The Agnes Irwin School in Bryn Mawr, PA, has engaged DovetailED to lead a search for a Director of College Counseling to start in the 2025-26 school year. Interested candidates should review the Opportunity Statement and submit a cover letter, resume, and list of references as a consolidated PDF to Zack Lehman, President at DovetailED Talent Sourcing, at zack@dovetailedsourcing.com


The Agnes Irwin School’s Director of College Counseling has overall responsibility for guiding the members of each year’s graduating class through the transition to post-secondary education, focusing specifically on the college search and application processes, herself working with approximately 35-counselees, guiding them through the college search and application processes and helping them to shape the best possible college match. 

The Director is a senior administrator serving on the Administrative Team, working with the Head of School, Director of the Upper School (Middle/Lower School Directors as needed), Admission Office, Development Office, Communications Office, Director of Athletics, faculty/staff, students, parents, alumnae and Trustees. The Director exercises strategic thinking, leadership, creativity and administrative skills to develop and implement, in collaboration with other key administrators, a strategic plan for the School’s efforts for college placement.  

The Director oversees a team that includes an Associate Director of College Counseling, a part-time College Counselor, and a College Counseling Associate who handles administrative support. The Director guides the work of the office through regular office meetings and close daily communication (both face-to-face and through telephone and email), assuring the smooth functioning of the office’s collective efforts. The Director manages the office’s overall operation, with particular emphasis on overseeing its day-to-day operation, which includes the recruitment, evaluation, selection and matriculation of approximately 65-85 AIS graduates annually.  The overall goal for the Director is to build the office’s strengths, provide initiative and leadership, and implement strategic vision. 

Essential Functions:

• Counsel students and parents, individually and in groups, through all aspects of the college application and admission process, possibly including some work with AIS graduates who transfer.  

• Write an official school counselor recommendation for each senior.  To do so, the counselor must gather information from parents, teachers, school records, and students themselves.  Provide feedback on college recommendations written by the Associate Director of College Counseling and the part-time College Counselor. 

• Address small and large gatherings of people, usually parents and students, to discuss the college admission and application process.
• Teach college counseling seminars and co-present various programs to faculty, parents, prospective families and other constituent groups (including some evenings).
• Build and maintain relationships with college admission professionals by visiting college campuses, maintaining regular phone/email communication, and welcoming 100+ college admission visitors to campus each year.

• Represent AIS at national, regional and local conferences as beneficial both to learn and educate; host/direct and participate in events throughout the year sponsored by the College Counseling department, such as evening workshops and college fairs/interview days/information sessions. 
• Oversee the timely completion and appropriate content of teacher recommendations written by AIS faculty.
• Assist students with course registration for their senior year; Director often consults on younger students, esp. athletic recruits.

• Counsel AIS advisors and coaches on their role in helping students through the college selection process.
• Guide the College Counseling department in determining and using technological programs, both commercial and intra-AIS, as needed to effectively run the office and deliver students’ applications. 
• Coordinate accurate records of student testing and academic work with the Registrar.
• Maintain an informative and up-to-date college guidance center on campus.
• Prepare reports bi-annually for the Board of Trustees on the college admission process for each given class.
• Establish and maintain a yearly budget, including anticipating expenses necessary to maintain a four person office.
• Direct supervisees and be a team player within the department and AIS community.

Other AIS duties as assigned: 

• Attend meetings of the AIS Administrative Team, as well as the Student Life/Upper School Administration group(s) (counselors, medical staff, deans, etc.) to discuss students of concern.

• Attend regular curriculum committee meetings (C3, etc.) to provide information on how college admissions officers view AIS’s curriculum and participate in strategic AIS decision-making accordingly.
• Oversee the Senior Assembly program, including directing a team of faculty who serve as production managers and graders.
• Oversee the administration of the Senior Seminar Program, including the College 101 series. 

Qualifications:

• Minimum five years’ experience in independent school college counseling and/or college admission.  
• Master’s degree preferred.
• A strong work ethic, excellent organizational skills, and ability to work in a fast-paced, highly stressful environment; ability to manage multiple assignments while managing interruptions and meeting deadlines. 
• Strong counseling skills in the context of an empathetic understanding of family dynamics; the ability to maintain confidentiality/need-to-know protocols within appropriate adult relationship with students and apt professional ones with parents, faculty and college officials. 
• Strong communication/marketing skills, both written and oral, to communicate effectively with students, faculty, parents and college officers.
• Effective interpersonal, decision-making and organizational skills deployed in an environment with limited supervision.
• Strong knowledge base of U.S. colleges/universities and the ability to reasonably predict college admissions decisions; knowledge and/or willingness to acquire it for some overseas (UK) programs; a full understanding of college athletic and artistic ‘recruiting angles’ as well as financial aid processes/negotiations.
• Advanced proficiency in all areas of Microsoft Office and chosen commercial/institutional databases/ industry software. 
• Ability to be a team player in leading the College Counseling department and in participating in the AIS community.