Alum Experience Director

Mount Holyoke College · Mount Holyoke College · $98,225–$110,845 (stated in the posting)

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Job Description:

The Alum Association of Mount Holyoke College is an alum-led organization that uplifts Mount Holyoke alums and builds community that fosters lifelong learning and empowers impactful connections amongst alums and with the College. Within Mount Holyoke, staff of the Association operate as the Alum Relations Office in the President’s Division.

This vital role leads and executes signature experiences to grow participation across Mount Holyoke’s diverse, global community of 40,000 alums. The Director heads the Alum Association’s Alum Experience pillar, responsible for delivering exceptional, shared alum engagements. This individual holds ownership for signature events, including Reunion, the Volunteer Leadership Summit and a select portfolio of regional programs. Reporting to the Executive Director, the Director serves on the Association’s Leadership Team, integrating the experiential strategy across other Association pillars and campus units. This role directly supervises professional staff and student teams, driving measurable outcomes in conversion to all forms of alum engagement, including philanthropy, in full alignment with the Association’s priorities and the MHC Forward strategic plan.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

A. Strategic Leadership & Vision

• Develop, champion, and articulate the multi-year strategic action plan for all experiential alum engagement, ensuring programs are innovative, globally inclusive and align with institutional priorities.

• Serve as the strategic owner of Mount Holyoke’s annual Reunion(s), leading the cross-functional team, defining the programmatic structure, managing the budget and regularly evaluating the quality and outcomes, elevating its impact as a high-profile, signature event.

• Oversee the development and implementation of creative, compelling programs that foster connection and a sense of belonging among students, recent alums, and under-engaged constituents, with a focus on intergenerational initiatives that leverage class and regional structure as well as career and affinity connections.

• Ensure that all program delivery and outcomes consistently embody the Association’s and College’s core commitment to excellence and inclusion.

• Own and manage the entire Experiential Engagement pillar budget, ensuring fiscal responsibility, monitoring cost recovery, and optimizing resources across all programmatic areas.

• Regularly collect, analyze, and use data to guide programmatic decisions, assess effectiveness, and present key performance indicators (KPIs) and post-event analysis to the Association’s leadership team.

B. Team Management and Operational Oversight

• Supervise, mentor, and evaluate a lean professional staff team (including the Assistant Director and Coordinator for Experiential Engagement), fostering a culture of excellence in execution and service while ensuring effective workload distribution across the team. The Director is expected to carry a significant portion of the pillar's execution workload alongside the team.

• Set and maintain the pillar’s overall programmatic calendar, ensuring strategic sequencing and avoiding capacity conflicts with institutional partners.

• Manage and mentor student ambassadors and workers, and support the ongoing development of the Reunion Student Ambassador program.

• Lead strategic-level collaboration with key College partners (e.g., Development/Mount Holyoke Fund, Marketing & Communications, Student Life) to ensure all shared experiences reflect a cohesive institutional presence.

C. Volunteer & Stakeholder Engagement

• Actively manage the portfolio of class boards and volunteer leaders planning Reunion (representing approximately 260 alum and student leaders), building strong relationships to drive engagement and philanthropic support.

• Collaborate on the planning and execution of the biennial Volunteer Leadership Summit, delivering comprehensive training content and recognition programming.

• Cultivate and maintain strong strategic partnerships across campus and effectively lead alum volunteers, students, faculty, and staff on key initiatives, facilitating cross-functional teamwork to ensure seamless program delivery.

Required Qualifications:

We are looking for a dynamic and visionary leader who brings passion, strategic insight, and a collaborative spirit to our team. You should have:

• A Bachelor’s degree.

• 5-7+ years of progressively responsible experience leading signature event experiences (like major conferences, festivals, reunions) in hospitality, event production, and a similarly complex organizational environment. You excel at designing, managing, and executing high-impact programs from concept to completion.

• A skilled orchestrator and project manager, you transform bold visions into tangible results. You thrive on setting ambitious priorities, meticulously managing multiple complex projects, and consistently exceeding goals in a fast-paced environment.

• At least 3 years of direct supervisory experience, empowering and developing professional staff through effective hiring, training, and performance management. You are a leader who inspires and grows teams.

• Exceptional communication skills – both written and verbal. You build strong rapport and effortlessly connect with diverse individuals at all levels.

• A mastery of volunteer engagement, with a proven track record of recruiting, inspiring, training, and guiding diverse volunteer groups to achieve shared objectives.

• Tech-savvy proficiency with Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides), Canva, and experience leveraging database and event management systems (CRM experience with Salesforce, Blackbaud, Blackthorn, or similar platforms is highly preferred).

• The ability to handle confidential information with discretion and integrity.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in alum relations or higher education strongly preferred.

• Certification in project management (e.g., PMP, Agile, Lean Six Sigma) is a plus.

• Experience working with virtual communities and online engagement platforms is a plus.

• US Driver’s license and ability to operate a motor vehicle.

Supervision:

• This role supervises staff and student employees within the Alum Association

Full Job Description

Hiring Range: $98,225 - $110,845

What We Offer:

• 403(b) Retirement Plan (College contributes 9% of salary)

• Comprehensive medical, dental and vision insurance

• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

• Disability and Leave Benefits

• Life Insurance (College paid coverage 1x salary)

• Employee Assistance Program

• Tuition Benefits (to Mount Holyoke College or others)

• Generous Paid Time Off

• Access to Kendall Sports & Dance Complex

Background Checks:

Mount Holyoke College is committed to providing a safe and secure environment, supported by qualified employees that will allow all of its students, faculty, staff and those associated with them to successfully carry out the mission of the college. As a condition of employment, the College will conduct appropriate background checks for all new hires. Mount Holyoke has designated the Office of Human Resources as the office responsible for ensuring that background checks (CORI, SORI, Credit History, & Driver Credential) are completed and utilized in the hiring process and Five College Office of Compliance and Risk Management as the office responsible for facilitating background checks as articulated in this policy.

Special Instructions for Applicants: 

Apply online; application materials must include:

• A cover letter summarizing interests and qualifications

• A complete resume or curriculum vitae

• For faculty positions, statements on mentoring, teaching, and research will also be required.

​It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment.

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