Assistant Director, Strategic Initiatives – Student Affairs

Applications are welcome from all qualified candidates. In line with UAE regulations, Emirati candidates are encouraged to apply

New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) seeks to appoint a Assistant Director, Strategic Initiatives reporting to the Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs.

The Assistant Director, Strategic Initiatives supports division-wide strategic projects across the 8 different departments involving 80 FTE and 2000+ students. They will build buy-in and ensure timely delivery of divisional assessment objectives, inclusive of an annual impact report and departmental program evaluation.  The position will also be responsible for better integration of resources across the division and with the larger organization.

Project Management:

• Divisional priorities
• Resource allocation
• Professional Development L&D, retention, career development for staff
• Divisional onboarding
• Policy fluency, protocol fluency, coherence

 Key Responsibilities: 

• Oversee Student Affairs Candidate Weekend involvement (and other student recruitment related events), collaborating with SAEL to ensure appropriate staff involvement
• Coordinate divisional input into institution wide events like Open Day as needed
• Design and facilitate divisional gatherings to include representation from around the division, ensure ongoing learning, cross-departmental relationship building, and that we advance our divisional priorities
• Provide support for Marhabteen, a re-orientation program for students
• Coordinate and implement divisional onboarding and continuing L&OD practices

 Data & Assessment

• Track with an annual divisional assessment cycle including program level learning outcomes, departmental goals, and external KPIs
• Support departmental level data collection and assessment efforts through coaching, upskilling, templates and troubleshooting
• Develop and share reports on student engagement, key departmental subgroups, or learning outcomes as outlined in divisional annual priorities
• Curate exploratory analysis, inclusive of focus groups, as needed
• Track with key student behaviors in line with the Flourishing Framework and Violet Ready competencies throughout the year, identifying early intervention opportunities to leadership
• Coordinate data analysis team of graduate students for data cleaning and initial analysis
• Ensure completion of mandatory trainings and requirements is appropriately tracked and documented

 Capacity Building

• Enhance the data fluency of the division via Tableau dashboards for key decision markers
• Upskill teams or individual staff in project management skills to enable them to achieve their goals
• Liaise with the IR team on accreditation and other institutional priorities
• Liase with L&OD and HR teams for recruitment, onboarding and continuing education processes

 Communications & Reporting

• Produce an annual Student Engagement Impact Report, charting the influence of Student Affairs involvement in low retention and high graduation rates
• Take the lead on the External Relations & Communications Monthly Report, ensuring it is completed accurately and on time each month
• Strengthen divisional storytelling strategy NYUAD with counterparts across the division and university, as well as externally, in collaboration with External Relations & Communications
• Assist with divisional brand management and alignment with institutional communications guidance
• Project manage regular email updates from leadership to the division, that ensure consolidated and clear communication re. updates, changes, etc.
• Ensure the accurate and timely updating of Student Portal and External website content, flagging inconsistencies to content owners

 Other duties as assigned

Required Education: 

• Master's degree in higher education appropriate fields

 Required Experience: 

• 7+ years of project management experience
• Experience in chief of staff type roles
• Fluency with Microsoft office suite, linked in learning, project management tools
• Experience working with diverse populations, including familiarity working with international youth
• Knowledge of assessment within higher education / student affairs context
• Experience engaging with partners in the UAE

 Preferred Experience:

• High proficiency in developing and implementing strategic communications campaigns and leveraging data for storytelling
• Ability and willingness to work evenings and weekends, particularly during the academic year
• Excellent organization, presentation, written communication, and interpersonal skills
• Passion for community building, working with students and social impact

About NYUAD

NYU Abu Dhabi is a degree-granting research university with a fully integrated liberal arts and science undergraduate program in the Arts, Sciences, Social Sciences, Humanities, and Engineering. NYU Abu Dhabi, NYU New York, and NYU Shanghai, form the backbone of NYU's global network university, an interconnected network of portal campuses and academic centers across six continents that enable seamless international mobility of students and faculty in their pursuit of academic and scholarly activity. This global university represents a transformative shift in higher education, one in which the intellectual and creative endeavors of academia are shaped and examined through an international and multicultural perspective. As a major intellectual hub at the crossroads of the Arab world, NYUAD serves as a center for scholarly thought, advanced research, knowledge creation, and sharing, through its academic, research, and creative activities.