Housing Regional Engagement Specialist

Princeton University; Princeton (NJ); On-site; USD 81,000 - 88,000; Full time

Job summary

Princeton University’s Office of Housing and Real Estate Services (HRES) seeks a Housing Regional Engagement Specialist to be the main contact for a regional undergraduate housing area or graduate student housing population.

Reporting to the Associate Director for Engagement, this role builds partnerships within HRES, The Service Point and with campus units to meet programmatic goals and service needs. Excellent communication and collaboration are essential.

Qualifications

• A Bachelor's degree and 3-5 years of experience in housing, higher education, or a related field are required.
• Excellent judgment and a high level of interpersonal skills; diplomacy and negotiating ability necessary for successful resolution of issues.
• Highly motivated, self-starter.
• Strong problem-solving abilities, discretion, and effective oral and written communication are needed to handle sensitive situations in a professional, confidential, and accurate manner.
• Organization and multi-tasking skills are essential; must have the ability to work independently, as a team member.

Responsibilities

• Acts as the main point of contact for the assigned region (geographical or graduate housing population) and serves as the front-facing representative.
• Develops and maintains relationships with campus partners and residential life stakeholders to align housing operations with program goals.
• Engages with Residential Colleges, ODUS, the Graduate School, and student life staff to respond to priorities and needs.
• Coordinates Move In/Move Out activities and supports housing events and services.
• Provides information and coordination across Housing Facilities, Occupancy Management, and Service Now processes to ensure timely responses to inquiries.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Written and verbal communication

Public outreach

Project coordination

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Microsoft Office

Excel

Outlook

Word

Job description

Job Type Full-Time

Princeton University’s Office of Housing and Real Estate Services (HRES) is seeking to fill the role of the Housing Regional Engagement Specialist who will be the main point of contact for either a geographical region of the student housing inventory (undergraduate) or student housing population (graduate) and will serve as an entry point into the HRES organization. Student housing operations at Princeton is unique and diverse with 6,200 dormitory beds for undergraduate and graduate students on campus, and approximately 1000 rental apartment units for graduate students.

Reporting to the Associate Director for Engagement, the Specialist will be the face of the department for the student housing community through regular and sustained contact with the Residential Colleges, Office of the Dean of Undergraduate Students (ODUS), the Graduate School, and students. The Specialist will be responsible for developing partnerships within HRES, The Service Point and all other units within University Services, as well as with other campus service providers to respond to undergraduate and graduate student life administrative staff and student priorities to meet the programmatic goals of the residential life program in these areas. Through sustained engagement, the Specialist will assist in ensuring the alignment of the department’s processes and facilities management functions with student life programmatic goals and service needs.

The Specialist will work across this broad spectrum and will need to understand the various living and dining needs and priorities of the undergraduate and graduate student populations. In order to stay relevant to and connected with the ongoing work around these living and dining issues, the Specialist will work closely with the student life administrative staff, student staff [Community Living Advisors (CLAs), Residential College Advisors (RCAs), Residential Life Coordinators (RLCs), Resident Graduate Students (RGSs)], and students. This work will require sustained visibility and engagement within their area of responsibility, including regularly attending meetings and devising creative ways to communicate HRES information and priorities.

In order to achieve success, the Specialist must have excellent written and oral communication skills, and a high degree of responsiveness. The Specialist must also have an understanding of how facilities and student life issues intersect and how to effectively manage intra- and interdepartmental relationships to achieve results.

Responsibilities

Student Housing Engagement Coordination

• For either the geographical region of campus or the student population (graduate) to which they are assigned, the Housing Regional Engagement Specialist is the department’s main point of contact and the front-facing representative.
• Through regular walkthroughs of their areas of responsibility, develops and maintains knowledge of the housing facilities and their conditions including unit configurations, common areas, furniture and appliance distribution throughout the area, and specialty program areas (i.e. co-op kitchens, limited access kitchens, student group rooms, etc.).
• Develops and maintains relationships with campus partners and understands the needs related to the residential life program for undergraduate and graduate students.
• Serves as a liaison and works closely with partners in University Services and including, but not limited to, Building Services, Grounds and Building Maintenance, and the Department of Public Safety.
• Establishes regular contact and interaction with students and administrators to understand and coordinate responses to the unique housing-related issues within their area of responsibility and related to the Residential College program, the upperclass housing program, and the graduate housing program.
• Ensures that the Occupancy Management and Housing Facilities teams understand the needs of the student life program including gender inclusive housing, independent student needs, dining coops, residential college collectives, summer housing programs, and outputs from the Strategic Framework and Campus Plan. Works with these HRES teams and campus partners to develop and implement these initiatives.
• Works with other HRES teams for implementation of any policy and process changes.
• Continuous, regular engagement with residential based student leaders through the Assistant Deans, Directors of Student Life, student housing advisory boards, and graduate house committees. In upper-class housing, the specialist would work collaboratively with the Assistant Dean in ODUS on the hiring of Community Living Assistants, as directed by the Associate Director for Engagement, as well as supporting other areas of the program as needed. The Specialist would also work closely with the Residential College Staff on housing related matters. In conjunction with the Graduate School, the Specialist would attend graduate house committee meetings. Note that these meetings may occur outside of regular business hours requiring flexibility of schedule.

