Director of Family Relations, Alpha - $200,000/year USD

About the role

Alpha School students, on average, experience 2.4 to 2.6 times the academic growth of traditional school students. Alpha is hiring a Director of Family Relations to serve as the parent‑facing side of a leadership partnership with the Guides who mentor students. You will own the trust, retention, and advocacy of every family, guide the campus community life, and drive the growth contribution appropriate to your campus’s phase. This role requires making clear, reasoned decisions in ambiguous situations, defending Alpha’s unconventional model, and building relationships that foster committed families and backed Guides.

Responsibilities

• Own the relationship with every family on campus; lead hard conversations, identify the real concern, deliver a clear decision, hold it, and follow through until resolved.
• Defend Alpha’s model through screen‑time worries, skeptical relatives, and moments of doubt.
• Operate as the parent‑facing co‑leader alongside your Guides: align before and after sensitive conversations, protect the coaching relationship they hold with students, take family issues off their plate, and ensure families always know who owns what.
• Make real‑time calls in ambiguous student and family situations; route child‑safety, legal, and high‑risk matters through the correct escalation path immediately.
• Build the community: develop campus traditions, parent networks, local partnerships, and trusted parent champions who become the campus’s most credible voice.
• Own the growth contribution your campus phase calls for: at a launch or under‑enrolled campus, develop local demand and personally own admissions follow‑through to enrollment; at a mature campus, focus on retention, referrals, and clean handoffs to admissions.

Requirements

• Live within commuting distance of one of the campuses (Boca Raton, FL; Burlington, VT; Jackson Hole, WY; Las Vegas, NV; Palm Beach, FL; Park City, UT; Tulsa, OK) or be willing to relocate within 60 days.
• On‑site full‑time, including early mornings, late afternoons, evening events 2–3×/month, and occasional weekends.
• Legally authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship.
• 5+ years personally owning high‑trust relationships with families, clients, donors, or members, where your judgment and follow‑through changed retention or advocacy.
• Track record of holding firm decisions with demanding stakeholders without losing the relationship.
• Independent ownership of an ambiguous relationship, community, or growth outcome, with results you can point to as your own.
• Willing to own school growth and admissions follow‑through when your campus phase calls for it.
• Clear, concise communication that earns confidence quickly with affluent, high‑expectation families.
• Familiarity with independent, private, or non‑traditional education.
• Hands‑on daily use of AI tools and genuine conviction about AI‑powered education.

Qualifications (Nice‑to‑have)

• Established local network in the campus city (school, civic, faith, business, or community) that you can activate quickly.
• Private or independent school experience with a track record of family retention and community depth, not just enrollment numbers.
• Experience as the relationship owner alongside educators or other professionals, where you held the family and they held the craft, and neither of you undermined the other.
• A launch or early‑stage assignment where you personally built local demand and saw it through to committed families.
• Instinct for creating experiences (events, moments, environments) where people feel they belong to something worth protecting.
• Startup or early‑stage experience where you built from nothing and stayed grounded when things changed quickly.

Skills

• Judgment and decision‑making in ambiguous, high‑stakes situations.
• Relationship building and trust cultivation with high‑expectation families.
• Community development and partnership creation.
• Growth ownership and admissions follow‑through.
• Clear, concise, confident communication.
• Familiarity with AI‑powered education tools and advocacy for their use.

Benefits

• Health coverage (medical, dental, vision).
• Life and disability insurance.
• Voluntary benefits, tax‑advantaged FSA, HSA, and commuter accounts.
• 401(k) plan.
• Paid time off and parental leave.
• One‑time relocation allowance.

Pay

$200,000 USD per year, paid weekly.

Schedule

On‑site full‑time; early mornings, late afternoons; evening events 2–3 times per month; occasional weekends.