Director of Candidate Experience

Rice University; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Rice University invites a strategic Director of Candidate Experience to shape enrollment strategy for all MBA modalities. You will lead a team delivering high-impact events, multi-channel communications, and data-informed candidate journeys from inquiry to matriculation.

Collaborate with faculty, alumni, and campus partners, own interview processes, and partner with marketing to nurture leads. Expect travel, on-site presence, and a culture of excellence in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; no substitutions permitted.
• 3+ years of professional experience in user/customer experience and project management.
• In lieu of experience, related education above and beyond what is required may be substituted on an equivalent year-for-year basis.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a core member of the Assistant Dean's senior leadership team, contributing to divisional strategy and overarching enrollment targets.
• Apply design-thinking and customer-journey-mapping principles to design, refine, and elevate the candidate experience across all MBA modalities, from lead acquisition through matriculation.
• Ensure a tailored yet cohesive candidate journey that meets the unique needs and expectations of MBA candidates across all modalities.
• Leverage CRM data, candidate behavioral analytics, and yield metrics to develop, evaluate, and optimize communication and engagement strategies.
• Establish feedback loops, post-event evaluations, and benchmarking surveys to measure candidate satisfaction and yield effectiveness.
• Curate interactive, high-value on-campus and off-campus prospective student events that drive lead conversions.
• Directly lead, mentor, and empower a team dedicated to candidate experience and event execution, fostering a collaborative, service-oriented, and high-performance culture.
• Oversee the management and optimization of relationships with strategic third-party partners, yield platforms, and vendor networks that support candidate recruitment and engagement.
• Lead the management of the MBA admissions interview process, ensuring consistent, equitable, and high-quality candidate experiences, evaluator training, and logistics.
• Collaborate closely with RAO and Rice Business marketing personnel to ensure tone, messaging, timing, and content effectively nurture leads through every stage of the funnel.
• Work collaboratively to oversee targeted messaging campaigns, personalized outreach programs, and yield communication strategies across email, SMS, and digital platforms.
• Own the full lifecycle, from strategic ideation to seamless execution, for high-stakes admitted-student events, including Admit Days, Preview Days, and Yield Weekends.
• Partner with faculty, alumni, current student leaders, career pathways teams, and campus partners to curate rich, authentic programming for campus visitors and admitted students.
• Perform all other duties as assigned.

Skills

Judgement & integrity

Interpersonal skills

Verbal & written comms

Staff development

Customer service

Multitasking

Complex solutions

CRM systems

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Interactive mapping tools

CRM systems

Job description

Job Description

Position Summary:

The Director of Candidate Experience is a strategic senior leaderwithin the Recruiting and Admissions division at Rice Business.Reporting directly to the Assistant Dean of Recruiting andAdmissions, this role works alongside the Director(s) of Recruitingand Admissions and the Director of Operations to shape theoverarching enrollment strategy for all Rice Business MBAmodalities (Full-Time MBA, Professional MBA, Deferred Enrollment,and Executive MBA). The primary responsibility of the Director of Candidate Experienceis to nurture prospective students from their initial point ofinquiry to their final point of matriculation. Utilizingdesign-thinking principles, data-driven strategy, and intentionaluser-experience leadership, this position oversees candidateengagement, high-impact events (on-campus, off-campus, andvirtual), strategic communication flows, candidate interviews, andkey third-party graduate business education partnerships. TheDirector leads a dedicated team focused on creating exceptional,memorable, and premier experiences that differentiate Rice Businessin the graduate management education landscape.

Ideal Candidate Statement:

The ideal candidate is an innovative, human-centered leader with apassion for designing end-to-end candidate journeys. The Director brings a deep understanding of student-experience design, eventexecution, data analytics, and multi-channel communicationstrategies. The ideal candidate excels at translating brandmessaging into meaningful, high-touch interactions, both in personand virtually. A collaborative leadership style is essential, as the candidatewill partner closely with internal stakeholders, including RiceBusiness faculty, alumni, current students, Rice Business staff,and academic leadership, as well as external vendors, to curateimpactful touchpoints. The ideal candidate must be a motivator andstrategist who thrives in a fast-paced environment and uses data tocontinuously iterate, optimize, and elevate candidate engagementstrategies. This person brings a collaborative perspective to cross-functionalpartnerships across Rice Business. The ideal candidate elevates thequality of candidates' experiences, invests in and motivates directreports, and sets high standards for operational excellence. TheDirector is solutions-driven, positive, collaborative,action-oriented, and data-informed as they work to execute thestrategy of building prestigious cohorts across all MBAmodalities.

