Vice President of Operations
A Vice President of Operations leads enrollment management and student services across Admissions, Marketing, Registrar, and Student and Career Services, shaping the institution’s enrollment strategy and advancing its mission. This is a sample job description from Excelon Associates that you can adapt as a template for your own hire.
What does a Vice President of Operations do?
In this educational setting, the Vice President of Operations leads efforts to identify, recruit, and admit both traditional and non-traditional students. The role provides leadership across Admissions, Marketing, Registrar, and Student and Career Services, and plays a pivotal part in shaping the institution’s enrollment practices and advancing its mission.
Reporting to the President, the Vice President of Operations sets enrollment strategy, manages the teams that execute it, and holds accountability for recruitment, retention, and graduation outcomes. It is a senior leadership role within the higher education sector that blends operational management, data analysis, and people leadership.
Enrollment management is the coordinated strategy a school uses to attract, admit, retain, and graduate students, spanning recruitment, admissions, marketing, and student services. Retention is the share of students who continue their studies, and student services covers the registrar, advising, and career support that help them persist to graduation.
Who does the Vice President of Operations lead?
Key responsibilities of a Vice President of Operations
- Lead enrollment management efforts and oversee student service functions.
- Develop and implement a strategic enrollment plan, fostering relationships to enhance student outreach, retention, and graduation.
- Collaborate with senior leadership to provide strategic vision, planning, and budget management.
- Direct the admissions team to generate awareness and drive enrollment growth.
- Manage recruitment, training, and evaluation of staff within enrollment management units.
- Ensure quality program delivery through effective assessment of outcomes.
- Monitor program progress and strategic initiatives, reporting to the President.
- Ensure compliance with industry regulations.
- Coordinate marketing efforts to increase student enrollment and brand awareness, reviewing and revising strategies based on key performance indicators.
- Collect, organize, and analyze data to monitor recruitment and retention success, using it for decision-making and planning.
- Complete and submit weekly reports to the Campus President.
- Assist in integrating technology tools to enhance recruitment and admissions processes.
What qualifications does a Vice President of Operations need?
- Bachelor’s degree required, with 5 to 7 years of related work experience as a Vice President of Operations in an educational institution, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Understanding of best practices in enrollment management and data-driven decision-making.
- Experience creating supportive environments for students transitioning to higher education, and the ability to collaborate with internal and external stakeholders.
- Empathy and listening skills for effective communication with various stakeholders, with strong character, integrity, and work ethic.
- Effective oral and written communication, leadership ability, and proficiency in the Microsoft Office suite.
- Availability to work evenings and weekends and to travel as needed.
Why is the Vice President of Operations role important?
Enrollment is the lifeblood of an educational institution, and this role owns it. A Vice President of Operations who can align admissions, marketing, registrar, and student services around a single enrollment strategy directly affects the school’s growth, financial health, and the student experience from first inquiry through graduation.
Because the role is measured on recruitment and retention outcomes, the strongest leaders pair a clear strategic plan with the discipline to track data, adjust against the numbers, and develop the teams that carry the work day to day.
A hiring note from Excelon
Titles vary across institutions, but the substance of this role is senior enrollment leadership. Through our higher education practice, we screen for candidates who can show real enrollment and retention results, not just years in a seat: a strategic plan they built, the data they tracked against it, and the teams they grew. Excelon has run searches like this for institutions across the United States and Canada since 2007.
Enrollment is the lifeblood of an institution, and this role is the one that owns it from first inquiry through graduation.
Related sample job descriptions
Vice President of Operations: frequently asked questions
What does a Vice President of Operations do?
In this educational setting, a Vice President of Operations leads enrollment management and oversees student service functions across Admissions, Marketing, Registrar, and Student and Career Services. The role shapes the institution’s enrollment strategy, recruitment, retention, and graduation outcomes.
What qualifications does a Vice President of Operations need?
This sample role requires a bachelor’s degree and five to seven years of related leadership experience in an educational institution, or an equivalent combination of education and experience, plus a strong grounding in enrollment management best practices and data-driven decision-making.
What is enrollment management?
Enrollment management is the coordinated strategy a school uses to attract, admit, retain, and graduate students. It spans recruitment, admissions, marketing, and student services, and it is measured against recruitment and retention outcomes.
Who does this role report to?
This sample role reports to the President, and submits weekly reports to the Campus President. It also collaborates with senior leadership on strategic vision, planning, and budget management.
Why is this role important?
Enrollment is the lifeblood of an educational institution. A Vice President of Operations who can align admissions, marketing, and student services around a single enrollment strategy directly affects the school’s growth, financial health, and student outcomes.
Hiring a Vice President of Operations?
Excelon Associates places senior operations and enrollment leaders at educational institutions across the United States and Canada through our higher education recruitment practice. Retained executive search since 2007, headquartered in Asheville, NC, with offices in Boca Raton and Delray Beach, FL.
More Sample Job Descriptions
Templates you can adapt for your own roles.