Facilities/Student Life Alignment Coordination

• Understands the intersection of facilities and student life initiatives and works with student life administrative staff, students, HRES teams, and other campus partners on the development of proposals to meet identified needs.
• Provides information to the Housing Facilities team regarding common area furniture and appliance needs within their area of responsibility and coordinates the delivery and installation of these items with HRES teams and residents.
• Effectively manages service requests to ensure the delivery of daily operational items and project-related solutions that align with student life goals and needs.
• Assists with the gathering and prioritization of Residential College, upperclass housing, and graduate housing major maintenance and capital requests.
• Works with the Associate Director of Engagement and Housing Facilities team to advocate for innovation and investment related to facilities/student life alignment efforts.

Customer Service Delivery

• Provides exceptional online and field-level service support for undergraduate and graduate customers, their families, and other internal and external administrative offices. This includes being a conduit for the Occupancy Management and Housing Facilities teams through participation in the Service Now @ Princeton process flow.
• High level of interaction with The Service Point to resolve customer service needs through collaboration with Occupancy Management and Housing Facilities teams, and other campus service providers, and ensuring clear lines of communication between the various parties involved.
• During the undergraduate and graduate Room Draw process, organizes and attends sessions to provide information and responses to student inquiries.
• Ensures clear lines of communications with other University Services units with connections to their areas including Campus Dining, Conference and Event Services (summer use and scheduling) and other units as needed.
• Partners with HRES teams and undergraduate student life administrative staff to effectively manage Move In and Move Out activities for their area of responsibility assisting in the effective distribution of carts and other Move In/Move Out resources.
• Assists in initial emergency and situation (i.e. bed bugs, service failures, etc.) responses for their area of responsibility ensuring communication to HRES and student life administrative staff. Ensures follow-up coordination with campus partners and communication to the affected parties and student life administrative staff.
• Assists in the implementation and maintenance of a communication/marketing strategy across various platforms (print, web, apps, etc.).

Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

Essential Qualifications

• A Bachelor's degree and 3-5 years of experience in housing, higher education, or a related field are required.
• Excellent judgment and a high level of interpersonal skills; diplomacy and negotiating ability necessary for successful resolution of issues.
• Highly motivated, self-starter.
• Strong problem-solving abilities, discretion, and effective oral and written communication are needed to handle sensitive situations in a professional, confidential, and accurate manner.
• Organization and multi-tasking skills are essential; must have the ability to work independently, as a team member.
• This position requires proficiency in using Microsoft Office (especially Word, Excel, and Outlook).
• Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams across a broad continuum of internal colleagues and facilities management professionals.
• Ability to effectively negotiate, communicate with, and influence internal and external partners.
• Strong written and oral communication and interpersonal skills.
• Proficiency in working with different constituencies from students to administrators to third-party vendors.
• In addition to a regular work schedule, availability to work a flexible schedule, when necessary, to be on site and to support major University housing events, including Move In and Move Out weekends. These events regularly occur on holiday weekends, including Memorial Day and Labor Day. Availability during non-business hours to attend CLA, RCA, student housing advisory board, and graduate house committee meetings. Provide additional support as needed during emergency situations.
• A valid driver’s license is required.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with or ability to learn a housing software system.
• Experience working with a computerized maintenance management and customer service inquiry ticketing systems (the University utilizes Maximo and Service Now).
• Experience with developing communication strategies and developing and maintaining campus engagement efforts.

_____________________________________

Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

The University considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's qualifications, work experience, education/training, key skills, market, collective bargaining agreements as applicable, and organizational considerations when extending an offer. The posted salary range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate for a full-time position; salaries for part-time positions are pro-rated accordingly.

If the salary range on the posted position shows an hourly rate, this is the baseline; the actual hourly rate may be higher, depending on the position and factors listed above.

The University also offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees. Please see this link for more information.

Standard Weekly Hours 36.25

Eligible for Overtime No

Benefits Eligible Yes

Probationary Period 180 days

Essential Services Personnel (see policy for detail) No

Physical Capacity Exam Required No

Valid Drivers License Required Yes

Experience Level Associate

Salary Range $81,000 to $88,000

Equal employment opportunity, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.

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