure "doors opened per family" reflects an accurate metric

What You Won’t Be Doing

• Purchasing growth. No paid advertising, no media budgets, no impression metrics or lead-volume goals
• Owning brand narrative or top-down campaigns; the Marketing team handles that
• Managing admissions processing, conducting tours, or handling enrollment documentation; Admissions and Family Success teams own those functions
• Operating a campus on a daily basis, or managing the physical facility
• Reporting raw attendance figures and headcounts as though a full room constitutes success
• Waiting for a finalized playbook, a template, or support staff before beginning work

Director Of Institutional Advancement Key Responsibilities

Make person-to-person referrals the dominant source of enrollment growth in your region.

Basic Requirements

• 5+ years building communities or relationship-driven programs in K-12 education, membership organizations, or comparable network businesses, where growth was generated through people: referrals, members, congregations, chapters, alumni, or a client portfolio, with documented results
• Has personally designed and executed 20+ gatherings spanning the full spectrum, from intimate curated dinners to events with 100+ attendees, with budget accountability
• Has established and sustained relationships with public officials or business executives that delivered specific, identifiable value
• Disciplined CRM user; tracking relationships, attributions, and actions is an established practice
• Resides in, or is willing to relocate to, one of these regions: San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Greenwich (CT), Miami, Atlanta, Boston, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Dorado (PR), Nashville, or Park City (UT)
• Authorized to work in the US without requiring visa sponsorship

Nice-to-have Requirements

• Led regional growth, community development, or partnerships for a network-oriented organization: a school system, membership club, franchise, or civic or faith-based institution
• Developed and monetized a high-trust relationship portfolio as a client-facing principal in wealth management, consulting, or business development
• Advanced through admissions, institutional advancement, community organizing, or hospitality, and consistently served as the representative and host for the organization
• Established relationships with local government or the business community in your city
• Deep understanding of how families navigate high-stakes education decisions

About Alpha

Join the team building school around student growth

Alpha reimagines the school day around faster learning, stronger mentorship, and more time for students to build real-world skills.

Roles with real student impact: Alpha hires teachers (guides), operators, admissions experts, school & curriculum leaders, and remote team members.

Education work that pays like it matters: Alpha offers six-figure roles for people ready to help build a radically better school experience.

A culture built for builders: Alpha is fast-moving, ambitious, and student focused. It’s for people who want to improve the system, not maintain it.

Alpha is where you can do the most meaningful work of your career.

There is so much to cover for this exciting role, and space here is limited. Hit the Apply button if you found this interesting and want to learn more. We look forward to meeting you!

Working with us

This is a full-time, W2 employee position with immediate access to benefits ( https://support.crossover.com/article/7581-w2-benefits-u-s-paychex-paid-only). All roles are year-long positions. The compensation level for this role is $400,000 USD/year. The payment period is weekly. Consult www.crossover.com/help-and-faqs for more details on this topic.

Crossover Job Code: LJ-5841-US-Tulsa-DirectorofInst