Director of Engagement, Northwestern Hillel

Job Description

Job Description

Make a difference in Jewish student life by joining Northwestern Hillel as the Doppelt Director of Engagement. In this role, you will lead Hillel’s strategies for reaching Jewish students across campus (including those not yet engaged in Jewish life), build authentic one-on-one relationships with students, and design and oversee immersive experiences.

As the Doppelt Director of Engagement, you will support students' exploration of Judaism and encourage their understanding of Jewish values as relevant to their lives as they enrich their campus, community, and world. Reporting to the Director of Student Life, you will develop and execute a sophisticated, data-informed strategy to map the Northwestern campus and make Jewish life compelling and accessible to the full diversity of Jewish students. Our work is grounded in a set of communal values — among them hachnasat orchim (welcoming), simcha (joy) and machloket l'shem shamayim (the pursuit of honest, respectful disagreement) — and this role is central to bringing those values to life for students. You will work across teams, supervise direct reports, and serve as a thought partner to engagement professionals throughout the organization.

Northwestern Hillel is located in the heart of the Northwestern campus in Evanston, Illinois, situated along the shore of Lake Michigan just 20 minutes north of downtown Chicago. Northwestern is a world-class university, currently ranked #7 by U.S. News & World Report, and is renowned for its schools of journalism, theater, business, and law; its Big Ten athletics; and its bright, talented, and diverse student population.

To Apply

Applications are being collected through the Hillel International website. Please apply there to be considered.

What You’ll Do

Engagement Strategy & Data

• Create, implement, and evaluate Hillel's overall vision and strategy for engaging Jewish students on campus, with particular focus on students not yet connected to Jewish life
• Manage and analyze HEaRT (Hillel Engagement and Relationship Tracking) data and other engagement tracking systems; produce reports and analyses to guide organizational priorities and measure progress toward Measuring Excellence goals
• Develop and maintain an outreach strategy for Shabbat and Jewish holidays, ensuring every major program or experience has a thoughtful engagement plan

Student Programs & Experiences

• Serve as the primary staff lead for Schmooze, Hillel's pre-orientation program welcoming incoming first-year students to campus
• Oversee FYSH (First-Year Students of Hillel) and related peer ambassador initiatives
• Coordinate scheduling and logistics for recurring engagement touchpoints such as Bagel Brunches and Free Coffee Fridays
• Manage Birthright Israel, including recruitment, logistics, itinerary development, and partnership opportunities
• Lead Hillel's Alternative Break program, including location selection, student leadership development, curriculum, marketing, recruitment, and post-experience engagement
• Staff Shabbat and Jewish holidays in rotation with other student-facing staff

Student Leadership & Education

• Oversee the Engagement Intern program, including curriculum development, mentorship, and training
• Supervise and advise student Outreach Chairs of the student board
• Advise and support student groups within Hillel
• Help plan and facilitate cohort learning and fellowship programming
• Serve as an experiential Jewish educator who nurtures students' Jewish growth through conversations, one-on-one relationships, and programming

Supervision & Collaboration

• Directly supervise the Engagement Associate and any student Engagement Interns, utilizing independent judgment in directing, assigning, and evaluating their work
• Serve as a collaborative partner to other engagement professionals, including the Israel Fellow
• Engage other members of the student-facing staff as active partners in the organization's overall engagement strategy

What You'll Bring to the Job

• 3-5 years of professional work experience; supervision experience preferred
• Bachelor's degree
• Strong entrepreneurial spirit — willing to take risks, iterate, and learn from both wins and losses
• Ability to communicate effectively across all platforms, including text, email, phone, and one-on-one in-person conversations
• Enthusiasm for building and sustaining relationships with a wide range of students
• Commitment to using data to inform strategy and evaluate impact
• A genuine spirit of hachnasat orchim — you make people feel seen and welcome, whether they're walking into Hillel for the first time or the fiftieth
• Comfort with complexity and a pluralistic mindset; you can hold space for diverse perspectives and know that the best conversations sometimes involve disagreement
• Willingness to admit what you don't know and excitement to learn in those areas
• Commitment to being part of a staff culture that values candor, collaboration, and creativity
• Excitement to continue developing your own relationship to Judaism

What You’ll Receive

• Competitive salary in the nonprofit marketplace. The salary range for this role is $55,000-65,000.
• Time off: 22 days of paid time off, 11 sick days, 8 paid federal holidays, up to 13 paid Jewish holidays, and 6 weeks paid parental leave.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• 401(k) plan with match and a 403(b) plan.
• Additional health and wellness benefits, financial benefits, professional training, tuition reimbursement, and much more.
• Great professional development, mentoring, and skill-building opportunities as part of the global Hillel movement.
• Reduced summer hours to accommodate for the fast pace of the academic year.
• Delicious event catering from our professional chef.
• An unlimited supply of purple Hillel swag.

About Northwestern Hillel

Northwestern Hillel is a fast-paced, inspiring work environment with a new building at the center of campus. Jewish life is thriving, and Hillel is the center and catalyst for Jewish community at Northwestern University. The professional team is committed to supporting students as they create meaningful Jewish experiences for themselves, their peers, and the broader community.

Northwestern Hillel is part of the Hillels of Illinois, a department of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago (JUF), and is affiliated with Hillel International.

Northwestern Hillel is also affiliated with Hillel International. Hillel International enriches the lives of Jewish students so they may enrich the Jewish people and the world, and envisions a world where every student is inspired to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning, and Israel.

About Hillel International

In 1923, Rabbi Benjamin Frankel started Hillel with humble means, a noble mission and a breathtaking vision: to convey Jewish civilization to a new generation. Today, Hillel International continues to enrich the lives of Jewish students and is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world at nearly 1,000 colleges and universities across North America and around the world. As Hillel evolves as an organization, the mission remains steadfast: to create lasting connections with every Jewish student that foster an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning, and Israel and train them to become the next Jewish leaders.

Applications are being collected through the Hillel International website. You must apply there to be considered.