Director of Graduate Admissions at Gwynedd Mercy University – Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania

Gwynedd Mercy University is looking for a mission-centered, strategic, and enthusiastic leader to serve as our Director of Graduate Admissions. If you are ready to lead a dynamic team, cultivate meaningful partnerships, and grow graduate enrollment at all stages of the funnel, we invite you to apply.

This role serves as the primary leader of the graduate admissions team and a key strategic leader for the University in recruiting new graduate students, including GMercyU graduates. The Director will be responsible for thoughtfully leading and mentoring the graduate admissions staff while developing and executing strategic recruitment initiatives. The person in this role will cultivate strong relationships with prospective students, academic department heads, campus community members, and external partners, and will clearly articulate the value of graduate education at GMercyU to diverse audiences.

This position presents a significant opportunity to build and expand partnerships with employers, professional organizations, and undergraduate institutions to strengthen the graduate enrollment pipeline.

Although fluency in Spanish is not required, this position has the opportunity to integrate bilingual skills into the role.

The chosen candidate will wholeheartedly embrace the department’s quality standards of accuracy, engagement, hospitality, and efficiency to ensure students have an excellent experience at each stage of the admissions process. This position requires some travel, event support, and night and weekend work.

The following duties are essential to this position. Other duties may be assigned.

• Establish and maintain all standard operational procedures for the Graduate Admissions team.
• Lead the selection, training, supervision, and motivation of the graduate admissions staff, providing opportunities for professional growth and development.
• Provide guidance and support for all Graduate Admissions staff in the development of their responsibilities and assigned recruitment territories.
• Collaborate with the Vice President for Enrollment Management to grow incoming graduate student enrollment, set goals, and develop strategies to meet them.
• Serve as a liaison with graduate program directors, academic deans, and the marketing team to develop targeted recruitment plans based on program-specific and regionally relevant opportunities.
• Monitor and maintain the graduate admissions office budget.
• Participate on appropriate University committees.

• Expand, maintain, and evaluate partnerships with internal program directors, employers, and undergraduate institutions to grow the graduate recruitment pipeline.
• Represent the University at graduate fairs, information sessions, on-campus events, and professional conferences.
• Develop and coordinate alumni, faculty, and current student recruitment networks and training mechanisms.
• Partner with the marketing team on impactful publications, advertising, and correspondence for key graduate constituent groups.
• Plan, implement, and assess graduate student recruitment strategies and activities in collaboration with the Assistant Director of Campus Events and other campus partners.
• Collect and maintain up-to-date knowledge of graduate programs to ensure accurate information is shared with prospective students and families.

• Track and analyze graduate recruitment funnel metrics, including inquiries, applications, acceptances, and enrollment data, to inform and adjust strategy.
• Create reports on recruitment activity and pipeline progress for leadership and academic departments.
• Utilize CRM tools — Slate experience preferred — to manage prospect and applicant data, ensuring accuracy and timely follow-up.
• Identify trends in enrollment data and make recommendations to improve outreach effectiveness and yield outcomes and identify new program opportunities.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Bachelor’s degree and at least one to two years of supervision of students or professional staff required. Additionally, three to five years of experience in graduate admissions or student services required. Master’s degree with progressive leadership experience preferred.

• Demonstrated proficiency in CRM systems required; experience with Slate preferred, including managing queries, reports, communications flows, and data integrity processes.
• Ability to analyze and interpret enrollment data, build dashboards or reports, and apply insights to recruitment strategies.
• Strong strategic understanding of digital recruitment tools and channels, including email automation, paid digital campaigns, and website engagement metrics
• Proficiency with spreadsheets (Excel/Google Sheets), including pivot tables, data validation, and multi‑sheet analytics.
• Familiarity external CAS systems and the connection between CRM and SIS
• Ability to adopt new technology quickly and support staff in developing technical proficiency.

Ability to read and interpret professional journals and communicate information about Gwynedd Mercy University to diverse constituent groups, both internal and external to the institution. Excellent writing, public speaking, and presentation skills required. Fluency in Spanish is highly desired but not required.

Ability to apply mathematical concepts to practical situations, work with statistical information, analyze enrollment trends, and present data to support strategic decision-making.

Ability to interact effectively, positively, persuasively, and professionally with both internal and external constituent groups. Must be self-directed and capable of working independently, while also providing active leadership as part of a collaborative team.

Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form. High attention to detail and ability to think critically is a must.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, walk, sit, use hands to handle or feel, and reach with hands and arms. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required include close vision and the ability to adjust focus. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.