Student Development Director

About this role

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.

Student Development Director

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.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Program Architecture, Workforce Scaling & Student Financial Benefits (55%)

• Workforce Development Strategy: 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.

• Project Management & Design: 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.

• Financial Benefit Coordination: 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.

• Campus Financial Liaison: 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.

• Mentorship & Feedback: Provide individual coaching and oversight, structured performance reviews, and career-readiness mentorship to help students leverage their financial awards into early career placement.

Front Desk Personnel Leadership & Facility Management (25%)

• Staff Supervision: Oversee the recruitment, training, daily duties, and performance evaluations of the front desk staff team.

• Facility Operations: Direct the daily visitor experience, security protocols, multi-line phone routing, mail/shipping distribution, and lobby logistics for the CAA headquarters.

• Scheduling Coordination: Manage a multi-faceted operation to ensure proper utilization and staffing of applicable CAA spaces.

• Service Standards: 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.

Spatial Management & Learning Laboratory Optimization (10%)

• Spatial Design & Utilization: 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.

• Compliance & Safety: Maintain physical workspace layouts that adhere to campus safety guidelines, resource efficiency, resource allocation and professional workstation standards.

• Resource Allocation: 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.

Administrative Management & Operational Strategy (10%)

• Budget Oversight: Formulate and manage the front desk operational budget, reception supplies, vendor contracts, and digital visitor-check-in systems.

• Impact Documentation: 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.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Experience: 4–6 years of experience in student affairs, higher education administration, hospitality management, facilities operations, or front-office leadership.

• Higher Education Acumen: Deep institutional understanding of the modern higher education environment, with proven success navigating and collaborating across multiple departmental silos, administrative tiers, and structural hierarchies.

• Strategic Maintenance & Growth: Proven success or demonstrated capability in program selective hiring, cross-departmental integration, or transforming small teams into high-impact workforces.

• Complex Leadership: Proven success maintaining oversight over complex business units, including the direct supervision of permanent operational staff.

• Spatial & Facilities Familiarity: Demonstrated capability or familiarity with spatial planning, workspace optimization, or managing flexible collaborative office layouts.

• Financial Literacy: Familiarity with higher education financial frameworks, collaboration with finance and senior leadership budgetary directives.

• Communication: Elite interpersonal skills; able to seamlessly transition betw

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