Workplace Requirements:

Rice Business primarily delivers residential classes and activitiesthat take place almost daily between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. We value ahighly collaborative and community-based culture, with expectationsto provide in-person support and services to all members of ourcommunity. Remote work options are limited. Most employmentactivities are required to be performed in person and on campus.This in-person approach is central to the successful achievement ofour research and academic missions. This position is exclusively on-site, requiring all duties to be performed in person at McNair Hall on a five-day, in-officeschedule with an 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. workday. Remote workopportunities will be assessed and approved on an as-needed basisfollowing the successful conclusion of the probationaryperiod. This position does include a high volume of professional eventsoccurring during evenings and weekends, along with extensive travelboth domestically and internationally. Business professional attire is often required, with theflexibility to shift to business casual during non-event andnon-external-facing interactions. Per Rice policy 440 , workarrangements may be subject to change.

Hiring Range:

Commensurate with experience.

Exempt (salaried) positions under FLSA are not eligible for overtime.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree
  • No substitutions permitted
• 3+ years of professional experience in user/customer experienceand project management
  • In lieu of the experience requirement, additional relatededucation above and beyond what is required may be substituted onan equivalent year-for-year basis.

Skills:

• Excellent judgment and decisiveness; high integrity,enthusiasm, diplomacy, and tact
• Strong interpersonal, management, and organizational skills;attention to detail; and compatibility with a team-orientedenvironment
• Superior verbal and written communication skills
• Skilled at developing professional and support staff
• Exceptional customer service skills with the ability tocultivate professional business partnerships
• Ability to multitask and manage deadlines
• Excellent communication skills
• Ability to architect complex solutions with interactive mappingtools
• Demonstrated experience with the design and implementation of interfaces for database-driven applications and software such asCRM systems

Essential Functions:

• Serve as a core member of the Assistant Dean's seniorleadership team, contributing to divisional strategy and overarching enrollment targets.
• Apply design-thinking and customer-journey-mapping principlesto design, refine, and elevate the candidate experience across allMBA modalities, from lead acquisition through matriculation.
• Ensure a tailored yet cohesive candidate journey that meets theunique needs and expectations of MBA candidates across allmodalities.
• Leverage CRM data, candidate behavioral analytics, and yieldmetrics to develop, evaluate, and optimize communication andengagement strategies.
• Establish feedback loops, post-event evaluations, andbenchmarking surveys to measure candidate satisfaction and yieldeffectiveness.
• Curate interactive, high-value on-campus and off-campusprospective student events that drive lead conversions.
• Directly lead, mentor, and empower a team dedicated tocandidate experience and event execution, fostering acollaborative, service-oriented, and high-performanceculture.
• Oversee the management and optimization of relationships withstrategic third-party partners, yield platforms, and vendornetworks that support candidate recruitment and engagement.
• Lead the management of the MBA admissions interview process,ensuring consistent, equitable, and high-quality candidateexperiences, evaluator training, and logistics.
• Collaborate closely with RAO and Rice Business marketingpersonnel to ensure tone, messaging, timing, and contenteffectively nurture leads through every stage of the funnel.
• Work collaboratively to oversee targeted messaging campaigns, personalized outreach programs, and yield communication strategiesacross email, SMS, and digital platforms.
• Own the full lifecycle, from strategic ideation to seamlessexecution, for high-stakes admitted-student events, including AdmitDays, Preview Days, and Yield Weekends.
• Partner with faculty, alumni, current student leaders, careerpathways teams, and campus partners to curate rich, authenticprogramming for campus visitors and admitted students.
• Perform all other duties as assigned.

Additional Functions:

• Supervise a small team of professionals supporting the candidate experience needs of the Recruiting and Admissions Office, as well as additional needs within the Rice Businesscommunity.
• Identify opportunities for synergy and integration.
• Provide leadership for the creation, development, and executionof events.

Rice University HR | Benefits:

https://knowledgecafe.rice.edu/benefits

Rice Mission and Values:

Mission and Values | RiceUniversity

Rice University is committed to ensuring Equal EmploymentOpportunity and welcoming the fullness of diversity into ourcandidate pools. Rice considers qualified applicants for employmentwithout regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexualorientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, geneticinformation, disability, or protected veteran status. Rice also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified persons withdisabilities. If an applicant requires a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process, please get intouch with Rice University’s Human Resources Office via email [e-mail] for support.

If you have any additional questions, please email us [e-mail]. Thank you for your interest in employment with RiceUniversity.