Director, Student Recruitment & Outreach

BREAKTHROUGH SCHOOLS

Breakthrough Public Schools is a nationally recognized Charter Management Organization (CMO) network in Ohio. Our mission is to provide Cleveland area scholars with an education that empowers them to lead lives of impact and opportunity. Our network of schools centers joy, curiosity, and individual growth, uniquely positioning Breakthrough Public Schools to cultivate a learning community where all scholars thrive. At Breakthrough, we are committed to providing scholars with the academic, social, and emotional skills necessary to excel in learning and citizenship from kindergarten through eighth-grade promotion. We are committed to the success of every child.


The CMO exists to provide operational, leadership, and strategic services to the schools in the Breakthrough Schools network. The CMO is committed to providing high-quality services to the schools and bolstering the high-impact performance of the schools, making the CMO and network greater than the sum of its parts. The CMO provides economies of scale when it comes to staffing, tools, and time-based efficiencies. We serve 3,000 K-8 grade scholars across five schools and employ over 450 staff members.


THE OPPORTUNITY

The Director of Student Recruitment & Outreach plays a critical role in the Family Experience Office, maximizing enrollment at all schools within the Breakthrough Public Schools network. The Director of Student Recruitment & Outreach is responsible for developing a goal-oriented plan and executing the organization's outreach, community engagement, and annual student recruitment strategy. This individual will be expected to spend the majority of their time focused on community application acquisition efforts. To be successful in this role, the Director of Student Recruitment & Outreach must bring a track record of implementing successful recruitment or community engagement strategies by utilizing diverse in-field tactics, building and maintaining relationships with neighborhood partners such as nonprofit organizations, businesses, residential complexes, daycares, and other community stakeholders, and consistently meeting targets or goals. The Director of Student Recruitment & Outreach should be comfortable working in an environment that requires juggling multiple priorities and competing deadlines, while maintaining a clear focus on the overarching goals and desired outcomes. The Director, Student Recruitment and Outreach must be available to work flexible hours, including some nights, weekends, and holidays, as they will be expected to meet their application targets. As a member of the Family Experience team, the Director, Student Recruitment & Outreach, provides support to each team function, as needed.


Essential Job Functions: include the following. Other duties may be assigned.


Application Acquisition, Recruitment, Sales:

• Leads strategic recruitment initiatives and projects, executing the recruitment plan to drive enrollment and meet network-wide application goals.
• Develops and adapts innovative strategies to generate leads, build relationships with families, and convert interest into applications based on enrollment trends and data analysis.
• Analyzes recruitment and enrollment trends to differentiate and pivot the recruitment approach effectively
• Plans and executes community-facing recruitment activities, including canvassing, tabling, open houses, info sessions, and round-ups, while effectively pitching Breakthrough Public Schools to prospective families.
• Maintains and evaluates weekly field plans to track recruitment investments, outcomes, and ROI, and manages volunteers and seasonal support to achieve recruitment goals.
• Follows up with families to build relationships throughout the initial application process and is specifically responsible for the conversion of leads into applications
• Cultivates and follows up with community partners to secure recruitment opportunities and resources, while collaborating with the MD of Community Engagement & Enrollment to strengthen overall strategy.
• Coordinates and participates in network recruitment events and activities, including parent information sessions, open houses, and enrollment round-ups to introduce our schools to prospective families
• Manages volunteers and summer support during recruitment activities to accomplish recruitment goals

Recruitment Process/Relationship Management:

• Represents Breakthrough Public Schools with confidence at events, meetings, and during outreach, building trust with prospective families and community members.
• Manages prospective family relationships using the CRM system, guiding them through the application process with consistent, high-quality customer service.
• Maintains accurate, reliable data throughout the recruitment process to support decision-making and performance tracking.
• Ensures all stakeholders, including families, staff, and partners, experience responsive and professional communication throughout their interactions.

Community Outreach & School Partnership:

• Supports the Managing Director of Family Experience in driving outreach and sustaining strong partnerships that generate a steady pipeline of new applications.
• Leads community outreach efforts through events, canvassing, and meetings within target neighborhoods.
• Builds and nurtures relationships with local businesses, civic leaders, and youth-serving organizations to expand reach and strengthen recruitment channels.
• Collaborates with school leaders to identify school-specific outreach opportunities and responds to recruitment-related needs and inquiries.

Skills and Qualifications: To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty accurately and efficiently. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

• A passionate belief in the mission of Breakthrough Public Schools
• Proven experience managing a workstream to achieve results
• Demonstrated ability to make effective outreach calls, lead generation, and strategy execution
• Ability and desire to work in a fast-paced, highly disciplined, but sometimes unpredictable environment to achieve organizational outcomes
• Demonstrated ability to work autonomously, collaboratively, and/or under the direction of management, as needed
• Comfortable with working through ambiguity and taking the initiative to achieve organizational outcomes
• Highly developed communication skills, and the ability to influence others by persuasively presenting thoughts and ideas to gain commitment and agreement for proposed ideas and solutions; effective, results-driven communication skills
• Ability to maintain a high level of data integrity and privacy/confidentiality of personal information
• Self-starter with strong organization skills, time management, attention to detail, analytic skills, and excellent follow-up skills with a high sense of urgency; demonstrated ability to successfully handle multiple projects concurrently; ability to work independently and/or as part of a team
• Proficiency in Excel, Word, Google Docs, and database management is required
• Experience with Salesforce preferred
• Must be comfortable working in neighborhoods across the city of Cleveland
• Must have reliable transportation to travel between campuses and to and from community events/meetings

Education and/or Experience:

• Equivalent work experience and/or a Bachelor's degree in a related field
• 3-5 years of recruitment, sales, lead generation, prospecting, customer development, new business acquisition, customer service experience, community engagement, or other metric-driven job experience
• Experience gathering and analyzing data to adjust tactics and drive outcomes

Location:

The position is located at the CMO's central office in Cleveland, Ohio. The position will require travel to schools and events in the Cleveland area. This role involves working at events in the evenings or on weekends.


Breakthrough Public Schools is an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration to race, religion, creed, color, national origin, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, or disability. Any person who knowingly makes a false statement is guilty of falsification under section 2921.13 of the Revised Code, a first-degree misdemeanor.