Director of Admissions

The Director of Admissions is a strategic leadership role at the College, reporting directly to the Chief Strategy and Engagement Officer (CSEO), and playing a critical part in the College's long-term success and mission delivery. S/he interprets current and future market conditions and assesses the impact of external and internal factors on enrollment figures, providing strategic direction to the College Leadership Team to navigate an increasingly complex student recruitment market in Singapore and globally. S/he ensures the UWCSEA Admissions Policy is implemented through an effective and family-friendly process that protects the integrity of the policy while ensuring outstanding customer service. S/he champions continual process improvement, ensuring all admissions procedures are efficient, transparent, and processes are informed by best practices. The Director of Admissions leads the admissions team and works closely with the marketing team in proactively adjusting recruitment strategies in real-time to attract and enroll highly qualified, mission-aligned students from diverse backgrounds.

The overall purpose of the role is to ensure two full campuses, enrolled with a deliberately diverse community of students who can make the most of the opportunities presented by a UWCSEA education.

Key Roles and Responsibilities:

Assess internal and external market trends and implement effective admissions strategies to meet enrollment targets (which will include numbers, diversity and Mission alignment) in partnership with the Head of Communications and Marketing, implement and drive sales and marketing strategies in a fast paced and competitive market to ensure that UWCSEA remains a leading member of the UWC Movement and international school in Singapore. Champion the use of advanced enrollment analytics, predictive modeling, and digital marketing strategies to optimize the recruitment funnel and forecast future enrollment needs.

Pro-actively recruit students and families to the College by providing a customer-focused experience that helps them and the College to identify whether they align with the UWCSEA mission and would benefit from a UWCSEA education this includes active lead-nurturing, ensuring a positive experience and promotional events such as recruitment fairs, overseas tours and open days.

Review the College Admissions policy and annual application process to ensure it continues to be fit for purpose lead any changes with energy and enthusiasm including supporting internal stakeholders through change.

Review High School admission applications and select students strategic enrolment planning and stakeholder engagement for the admission of students with support needs, including multilingual, neurodiverse, or complex support needs.

Establish and track a comprehensive set of performance metrics including conversion rates, student retention forecasts, and diversity profile metrics, and support team performance against these KPIs prepare and present regular, comprehensive reports on enrollment strategy, market performance, and pipeline conversion metrics to the relevant Board Committee.

Work closely with internal educational leadership to ensure that the Admissions team is fully up-to-date with the programme and that educational leadership are aware of trends in the market and in applications and can consider any necessary adjustments to the programme.

Oversee liaison with the UWC Movement, including National Committees and UWC International, as well as overseeing the admission of scholars and partial scholars to UWCSEA, including connecting with the fundraising team and, where appropriate, means-testing team.

Lead, mentor, and develop the admissions team, fostering a culture of high performance, collaboration, and professional development ensure robust succession planning for key team roles.

Qualifications / Experience / Skills

Qualifications:

• A degree from a recognised university in a relevant field such as Business Administration, Marketing, Education, or a related discipline. A postgraduate degree (Master's or higher) is highly desirable.

Experience:

• Minimum of 10 years progressive experience in a combination of admissions, strategic relationship-management, marketing, or sales, with at least 5-7 years in a senior leadership role, preferably within a complex international environment.
• Demonstrated track record of successfully meeting and exceeding ambitious enrollment targets in a competitive global market.
• Proven experience in developing and executing comprehensive, data-driven admissions and student recruitment strategies.

Skills and Qualities

• Strategic and Commercial Acumen: Exceptional ability to interpret and forecast market trends, assess internal/external factors, and translate data into effective admissions strategies.
• Customer-Service Leadership: A deeply ingrained commitment to providing an outstanding, personalized, and family-friendly customer service experience for prospective families.
• Relationship Management Skills: Excellent interpersonal and communication skills in a group and individual setting tactful, empathetic, credible and compassionate.
• Leadership and Management: Proven ability to lead, motivate, and manage a high-performing admissions team, fostering a culture of efficiency, transparency, and continual process improvement.
• Stakeholder Management: Outstanding interpersonal, communication, and presentation skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate effectively with diverse stakeholders, including the College Leadership Team, Board, educational teams, and the UWC Movement.
• Policy Process Excellence: Analytical rigour to review and lead change in admissions policies and processes, ensuring integrity and alignment with best practices.
• Mission Alignment: A deep commitment to mission-driven education and strong intellectual curiosity for communicating to prospective families the UWC mission and the UWCSEA educational offering ability to interact with educators and talk about their work in a compelling way
• Cultural Competence: A high level of cross-cultural awareness and sensitivity, essential for recruiting a deliberately diverse and global student body.
• Technical Skills: Demonstrated competence in leveraging CRM systems to manage, track, and report on the entire admissions pipeline from initial lead to enrollment.
• Working Culture: High energy, enthusiastic personality and a strong work ethic as an individual contributor and collaborative team player, requiring minimum supervision
• Organisation: Creative, innovative, flexible, with excellent organizational and analytical skills the ability to manage multiple projects effectively and maintain a high degree of professionalism and confidentiality in a team-oriented, complex environment.

Applications:
Timeline & Application Process: This role is scheduled to begin in August 2026. Interviews will be conducted in March 2026, with a final offer extended to the successful candidate by the end of that month. All applications will be handled with the strictest confidence.

The UWC Mission is to make education a force to unite people, nations and culture for peace and a sustainable future. We are committed to creating a community in which all members feel safe and secure, and know that their authentic selves and individual differences are accepted with respect and care. At UWCSEA, we acknowledge that diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) is an ongoing and evolving process and strive to create and sustain a sense of belonging for all members of our community, past, present and future. All qualified applicants, including those who identify as a part of marginalized group(s) and individuals with (dis)abilities are all encouraged to apply. Our school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all the students in our care and expects all applicants to share this commitment. We follow safe recruitment practices and all appointments are subject to interview, satisfactory references, identity and criminal record checks.