Role Overview

The Director of Engagement and Student Belonging at BU Hillel will lead a campus-wide strategy to deepen one-on-one relationships, strengthen peer-to-peer connection, and build a comprehensive pillar of care for students. This person will be a thoughtful leader, organizer, and relationship-builder who uses human-centered design to listen to students, prototype supportive practices, and scale meaningful programs that help students find friends, receive practical support, and feel cared for in all moments of campus life. This role is part of a student engagement team of 8-10 staff, reports to the Executive Director, and receives coaching and support from the CEO, COO, and Campus Rabbi.

Key Responsibilities

• Relational Strategy: Lead strategy and vision for one-on-one student relationships across BU Hillel—define goals, measure impact, and iterate on approaches to create consistent, high-quality 1:1 care.
• Student Leadership: Supervise, recruit, train, and grow the “Coffee Crew” peer-to-peer team (10–20 student interns). Build a scalable model for peer outreach, mentoring, and follow-through.
• Community Design: Design and implement systems to help students find friends and social circles (intentional matching programs, small group creation, community-building events, and onboarding pathways for new students).
• The Pillar of Caring: Create and operationalize a “Pillar of Caring” that includes logistical and emotional supports: enabling students to host life-cycle and milestone events (birthday parties, celebrations, memorials) through Hillel, coordinating care for sick or isolated students, and organizing volunteer support networks.
• Emergency Assistance: Establish and manage emergency and short-term aid processes (food assistance, travel/homebound support, small grants) including fundraising pathways, eligibility guidelines, and partner relationships.
• Relational Staff Presence: Develop practices and expectations for staff engagement in 1:1 care—encourage and coordinate staff attendance at student concerts, shows, presentations, and other meaningful moments; create staff training and time-allocation plans that prioritize relational presence.
• Campus Integration: Coordinate with university wellness, counseling, disability services, and student affairs partners to create warm handoffs and integrated care plans for students with complex needs.
• Evaluation & Budget: Create measurement and evaluation tools for relationships and caring work (surveys, touchpoint tracking, impact reports) and report outcomes to leadership and funders. Manage budgets and resources for fellowships, care funds, and event logistics.

Required Skills

Who You Are

We are looking for a passionate, organized, and mission-driven leader who understands the power of relationships and caring in shaping identity and community. The ideal candidate will bring:

• Deep empathy and strong relational skills—comfortable initiating and sustaining 1:1 connections with students from varied backgrounds.
• Demonstrated ability to support and advance BU Hillel's mission to help students engage in Jewish community and support students in exploring Jewish life, community, and connections to Israel.
• Experience designing and scaling peer-support or mentoring programs; a proven ability to recruit, train, supervise, and retain student leaders.
• Strong project and program management skills—able to coordinate logistics, budgets, and multi-stakeholder collaboration.
• A systems-thinking approach to care—able to create sustainable processes, documentation, and measurement.
• Excellent judgment and discretion in handling confidential student situations and navigating complex case management.
• Professional alignment with the values of pluralism and the ability to integrate concepts of hesed (kindness), kavod (dignity), and kehillah (community) into student care practices.

Qualifications

• Education: Graduate degree in Jewish education, public relations, nonprofit management, social work, psychology, public health, or a related field. A background in business or the private sector is also highly desirable.
• Experience: 3–5 years of relevant work experience, ideally in higher education, student services, or experience working with college-aged populations.
• Competency: Demonstrated experience leading student engagement, residential life, student affairs, social work, or campus-based care programs.

What You’ll Receive

• High-level professional development to develop core skills and gain expertise from changemakers, engagers, and community experts.
• Mentoring and career coaching to support your growth during and after your time in this position.
• A network of terrific colleagues from across BU and the global Hillel movement (reaching over 1,000 professionals).
• Potential travel opportunities, both domestically and internationally, multiple times per year.
• Comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance, Tax Deferred Retirement Plan, Life/AD&D/LTD insurance, Flexible Spending Plan, and generous vacation/parental leave.
• Salary: $50,000 - $75,000 depending on level of experience.

About Boston University Hillel

Boston University Hillel is at the hub of a thriving city, located right near Fenway Park. Serving 4,000 Jewish undergraduates and 2,000 graduate students, BU Hillel is dedicated to inspiring students to engage with their heritage and community. BU Hillel is affiliated with Hillel International, the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, which envisions a world where every student is inspired to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning, and Israel.

How should candidates apply? Email a cover letter and resume to esobel@bu.edu

_We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, natural or protective hairstyle, religion, sex, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, military service, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, or because of marital, parental, or veteran status. We are a VEVRAA Federal Contractor. _

Required Experience

Who You Are

We are looking for a passionate, organized, and mission-driven leader who understands the power of relationships and caring in shaping identity and community. The ideal candidate will bring:

• Deep empathy and strong relational skills—comfortable initiating and sustaining 1:1 connections with students from varied backgrounds.
• Demonstrated ability to support and advance BU Hillel's mission to help students engage in Jewish community and support students in exploring Jewish life, community, and connections to Israel.
• Experience designing and scaling peer-support or mentoring programs; a proven ability to recruit, train, supervise, and retain student leaders.
• Strong project and program management skills—able to coordinate logistics, budgets, and multi-stakeholder collaboration.
• A systems-thinking approach to care—able to create sustainable processes, documentation, and measurement.
• Excellent judgment and discretion in handling confidential student situations and navigating complex case management.
• Professional alignment with the values of pluralism and the ability to integrate concepts of hesed (kindness), kavod (dignity), and kehillah (community) into student care practices.

Qualifications

• Education: Graduate degree in Jewish education, public relations, nonprofit management, social work, psychology, public health, or a related field. A background in business or the private sector is also highly desirable.
• Experience: 3–5 years of relevant work experience, ideally in higher education, student services, or experience working with college-aged populations.
• Competency: Demonstrated experience leading student engagement, residential life, student affairs, social work, or campus-based care programs.

What You’ll Receive

• High-level professional development to develop core skills and gain expertise from changemakers, engagers, and community experts.
• Mentoring and career coaching to support your growth during and after your time in this position.
• A network of terrific colleagues from across BU and the global Hillel movement (reaching over 1,000 professionals).
• Potential travel opportunities, both domestically and internationally, multiple times per year.
• Comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance, Tax Deferred Retirement Plan, Life/AD&D/LTD insurance, Flexible Spending Plan, and generous vacation/parental leave.
• Salary: $50,000 - $75,000 depending on level of experience.

About Boston University Hillel

Boston University Hillel is at the hub of a thriving city, located right near Fenway Park. Serving 4,000 Jewish undergraduates and 2,000 graduate students, BU Hillel is dedicated to inspiring students to engage with their heritage and community. BU Hillel is affiliated with Hillel International, the largest Jewish campus organization in the world, which envisions a world where every student is inspired to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning, and Israel.

How should candidates apply? Email a cover letter and resume to esobel@bu.edu

_We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, natural or protective hairstyle, religion, sex, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, military service, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition, or because of marital, parental, or veteran status. We are a VEVRAA Federal Contractor. _