The Assistant Director of Graduate Recruitment provides strategic leadership for university-wide graduate recruitment and prospective student engagement. This role is responsible for developing, implementing, and continuously refining comprehensive recruitment strategies that span all stages of the enrollment funnel, from prospect generation through matriculation. The Director works across colleges, departments, admissions, and university communications to align recruitment efforts, messaging, and outreach strategies with institutional enrollment goals.

This position serves as the Graduate School’s lead strategist for recruitment, leveraging data, market insights, and Slate and Salesforce CRM tools to optimize outreach, improve yield, and expand the graduate student pipeline. The Assistant Director of Graduate Recruitment plays a central role in coordinating recruitment efforts across decentralized academic units, ensuring a consistent, high-quality prospective student experience and strengthening the university’s competitive position in graduate education. The position establishes institutional recruitment priorities, guides implementation across decentralized units, and ensures alignment between recruitment strategy and enrollment outcomes.

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The Graduate School at the University of Tennessee seeks to hire an Assistant Director of Graduate Recruitment to provide strategic leadership for university-wide graduate recruitment and prospective student engagement. This role is responsible for developing, implementing, and continuously refining comprehensive recruitment strategies that span all stages of the enrollment funnel, from prospect generation through matriculation. The Director works across colleges, departments, admissions, and university communications to align recruitment efforts, messaging, and outreach strategies with institutional enrollment goals.

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Required Qualifications

Education: Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution.

Experience:

• Three years of professional experience in higher education admissions, recruitment, enrollment management, student services, marketing, or a related field.

• Experience coordinating outreach campaigns, recruitment initiatives, or student engagement programs.

• Experience using a CRM or student information system to manage communications, track engagement, or support recruitment processes.

Knowledge, Skills, Abilities:

• Demonstrated ability to plan and coordinate events, presentations, or recruitment programming.

• Strong organizational, communication, and project management skills, with the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously.

• Ability to analyze data and generate reports to inform recruitment and outreach strategies.

• Excellent communication skills (written and verbal)

Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis without need now or in the future for sponsorship for employment-based visa status.

Preferred Qualifications

Education: Master’s degree in higher education administration, communication, marketing, public administration, or a related field.

Experience:

• Experience working in graduate admissions or graduate recruitment.

• Experience using Slate CRM, particularly for communication workflows, event management, dashboards, or reporting.

• Experience developing or managing student ambassador or peer recruitment programs.

• Experience developing strategic recruitment or outreach campaigns that support enrollment goals.

• Experience presenting to prospective students, campus partners, or external audiences.

Work Location

• Location: Knoxville, TN

• Onsite, Hybrid, or Remote – Onsite

Compensation and Benefits

UT market range: MR10

• Anticipated hiring range:

• Find more information on the UT Market Range structure here

• Find more information on UT Benefits here

Application Instructions

To express interest, please submit an application with the noted below attachments:

• Resume

• Cover Letter

• 3 Professional References

About The College/Department/Division:

The Graduate School at the University of Tennessee Knoxville is a dynamic office that provides a wide range of services to students and academic units from recruitment to graduation. While prospective students are exploring graduate education, we are here to provide insight into the programs available and the process for applying. Once a student has decided to submit an application, we manage the admissions process in coordination with the academic units. During the time a student is enrolled at UTK, the Graduate School monitors student progress and provides support for student success. As students approach graduation, we evaluate records and verify the awarding of all degrees.

Graduate education is one of the components that makes UT a great university. The Graduate School is a full partner in supporting the university’s mission, vision, and the values embodied in the Volunteer Spirit.

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Recruitment Strategy and Enrollment Pipeline Development:

• Lead the development and execution of university-wide graduate recruitment strategy, aligning outreach efforts with institutional enrollment goals and program priorities

• Design and manage a comprehensive recruitment funnel strategy, including prospect generation, inquiry conversion, application engagement, and yield initiatives

• Analyze market trends, enrollment data, and competitive positioning to identify opportunities for growth and recommend strategic adjustments

• Establish recruitment priorities and campaign strategies across academic programs in coordination with admissions leadership and college partners

• Direct the development of targeted, multi-channel outreach campaigns (email, phone, digital, and events) to increase engagement and conversion at each stage of the funnel

• Lead the planning and execution of high-impact recruitment initiatives, including virtual programming, on-campus events, and prospective student engagement experiences

• Lead the coordination and implementation of institution-wide graduate recruitment efforts, ensuring alignment across colleges, departments, admissions, and central communications

• Provide strategic guidance to academic units on recruitment practices, outreach strategies, and prospective student engagement

• Develop and deliver presentations representing the Graduate School to internal and external audiences

• Oversee the use of Slate for recruitment event management, including registration, tracking, and reporting, ensuring alignment with recruitment strategy

• Establish recruitment priorities, timelines, and performance expectations for university-wide recruitment initiatives

• Monitor execution of recruitment activities and ensure alignment with established strategy

Slate CRM Management, Communication Workflow, and Engagement Systems:

• Lead the strategic use of Slate CRM to support recruitment, communication, and enrollment pipeline management

• Design and optimize communication strategies and workflows that improve prospect engagement, application completion, and yield

• Develop dashboards and reporting tools to monitor recruitment performance and inform strategic decision making

• Establish standards and best practices for CRM use across recruitment and admissions functions

Ambassador Program and Student Engagement:

• Develop and manage a Graduate Student Ambassador program to support recruitment and engagement initiatives.

• Recruit, train, and coordinate ambassadors to participate in recruitment events, outreach efforts, and prospective student engagement activities.

• Facilitate ambassador participation in virtual events, presentations, and recruitment programming.

Data Analysis and Reporting:

• Analyze recruitment and enrollment data to evaluate effectiveness of strategies across the enrollment funnel

• Develop and present regular reports to enrollment leadership with actionable recommendations

• Use data insights to refine outreach strategies, event programming, and communication campaigns

Other duties as assigned.