Senior Vice President, Enrollment Management and Marketing

Welcome to Career Opportunities at Lindenwood University.

PLEASE READ: For all applications, please include your resume and cover letter. You may skip the “Quick Apply” page by simply clicking “Next” at the bottom of the page. When you arrive at the “Experience” page, you may upload all desired documents using the upload box labeled “Resume/CV.” This is the appropriate box to upload all documents.

Benefits of Being a Lindenwood Employee:

• Upon hire, employer-paid tuition benefits for bachelor’s (employee, spouse, and dependent) and master’s degree programs (employee and spouse only).
• Tuition discounts for doctoral programs (employee only).
• Comprehensive benefits plan: medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability insurance, and retirement options.
• Paid holidays: MLK Jr. day, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving break (Wednesday – Friday), and winter break (Dec. 23 – Jan. 1).
• Free lunch Fridays: LU employees are eligible for a free meal on Fridays at the Evans Commons Dining Hall or Spellman Dining Hall; Chick-fil-A and Qdoba included.   
• Professional development opportunities through the Lindenwood Learning Academy.

Division: Enrollment & Marketing

Evaluation Group: Staff Administrator      

FLSA Status: Exempt

Essential Job Functions and Responsibilities

The successful candidate will embody proven leadership traits, a collaborative spirit, and have a results-oriented mindset. Lindenwood values accountability and action, especially at a time when student enrollment is highly competitive and the value of higher education is closely scrutinized. As stated, this is a critical turnaround leadership opportunity requiring immediate impact, sophisticated data analytics capabilities, and proven experience in enrollment recovery situations. Delivering an exceptional, traditional, division 1, on-campus experience remains central to the institution’s mission. The essential skills areas are described below:

Strategic Enrollment Leadership

We seek an experienced, seasoned Enrollment Executive who has honed their skills in comparable or larger, dynamic, and growth-oriented higher education environments. The ideal candidate will:

• Develop and execute a comprehensive strategic enrollment management plan aligned with institutional mission and overall financial objectives
• Set ambitious yet achievable enrollment goals with direct accountability for achieving results
• Lead enrollment forecasting and modeling to support institutional planning and budgeting
• Provide strategic counsel to the President on enrollment trends, competitive positioning, and market opportunities
• Integrate the enrollment strategy with an expanding academic program portfolio and student success initiatives

Enrollment Operation and Analysis

This is a proactive, entrepreneurial institution that values disciplined planning and execution. We seek a data-driven, detail-oriented communicator who will engage at any level of the organization and community to ensure priorities, metrics and milestones are met with excellence.

• Oversee all enrollment functions including undergraduate, graduate, transfer, international, and adult/online enrollment
• Build sophisticated enrollment analytics capabilities including predictive modeling and competitive intelligence
• Develop and manage enrollment funnel metrics with focus on conversion and yield optimization
• Implement best practices in enrollment operations, CRM utilization, and enrollment technology
• Optimize financial aid strategy to achieve enrollment and net revenue goals

Marketing and Brand Strategy

With an exceptional history, beautiful campus, and modern facilities as well as a large and diverse student and multi-generational alumni population to leverage, Lindenwood seeks a leader who can:

• Lead institutional marketing strategy including expanding the brand positioning and market segmentation
• Oversee all digital marketing, content marketing, as well as traditional advertising on a local, regional, and national level
• Develop and drive targeted marketing campaigns for distinct student populations (e.g., leveraging new programs such as nursing or AI, etc.)
• Use data and analytics and timely reporting to ensure ROI and enrollment goals are met or exceeded
• Manage overall marketing budget to maximize campus enrollment impact and cost-effectiveness

Employee Management & Organizational Culture

The chosen candidate will step into the 192-year history and legacy that is Lindenwood. Pride in the past and great energy around an even brighter future as established by the Lindenwood board and leadership sets the tone. This role is the immediate executive leader for a nearly 50 person staff which includes these expectations:

• Recruit, mentor, and lead a high-performing enrollment and marketing teams/members
• Foster a culture of collaboration, transparency, innovation, and accountability
• Implement performance-based evaluations aligned to measurable outcomes
• Optimize organizational structure for effectiveness and efficiency

Measures of Success (KPIs & Impact)

Performance will be evaluated through quarterly progress reviews and comprehensive assessments at 90 days, 6 months and annually.

First 90 days – full assessment and recommendations across people, process, systems, and enrollment pipeline and associated milestones

180 days – strategic implementation of key initiatives; establish/update KPIs, dashboards, and reporting rhythms

365 days – demonstrate making sustainable, measurable impact across critical spring summer and fall incoming class student segments as well as a mid-term strategic plan/process update

Sample success metrics:

Stabilizing enrollment trends: via reducing the annual decline and meet 95-100 percent of freshman and transfer enrollment targets

Growth of recruitment funnel: via increase in inquiries, applications, and campus visits by 10 percent and improving key conversion and yield rates by 2-4 percent

Strengthening of marketing effectiveness: via improved digital lead generation (+15-20 percent), refreshed brand materials and messaging, and enhanced ROI across paid and organic marketing channels

Operational improvements: via a complete CRM and recruiting process audit, faster response times, and increased forecast accuracy

Building a high-performance team: via developing VP level leaders, and organizational enhancements across both teams

3-year Enrollment and Marketing strategy: prepared, approved, and in play to optimize key program growth, financial sustainability, and long-term enrollment health

Educational Background and Qualifications

An equivalent combination of education, training, and experience will be considered. Additional requirements may be designated by position.

• Master’s degree in Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, or a related field
• Minimum of 15 years of progressive enrollment management leadership experience in higher education. Minimum of three continuous years at the VP (no. 1) or higher level at a comparable or larger institution
• Documented expertise and success in enrollment turnaround and/or significant enrollment growth
• Track record of meeting or exceeding ambitious enrollment and net revenue goals
• Strong background in enrollment and marketing analytics, predictive modeling, and data-driven decision making
• Hands-on experience with enrollment CRM systems (ideally EAB/Slate)
• D2C marketing experience in higher education including digital marketing and key campaign management
• Strategic thinker who is adept at translating vision (the WHAT) into actionable plans (the WHY and HOW)
• Leader by example of a large, complex team as well as mentoring/coaching VP/AVP level
• Relocation to the greater St. Louis area is a pre-requisite

A very competitive compensation package will be offered to the successful candidate who best meets the criteria as presented herein, combined with online and in-person interviews, and added assessments.

Additional Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities desired

• Experience at another private, established, comprehensive university of at least comparable size and complexity
• Track record leading enrollment through growth, turn around or transformational change
• Expertise in adult/online enrollment and graduate level enrollment strategies

Equal Opportunity Employer

Lindenwood University is an Equal Opportunity employer. The University complies with appropriate federal, state, and local laws and provides equal employment opportunities and access to educational programs without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, disability, or any other protected status to all qualified applicants and employees.  Lindenwood University is committed to a policy of non-discrimination and dedicated to providing a positive discrimination-free educational work environment.