Head of Admissions

St Helen’s is an academically selective independent girls’ day school
of more than 1100 students aged 3-18, set in beautiful green space in Northwood, Middlesex.

THE POST

MAIN OBJECTIVE
The Head of Admissions is responsible for the development and operational delivery of the School’s student recruitment strategy, attracting the brightest girls from across NW London and the surrounding counties and retaining the School’s existing students.

KEY TASKS & RESPONSIBILITIES
Strategy:
• With the Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and Head of Marketing, devise and lead the operational delivery of evidence-based student recruitment strategies that will maximise new student conversions from initial enquiry to acceptance of a place and increase existing student retention at all entry levels;
• With the Head of Marketing, lead the commissioning and implementation of appropriate tools to effectively manage, monitor and refine the admissions processes;
• Collaborate with the Head of Marketing and senior leadership team to engender a cohesive multidisciplinary team approach across the School to deliver and achieve the recruitment and retention strategic objectives;
• With the Head of Marketing, Head of Outreach and Deputy Head Operations, develop relationships with key new and existing feeder schools to broaden brand awareness and increase applications into the School;
• Contribute to the overall school vision and strategy by supporting the leadership team with insight and opportunities from an admissions standpoint;
• Lead on the horizon scanning for admissions trends, best practice policies and opportunities, sharing findings across the marketing, academic and pastoral teams to inform key recruitment initiatives.

Admissions management:
• Responsible for the operational delivery of the end-to-end admissions function, providing clear direction to the admissions team, ensuring robust procedures and systems are in place and followed to contribute to achieving the School’s student recruitment targets;
• Ensure that all engagement initiatives undertaken by the admission team with parents, students and other key stakeholders are accurate, timely and consistent with the School’s brand values, ensuring an optimum customer experience at all times;
• Collaborate with the marketing, academic and pastoral leads to devise and manage engagement events and activities across the application process that drive increased conversions to acceptance of offers;
• Support the Business Director and Exec with the smooth implementation of the student bursary and scholarship selection and award processes;
• Ensure effective engagement with academic and support staff to ensure accurate and consistent communication with families, prospects, partners and suppliers;
• Ensure the accurate, effective and efficient administration of the admissions management systems, including ISAMS;
• Ensure academic and pastoral leads are provided with admissions information at the point of student entry to ensure a smooth transition into and through the School.

Data management:
• Responsible for ensuring all enquiry and admissions data is captured and recorded accurately by the admissions team;
• With the Head of Marketing, evaluate all enquiry and admissions data and provide reports on agreed metrics to the Assistant Business Director, contributing to the wider School performance reporting dashboard, including the admission team’s own performance against key objectives and activity targets;
• Utilise performance and forecasting data to inform evidence-based decision-making and shape financial planning to deliver effective translation into student numbers.

Financial:
• With the Finance Manager, devise and manage the admission department budget, developing business cases as appropriate and participate in regular budget review meetings.
• Manage department resources so that they are scalable and able to respond to the cyclical nature of the recruitment cycle.

Team Management:
• Lead, motivate and develop the Admissions team, comprising one full-time Admissions Assistant and one part-time Admissions Administrator, ensuring that the team always deliver excellent service levels to colleagues, students and their parents;
• Set departmental and individual objectives, action plans and success criteria, ensuring all team members are fully conversant with how these contribute to the School’s wider strategic objectives through regular review meetings and appraisals;
• Work closely with the Human Resources Manager on recruitment, training and development, welfare and performance management matters.

Health and Safety:
• Work closely with the Health and Safety Manager on ensuring safe practices are maintained for all initiatives within the scope of their role, including the preparation of risk assessments and training as required;
• Ensure all external agencies attending on-site are compliant with the School’s Health and Safety policy.

General:
• Promote and safeguard the welfare of children and young people, by adhering to and ensuring compliance with the School’s Child Protection and Safeguarding Policy;
• Keep abreast of key local and national education news, government policy and best practice that will help inform admissions initiatives;
• Follow responsibilities as set out in the School’s Health & Safety Policy;
• Support and promote the School’s ethos, aims and objectives;
• Attend all virtual and in-School evening and Saturday student recruitment events
• Assume other duties that may be reasonably required or delegated by the Headmistress.

HOURS
Monday to Friday 8.30am- 5.00pm with flexibility to attend school events including some Saturdays.

SALARY
Salary range £40,000 – 45,000 dependent on qualifications and experience

TO APPLY
http://www.sthelens.london/about/work-for-us/
please send an application form through our School website recruitment page