Health & Wellness Director

The Health & Wellness Director leads the development, implementation, and oversight of comprehensive, evidence-based health and wellness programming for a pre-professional dance population. This role supports the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of students while ensuring a safe, high-performance training environment. This role functions as both a direct student-support position and a department leadership role responsible for building systems, policies, partnerships, and educational programming that support dancer health, student safety, and institutional care standards. The Director collaborates closely with Artistic, Academic, Administrative, Operations, Housing, and Executive leadership to integrate wellness into the fabric of the institution, supporting injury prevention, recovery, performance optimization, student care, and long-term dancer well-being. Why This Role Matters The Health & Wellness Director plays a critical role in shaping a safe, supportive, and sustainable training environment for pre-professional dancers. This position bridges student care, injury prevention, mental well-being, education, and institutional policy to ensure dancers are supported as whole people, not only as performers. Through proactive programming, early intervention, interdisciplinary collaboration, and clear systems of care, the Health & Wellness Director helps students build the physical resilience, emotional awareness, self-advocacy skills, and sustainable habits needed for longevity in the performing arts. Qualifications, Requirements & Competencies Qualifications Bachelor’s degree required. Degree in Health Sciences, Exercise Science, Social Work, Public Health, Dance, Psychology, or a related field preferred. Advanced certifications in areas such as personal training, yoga, Pilates, corrective exercise, functional movement, somatic practices, or related disciplines strongly preferred. CPR/AED certification required. Minimum 5+ years of experience in health, wellness, dance, fitness, education, student support, or performing arts environments. Experience working with dancers, athletes, adolescents, young adults, or pre-professional students strongly preferred. Core Competencies Strong understanding of dancer-specific physical and mental health needs. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, especially in sensitive or high-pressure situations. Ability to manage multiple student cases with discretion, professionalism, and confidentiality. Strong leadership, program development, and systems-building experience. Knowledge of injury prevention, recovery, rehabilitation coordination, and performance optimization. Ability to collaborate across departments and communicate effectively with students, parents, faculty, staff, leadership, and outside providers. Strong organizational skills and attention to documentation, follow-up, and student care systems. Ability to balance direct student support with administrative leadership and long-term program planning. Preferred Qualifications Experience in a pre-professional, conservatory, performing arts, athletic, or educational training environment. Background in mental health support, coaching, counseling, social work, student support, or wellness education, either non-clinical or clinical. Familiarity with insurance systems, healthcare coordination, medical documentation, and referral processes. Experience supervising staff, interns, work-study students, or multi-site teams. Experience developing workshops, training materials, student support resources, SOPs, or wellness curriculum. Experience coordinating partnerships with healthcare, wellness, fitness, or mental health providers. Responsibilities Key Responsibilities Design and implement a holistic, research-driven Health & Wellness program tailored to the needs of pre-professional dancers. Oversee Health & Wellness programming across New York City programs, Summer Intensives, and satellite locations, ensuring consistency in care standards, protocols, communication, and student support across all sites. Establish and maintain health, wellness, and safety standards across all programs and locations. Develop, update, and implement Health & Wellness standard operating procedures, training manuals, safety protocols, return-to-participation guidelines, and student support procedures. Integrate wellness practices into daily school operations, artistic programming, and the overall student experience. Stay current with trends and innovations in dancer health, performance science, recovery modalities, mental health support, and wellness education. Contribute to school-wide student experience initiatives, strategic planning, culture-building efforts, and cross-departmental systems designed to support student belonging, safety, and long-term success. Student Care & Case Management Provide one-on-one support for students related to physical health, mental well-being, injury management, and overall student care. Provide non-clinical student support related to stress, anxiety, adjustment, self-criticism, body image concerns, and overall well-being, while identifying when outside mental health referrals or additional intervention may be needed. Serve as the primary liaison between students, parents, faculty, staff, and healthcare providers when appropriate. Maintain confidential health records, including Daily Logs and Injury/Illness/Mental Health tracking. Support students in navigating insurance, medical referrals, healthcare access, and communication with outside wellness providers. Aid students and families in understanding required medical documentation, clearance notes, modification notes, and return-to-dance expectations. Support sensitive student matters and formal incident response by documenting concerns, coordinating appropriate follow-up, communicating with leadership, and ensuring student safety and confidentiality. Injury Prevention & Response Oversee injury prevention strategies, including conditioning, cross-training, recovery protocols, dancer education, and early intervention practices. Respond to on-site injuries and medical situations, providing First Aid and emergency support as needed. Develop and enforce Return-to-Dance protocols in collaboration with licensed healthcare providers. Coordinate care with physical therapists, physicians, mental health professionals, nutritionists, and other specialists when appropriate. Prepare and maintain medical kits, supplies, and performance-related Health & Wellness support materials. Provide on-site Health & Wellness support during performances, rehearsals, orientations, and school events when necessary. Partnership Development Build and manage relationships with healthcare providers, including physical therapists, mental health professionals, nutritionists, massage therapists, physicians, and other wellness practitioners. Coordinate on-site and referral-based services such as physical therapy, massage therapy, mental health referrals, nutrition support, and recovery services. Partner with insurance providers and outside healthcare systems to support student access to care. Evaluate vendors, review service agreements, manage wellness-related partnerships, and contribute to budget planning for Health & Wellness programming and student support services. Education & Programming Develop and integrate Health & Wellness curriculum into the student training experience, including Pilates, conditioning, yoga, meditation, somatic practices, nutrition, anatomy, injury prevention, recovery, and dancer longevity. Design, coordinate, and/or facilitate wellness-based classes and curriculum that support the physical and emotional demands of pre-professional dance training. Lead workshops and seminars on topics such as injury prevention, mental health, nutrition, recovery, performance readiness, self-advocacy, stress management, and dancer wellness. Educate faculty and staff on best practices in dancer health, safety, student support, and communication. Bring in outside experts to lead workshops and trainings for students, faculty, and staff. Support students in developing self-awareness, body awareness, emotional regulation, and sustainable habits that contribute to long-term success in the performing arts. Operations & Administration Manage Health & Wellness logs, documentation systems, internal tracking systems, and communication platforms, including Slack, Band, PCR, Airtable, and other school systems as needed. Train, onboard, and supervise Health & Wellness staff, interns, work-study students, and satellite Interns to ensure consistent student care, documentation practices, confidentiality standards, and emergency response procedures. Manage Health & Wellness staff schedules, intern coverage, summer site coverage. Ensure compliance with all Health & Safety policies, standard operating procedures, confidentiality expectations, and documentation practices. Attend and contribute to staff meetings, leadership meetings, student support meetings, orientations, evaluations, and cross-departmental planning meetings as needed. Contribute to scheduling, reporting, budget planning, resource management, and cross-departmental coordination. Monitor trends in student health, injury, illness, mental health concerns, and program needs to inform future programming and preventative care strategies. Fast-paced, high-performance training environment. Combination of administrative work, direct student support, active on-site engagement, and cross-departmental collaboration. Requires discretion, professionalism, and the ability to manage sensitive student health and wellness matters. Full Time: Requires flexibility in schedule, including evenings and occasional weekends. $70,000 – $80,000 commensurate with experience #J-18808-Ljbffr