Associate Director of Admissions, Alpha - $250,000/year USD

About the role

Alpha is a K–12 private school with a verifiable claim: students finish core academics in two hours daily, progress ahead of national benchmarks, and devote afternoons to meaningful skill development instead of low-value assignments. This position is a sales role focused on building demand in the Bay Area, targeting families from top professions—founders, engineers, doctors, and investors—who will rigorously evaluate Alpha alongside schools like Nueva, Castilleja, Harker, Marin Country Day, and Branson.

You will create your own pipeline through partnerships, community alliances, and referrals, owning a growth target while also declining families when the fit is wrong. The role evolves from initiating first conversations to becoming a trusted leader parents request by name, with a team supporting you over time. You will work on-site at a single campus (Palo Alto or San Rafael) five days per week, present during morning drop-off, afternoon pick-up, and evening programming.

Responsibilities

• Build qualified family demand independently through partnerships with preschools and feeder schools, community relationships, referral networks, and local events.
• Manage the full admissions cycle personally: initial inquiry, needs-assessment dialogue, campus tour, student shadow visit, enrollment verdict, and onboarding process.
• Conduct tours, open houses, and informational sessions to explain and defend an AI-driven learning model to analytical, questioning parents.
• Maintain 7 or more concurrent family relationships across different decision stages, tracked in HubSpot and the student information system.
• Deliver weekly reports on pipeline strength and conversion quality, refining the local admissions playbook, FAQ documents, and standard operating procedures based on market insights.
• Expand enrollment at a single Bay Area campus with families who align with and will succeed in the Alpha model.

What You Won’t Be Doing

• Managing an inherited waitlist (no pre-existing demand exists).
• Escalating decisions to an admissions committee or navigating multi-layer approval chains.
• Following a rigid script or working from a quota-driven call list.
• Transferring families across multiple coordinators, event staff, or reception desks.
• Overseeing a large team or spending your week in internal coordination meetings.

Requirements

• 3+ years in premium client-facing positions where an individual or family was the purchaser at $25K+ per client or $2K+ per month (business-to-business or enterprise sales alone do not qualify).
• Direct, personal ownership of a complete client, admissions, or enrollment process: application, needs assessment, offer, decision, and onboarding.
• A quantifiable growth or customer-acquisition metric you personally owned, including your approach to generating leads and establishing local partnerships.
• Management of 7 or more simultaneous client or family relationships at varying stages, tracked using a CRM or database system.
• A specific instance where you advised against your own offering because it was not the appropriate match.
• Practical experience using AI tools in client-facing workflows (e.g., meeting preparation, tailored outreach, conversation summaries, or follow-up communications).
• Direct experience leading in-person tours, presentations, meetings, or curated experiences for high-net-worth individuals, senior executives, or similarly discerning audiences.
• Excellent written and verbal communication with executive presence: ability to identify needs, simplify complex ideas, address objections, and navigate high-stakes decision dialogues.
• Experience cultivating deliberate, multi-touch client relationships spanning several weeks, including sustained engagement with prospects who do not commit immediately.
• Reside in or relocate within 60 days to Palo Alto, CA, or San Rafael, CA (Marin County). This position is fully on-site, not hybrid.
• Authorized to work in the United States without requiring visa sponsorship.

Nice-to-have Requirements

• An established network within Peninsula or Marin families, including relationships with local private preschools or feeder schools.
• Admissions or enrollment background at a selective independent K–12 school, or a program with higher applicant volume than available seats.
• Experience in luxury hospitality, private client services, concierge medicine, private wealth management, membership clubs, or high-end residential real estate.

About Alpha

Alpha reimagines the school day around faster learning, stronger mentorship, and more time for students to build real-world skills. The team includes teachers (guides), operators, admissions experts, school & curriculum leaders, and remote team members. Alpha offers six-figure roles for people ready to help build a radically better school experience, with a culture built for builders—fast-moving, ambitious, and student-focused.

Pay

The compensation for this role is $250,000 USD per year, paid weekly.

Benefits

This is a full-time, W2 employee position with immediate access to benefits. All roles are year-long positions.