Campus Director Role Overview

Excelon Associates is conducting a confidential search for an experienced Campus Director to lead the operations, academic performance, and continued growth of a well-established career education campus in Dallas, TX. The institution offers career-focused programs that prepare students for employment in high-demand fields, including information technology, healthcare, business, and skilled trades.

This is an opportunity for an accomplished postsecondary education leader to take responsibility for a campus with meaningful growth potential and make a direct impact on students, employees, and the surrounding community. Career college campuses operate under U.S. Department of Education Title IV requirements, state authorization rules, and the standards set by accreditors recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. The role maps to the postsecondary education administrator profile.

Key Responsibilities

Campus Leadership and Operations

• Provide overall leadership and strategic direction for the campus.
• Foster a positive, collaborative, accountable, and student-centered campus culture.
• Oversee daily campus operations, including academics, admissions, student services, career services, compliance, facilities, and administrative functions.
• Ensure campus activities remain aligned with institutional goals, policies, and performance expectations.
• Oversee campus budgeting, scheduling, resource allocation, and facility needs, ensuring resources support student and institutional priorities.
• Monitor campus performance and implement strategies to improve operational effectiveness.

Academic Quality and Programs

• Collaborate with academic leaders to maintain high-quality instructional delivery across all programs.
• Monitor curriculum, instructional practices, faculty performance, and student outcomes.
• Support the continued development and improvement of career-focused academic programs.
• Ensure programs remain responsive to student needs, employer expectations, and relevant industry standards.

Enrollment, Retention, and Student Success

• Oversee student recruitment, enrollment, retention, persistence, and graduation initiatives.
• Partner with admissions leadership to support enrollment growth and responsible recruitment practices.
• Develop and implement initiatives that strengthen student engagement, satisfaction, and academic success.
• Ensure students receive timely access to academic support, advising, career services, and other campus resources.
• Monitor key campus performance indicators and develop action plans to address areas requiring improvement.

Team Leadership and Development

• Lead, support, and develop faculty, department leaders, and administrative staff.
• Establish clear expectations and promote accountability across all campus departments.
• Recruit, hire, train, mentor, and evaluate faculty and administrative employees.
• Identify professional development opportunities that strengthen employee performance and leadership capacity.
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement, collaboration, transparency, and accountability.

Compliance and Reporting

• Ensure compliance with institutional policies and all applicable accrediting, state, and federal requirements.
• Maintain accurate campus records, reports, and documentation.
• Prepare and submit timely performance, compliance, operational, and financial reports to senior leadership.
• Support accreditation reviews, regulatory visits, audits, and institutional reporting requirements.

External Engagement and Growth

• Serve as the primary campus representative with employers, community organizations, educational partners, and other external stakeholders.
• Develop relationships that support student employment, clinical or externship opportunities, community visibility, and program growth.
• Represent the campus at meetings, events, and community activities, strengthening its reputation and presence throughout the Dallas area.
• Identify opportunities for institutional growth, program expansion, and improved student outcomes.

Qualifications

Required

• Demonstrated leadership experience within higher education, career education, workforce training, or a comparable postsecondary environment.
• Proven experience managing campus operations, academic programs, employees, budgets, and organizational performance.
• Strong understanding of student recruitment, retention, academic delivery, career services, and student support functions.
• Experience leading teams within a regulated and outcomes-focused educational environment.
• Ability to manage multiple departments, competing priorities, and time-sensitive responsibilities.
• Strong analytical, decision-making, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and interpersonal communication abilities.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with faculty, staff, students, senior leadership, employers, and community partners.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
• Ability to establish expectations, hold employees accountable, and promote a positive workplace culture.
• Student-centered leadership philosophy and a commitment to career-focused education.
• Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced and evolving campus environment.

Preferred

• Master’s degree in education, business administration, organizational leadership, or a related field. Significant relevant leadership experience may be considered in place of an advanced degree.
• Previous experience as a Campus Director, Campus President, Executive Director, Dean, or comparable postsecondary education leader.
• Experience overseeing career-focused programs in information technology, healthcare, business, or skilled trades.
• Knowledge of accreditation requirements and state and federal regulations governing postsecondary institutions.
• Experience leading enrollment growth, retention improvement, operational change, or campus turnaround initiatives.
• Experience developing employer and community partnerships that support student and institutional success.

Compensation and Benefits

• Base salary range of $90,000 to $100,000 USD, commensurate with experience and qualifications.
• A competitive benefits package.
• Professional development opportunities and a collaborative working environment.
• The opportunity to make a meaningful impact on campus performance and student outcomes.

Who Thrives as a Campus Director

The strongest Campus Directors run the position like a general manager with an academic mission attached. They own the operational metrics, enrollment, retention, persistence, and graduation, and connect those numbers back to instructional quality and student support, because that is where a career college earns its reputation. Comfort managing budgets, schedules, facilities, and multiple departments at once is essential.

Candidates who do well here own compliance rather than delegate it. Familiarity with Title IV processes, accreditor standards, and state regulation turns audits, regulatory visits, and reporting into routine operating discipline. Building and developing a team matters just as much: recruiting, training, and evaluating faculty and administrators, setting clear expectations, and holding a culture of accountability and continuous improvement together.

This is a hands-on, community-facing role with real growth potential. The work spans students, employees, budgets, regulators, and employer and community partners in the same week, and the people who enjoy it pair operational discipline with a genuine, student-centered commitment to career-focused education and to strengthening the campus presence across the Dallas area.

About Excelon Associates

Excelon Associates is a retained executive search firm founded in 2007, headquartered in Asheville, North Carolina, with offices in Boca Raton and Delray Beach, Florida. The firm recruits leadership and specialized talent across higher education, post-secondary career education, healthcare, financial services, and government.

This Campus Director role is a confidential search conducted by Excelon Associates, with a recruiter as the single point of contact through screening, interviews, and offer. You can explore the firm’s higher education recruitment practice, browse current open roles, or review recent campaigns to see the kinds of searches Excelon runs.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Apply for This Campus Director Role

Excelon does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, marital or veteran status, disability, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.