Director of Development, Alpha - $200,000/year USD

About the role

Families who choose Alpha Miami surround themselves with trusted advisors across every aspect of their lives. This role fills the one gap they didn't know existed. You will become the person they reach out to when doubt arises, when instinct tells them something isn't quite right, or when they encounter a moment they know you will grasp immediately. Your familiarity with each family will run deep enough that you anticipate needs before they surface—and you will possess both the judgment and the poise to address whatever they bring with discretion, warmth, and seamless execution.

Over time, your role will extend beyond the boundaries of their child's education. You will become woven into the very way they navigate this season of family life. Miami's independent school landscape is compact, deeply networked, and unforgiving when trust breaks. A family's perception of Alpha does not remain confined to campus—it circulates through the structures that influence opinion: the residence, the membership, the vessel, the benefit circuit, the messaging threads that determine where the next cohort enrolls.

You will grasp this reality intuitively, because your career has unfolded in environments where reputation serves as the sole meaningful asset and one error endures longer than all successes combined. You will cultivate a community that families instinctively protect, where inclusion feels organic and word-of-mouth advocacy flows from earned experience.

Miami operates as an inherently global city. Your work will involve Latin American households, international corporate leaders, finance and technology families who have recently relocated to Miami, and transient families whose views on education—and institutions broadly—have been formed by experiences well beyond the American independent school framework. Many transition between Miami, São Paulo, Bogotá, Madrid, and New York with the same ease others cross neighborhoods, and they will evaluate Alpha against alternatives located anywhere globally. The ideal candidate will navigate cross-cultural family expectations—and the demand for seamless, sophisticated relationships—with the same confidence they bring to more conventional Miami private school dynamics.

Alpha does not operate as a conventional institution. Students complete foundational academics in two daily hours through AI-enabled applications, then dedicate remaining time to public speaking, critical reasoning, and applied projects. No traditional lectures. No filler assignments. Results place students in the top 1% nationally. The families selecting Alpha have made a deliberate choice—and in a city where opinions proliferate and educational decisions signal status, they will face constant scrutiny. You will ensure they are never without a confident response.

Responsibilities

• Shape the cultural fabric of the school community—the atmosphere, rituals, and implicit expectations that create a sense of belonging—so Alpha becomes a place families take pride in, not merely an institution they selected
• Steward the entire parent journey—from initial outreach through enrollment, continued engagement, and sustained advocacy—so instructional staff remain focused on students and families consistently have a reliable point of contact
• Detect early signals when dynamics shift, and address them with the care and judgment that preserve trust—including the more difficult discernment of recognizing when a family does not align with the community
• Maintain visibility in the spaces families occupy: morning arrival, afternoon departure, evening gatherings, and the spontaneous exchanges that carry the most weight
• Foster a community that both domestic and international families regard as precious—and where advocacy emerges organically from genuine satisfaction
• Articulate Alpha's narrative persuasively—in private dialogue, at community events, and within the circles of discerning, internationally-minded families where the school's standing is truly established

What You Won’t Be Doing

• Operating from behind a desk—your physical presence within the community defines the role
• Adhering to conventional 9–5 schedules—early mornings, late afternoons, and evening commitments are inherent to the position, not occasional demands
• Redirecting challenging parent discussions to faculty or administrative colleagues—you hold full ownership of these interactions
• Relying on administrative infrastructure, established workflows, or a complete team—you function with significant independence and construct what is necessary
• Approaching family relationships as transactional accounts—this role depends on authentic connection, not procedural adherence

Requirements

• 5+ years building and sustaining trust with high-net-worth or ultra-high-net-worth families in a relationship-intensive, high-touch capacity
• Demonstrated success guiding discerning clients through consequential decisions—with tangible outcomes you can reference: conversion rates, retention metrics, referral volume
• The discretion and composure required to navigate sensitive, confidential matters without visible impact
• Proven experience managing and developing people—providing coaching, maintaining rigorous standards, and executing difficult personnel decisions—not simply managing relationships or client accounts
• Innate cross-cultural fluency across both globally mobile families and established Miami households
• AI-native approach—you employ AI tools with fluency, understand their strengths and limitations, and proactively introduce superior solutions, even when you are not the one building them technically
• Located in Miami, available for full-time on-site presence, and adaptable to flexible scheduling
• Authorized to work in the United States without requiring sponsorship

Nice-to-have Requirements

• Background as a head of school, principal, superintendent, or equivalent school leadership position
• Professional-level fluency in Spanish or Portuguese
• Personal or professional exposure to independent or non-traditional educational models
• Established connections within Miami's private school parent communities
• Experience working with internationally mobile, Latin American, or globally connected households
• A personal network extending through the neighborhoods, clubs, and institutions where Alpha's families reside and make 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.

Benefits

This is a full-time, W2 employee position with immediate access to benefits.

Pay

The compensation level for this role is $200,000 USD/year. The payment period is weekly.