Director of Residential Life

THE ROLE

The Director of Residential Life (House Director) will partner with the Assistant House Director and AmeriCorps Residential Life Assistant/House-Sister(s) to co-lead the HomeWorks house and cultivate a culture around our values of intentionality, empathy and community.

Residential and Student Life

• Live in the dorm, being available from 1:30 PM until the next morning and on-call throughout the night.

• Ensure and meet the emotional and mental well-being needs of scholars through proactively engaging in healthy conversations and maintaining open communication.

• Develop a culture of intentionality, empathy, and community in the dorm.

• Co-lead weekly house meetings with scholars, preparing agendas in advance.

• Hold monthly scholar and peer leader check-ins and quarterly town hall meetings. 

• Plan and co-lead engaging activities for programming, Field Trips, house team days, etc. 

• Guide scholars to organize and lead their own club activities.

• Support volunteer workshop facilitators by assisting with classroom management and ensuring scholars attend programming on time and actively participate.

• Enforce all policies and protocols, employing restorative justice practices as needed.

• Maintain detailed records of scholars’ medical requirements and dosages, monitor hygiene, and ensure all scholars are accounted for at lights out.

• Conduct and document emergency and safety drills regularly.

• Manage household expenses, coordinate purchases for house and program supplies, and maintain the house expense tracker up-to-date.

• Act as a bus aide a few times a week or as needed, coordinating weekly transportation schedules with Stouts.

• Communicate with schools about transportation delays when applicable.

• Act as the on-site coordinator for program events such as Parent/Scholar Orientation, HomeWorks Graduation, and other special events.

• Work with the COO and Program Director to build towards the future of HomeWorks. This can look like developing and implementing program strategy, which includes projects such as the climate and culture as well as parent and alumni engagement.

Academics

• Co-run study hall, overseeing scholar cohorts to ensure they receive adequate academic support.

• Create and manage Academic Performance Improvement Plans (PiPs) and missing assignment trackers to provide scholars with more structure and support to get back on track and address any challenges.

• Monitor scholar grades, ensuring all grades are up-to-date and addressing any academic concerns with parents or teachers.

• Ensure scholars meet or exceed HomeWorks' expectations for academic performance, social-emotional development, and leadership.

• Coordinate with parents, teachers, and staff to proactively support scholars’ academic success.

• Attend parent-teacher conferences at scholars’ schools as needed to gain insights into how to better support each scholar and foster closer collaboration between teachers and HomeWorks.

Parent Engagement

• Lead and manage all parent communication and relationships.

• Conduct quarterly parent-scholar meetings to review scholars' academic, leadership, and social-emotional progress and address concerns.

• Create agendas and lead monthly parent meetings or community potlucks.

• Oversee the HomeWorks Parent Association (HPA), including serving as HPA treasurer and supporting their initiatives.

• Co-develop and implement parent engagement strategies to foster strong parent connections.

Scholar Recruitment

• Co-lead the scholar recruitment process, including:

  • Presenting HomeWorks to potential partner schools.

  • Conducting recruitment calls to parents to explain our program and encourage their scholars to apply. 

  • Reviewing applications and conducting interviews with prospective scholars and parents.

  • Participating in deliberations and follow-ups with accepted scholars and families.

Organization, Team, and Communication

• Foster a team culture aligned with HomeWorks' mission, vision, and values.

• Co-lead and manage the house team, providing training, feedback, and communication to staff and program volunteers.

• Oversee, coordinate, and delegate activities such as planning events, completing incident reports, maintaining daily logs, and managing administrative tasks.

• Maintain strong working relationships and consistent communication with the House Team, Mental Health Counselors, and Administrative Team.

• Stay up-to-date on house emails and ensure smooth coordination of house operations.

• Coordinate transportation and house team logistics and schedules, arranging any substitutions needed for scholar travel.

• Adapt to other projects as they arise and handle incidents in alignment with HomeWorks values.

• Follow local and federal laws (i.e. drug & alcohol use, mandated reporting). 

The House Director’s goal is to co-create a culture around HomeWorks values and build a healthy and safe learning and living environment for our scholars. The House Director will do this through working closely with the House and Admin team, as well as building relationships with scholars and parents. We will use tools like Asana, Google Workspace, Salesforce and Slack to amplify the work.

We hope the person in this role will have a passion for justice, education and community building, and is excited about the opportunity to lead the house, develop house culture that will ultimately equip Black and Brown girls in Trenton, NJ to be academically successful and become community leaders.

THE TANGIBLE GOODS

• Location: Lawrence/Trenton, NJ

• Typical Working Hours (Schedule Attached Below). Please note that times may be scheduled to change, and may vary if an emergency or unexpected situation occurs.

  • Sunday: 4:30-10pm

  • Monday to Thursday: 1:30 -10pm

  • Monday to Friday: 6:15-6:45am/8am (occasionally until 8am if on bus route)

  • Monthly Wednesday Meetings -12pm - 1:30pm

• Salary range: HomeWorks Trenton values our employees highly and acknowledges the importance of salary in recognizing and compensating for the value that employees create. We are continually growing in our ability to compensate employees as highly as we want to, and are actively fundraising in order to do so. Joining HomeWorks means being part of a deeply mission-driven and community-oriented organization that invests in development of staff as both people and professionals. We are, however, a young non-profit, and want to be transparent about what you can expect. In your first year, expect a compensation package of $93,044-$97,044, with a salary between $70,000-$75,000, fully furnished housing valued at $22,000/year during the school year and daily dinners valued at $1,044/year when the program is in session.

• Benefits:

  • Medical, Dental, Vision plan offerings

  • Life Insurance

  • Employee Assistance Program

  • 401k plan

  • Paid Time Off

    • During the school year - Following our partner school holiday schedules, which is approximately 22 days.

    • During the summer - 10 days

  • Smartphone and fully paid wireless plan through Mint Mobile

  • Work laptop

  • Professional development and leadership growth opportunities

  • A rewarding career that positively impacts our amazing scholars

• Start date: ASAP