What are the responsibilities and job description for the Housing Director position at EF Education First?
EF’s International Language Campus in Miami Beach seeks a passionate operations manager with a customer-service orientation to join our team as Director of Housing. The successful candidate will report to the School Director and oversee all aspects of student welfare including housing, discipline, and administration for 400 students.
The Director of Housing and their team works closely with students and their accommodations to ensure a successful, high-quality experience for all parties. The position requires the ability to manage our on-campus residence, as well as recruit and retain host families in the local area.
Candidates should be comfortable working in a fast-paced environment while able to maintain a high level of customer service. Excellent communication skills are needed to liaise with our sales offices worldwide and motivate a team, as well as the confidence to efficiently develop systems to manage a school. Diplomacy, patience, flexibility, and strong conflict-resolution skills are essential when working with students from all over the world and of varying English abilities.
As a Housing Director at EF, you have the opportunity to work with a highly diverse student population and a high-energy staff. The position both provides and requires great flexibility and entails wearing many hats including those of event coordinator, role model, counselor, and policy enforcer to name a few. Community development is important in the position and the Housing Director should have a strong desire to provide support to the student body and to help make our international students feel at home here on campus and in Miami Beach.
The Role
Experience in the educational sector is preferable, but a soundtrack record of excellent customer service and operations management is a must. Team EF is committed to coaching and supporting a future leader in this challenging but rewarding position.
- Be an influential leader and manager to a team: run meetings, develop agendas, drive improvement.
- Arrange housing assignments for a residential population of approximately 400 students (600 during peak season)
- Manage a staff of 6 Resident Advisors, housing team, and seasonal staff
- Facilitate training sessions throughout the year for the residential team.
- Communicate issues with international sales offices (concerning logistics and student discipline)
- Conduct weekly building and safety inspections with Facilities and Security staff.
- Enforce school rules and policies, manage and follow up on student discipline issues. Exhibit effective listening and mediation skills.
- Place all working orders for both Housekeeping and Facilities in a daily basis and track maintenance issues, and coordinate with the Facilities or housekeeping management team
- Act as a liaison between Residence Life, Facilities, and Security to assist with all room and building service required.
- Take the emergency phone as per the rotation. When serving on-call, respond to all emergency situations in a calm and responsible manner.
- Support to implement student life activities and programming.
- Ensure and upkeep the quality of the rooms, and shared areas of the residence.
- Work directly with students, facilities, resident advisors, and sales offices through daily communication to problem solve, manage crises, and help students acclimate to a new environment.
- Manage staff and supplier payments, ensuring payments are made accurately and on time.
- Motivate Housing Department staff to drive results.
- Bachelor’s degree
- 2-3 years of operational and staff management experience
- Calm ability to prioritize and act when faced with multiple demands
- Excellent organization, communication skills and attention to detail
- Ability to meet long and short-term goals
- A positive attitude, sense of humor, and empathy for others
- Comfort with a fast-paced environment
- Flexible and freely able to handle last-minute changes and meet deadlines
- This position is in-person and full-time, it will require occasional weekend work, and evenings at certain times of the year
This is the most fun, high caliber place you’ll ever work. Ask any employee why they love EF (whether they’ve been here 10 minutes or 10 years) and they’ll probably tell you the same thing: it’s the people.
When you work at EF, you join a purpose-driven, international and energetic community that thrives on continuous learning, fearless innovation and mutual support.
In addition, you can expect:
- Commitment to professional growth: robust monthly calendar of trainings and workshops
- Four weeks paid vacation your first year, ten paid holidays, and two floating holidays
- 25% company match on your 401(k) contributions
- Market-leading medical, dental and vision coverage, along with options for life and disability insurance, legal and pet insurance
- Dependent care, healthcare and commuter Flex Spending Accounts (FSAs)
- Access to fertility care and family-building support
- Wellness benefits and a yearly fitness reimbursement
- Robust Employee Assistance Program
- Tuition reimbursement
- Tenure-based sabbatical eligibility
- EF Product Discounts (discounts on travel, international language schools, childcare with our Au Pair product and more)
- Discounts at local venues and businesses
When you join EF, you join a multicultural and diverse community working across more than 600 schools and offices in 50 countries, all with one shared mission of opening the world through education. Whoever you are, whatever you are passionate about—we welcome you and want you to bring that to work every day. EF is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and we are committed to inclusion and belonging across race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, caste, parental status, identity, experience, and everything else that makes you unique.
Founded in Sweden in 1965, EF has schools and offices around the world, including hubs in Boston, London, Mexico City, São Paulo, Shanghai, Stockholm, Zürich, and more. Learn more at www.ef.com.
