Director of Family Engagement, Alpha - $400,000/year USD - #305249

Families enrolling at Alpha New York already work with trusted advisors across every area of their lives. What they've lacked until now is one for this.

You'll become the person they reach out to when uncertainty arises, when something doesn't feel quite right, or when they want to share a milestone they know you'll appreciate. You'll develop the kind of familiarity with each family that lets you sense their needs before they articulate them—and you'll bring the judgment and composure to address whatever they bring you with discretion, care, and seamless professionalism. Over time, your role will extend beyond being part of their child's education. You'll become woven into how they navigate this stage of their family journey.

New York's independent school landscape is tight-knit, deeply networked, and unforgiving of missteps. How a family experiences Alpha doesn't remain confined to campus—it circulates through the circles that influence decisions: their building, their club, their weekend retreat, the private conversations that determine where the next family enrolls. You'll grasp this reality intuitively, having built your career in environments where reputation is the ultimate asset and a single error outlives every success. You'll cultivate a community families want to protect, where inclusion feels natural and referrals emerge organically from earned trust.

In addition to New York's private school circles, you'll engage with diplomatic families, multinational executives, and globally mobile households whose perspective on education—and institutions broadly—has been formed through experiences well beyond American independent schooling. The ideal candidate will navigate cross-cultural family expectations with the same ease they bring to the established patterns of New York's private school world.

Alpha operates outside traditional school models. Students complete their core academics in two hours daily through AI-driven applications, then dedicate the remainder of their day to public speaking, critical reasoning, and applied projects. No traditional lectures. No filler assignments. Outcomes in the top 1% nationally.

The families who select Alpha have made a deliberate choice—and in a city where every parent holds strong opinions on education, they'll face constant questions about that choice. You'll ensure they're always equipped with clarity and conviction. If sustaining that confidence amid years of refined New York scrutiny feels exhausting, this position isn't the right match. If it represents the most compelling professional challenge you can imagine, continue reading.

What You Will Be Doing

• Manage the complete parent relationship arc—from initial outreach through enrollment, ongoing retention, and sustained advocacy—ensuring faculty remain student-focused and families always have a reliable point of contact
• Detect early signals when something is amiss, and address it with the discretion and insight that preserves trust—including the more difficult judgment of recognizing when a family isn't aligned with the school
• Maintain consistent presence in the spaces families occupy: morning drop-off, afternoon pick-up, evening programming, and the spontaneous exchanges that carry the most weight
• Develop a community that both domestic and international families feel invested in protecting—where referrals occur naturally because the experience justifies them
• Communicate Alpha's mission persuasively—in private conversations, at hosted events, and in the skeptical New York circles where the school's standing is truly established
  
  

What You Won’t Be Doing

• Operating from behind a desk—your physical presence within the community defines this role
• Adhering to standard office hours—early arrivals, late afternoons, and evening commitments are inherent to the position, not occasional requirements
• Redirecting challenging parent discussions to faculty or school leadership—these conversations are yours to resolve
• Relying on established infrastructure, predefined workflows, or a built-out team—you'll function with significant independence and create the systems you require
• Managing family relationships as transactional accounts—this role depends on authentic engagement, not procedural execution
  
  

Director Of Family Engagement Key Responsibilities

Serve as the central trusted relationship for every family at Alpha's Lower Manhattan location. Maintain their confidence through challenging moments, foster a community where belonging is meaningful, and establish the environment in which satisfied families become active champions within the networks that influence New York's independent school ecosystem.

Basic Requirements

• 5+ years building and sustaining trust with high-net-worth or ultra-high-net-worth families in a high-touch, relationship-centered capacity
• Demonstrated success advising discerning clients through consequential decisions—with measurable results you can describe: conversion rates, retention metrics, referral generation
• The discretion and poise to manage sensitive, confidential matters without causing disruption
• Instinctive cross-cultural competence—equally adept with a diplomatic family encountering American schooling for the first time and a multi-generation New York household deeply familiar with this environment
• Located in New York, available for full-time on-site presence, and flexible with scheduling demands
• Authorized to work in the United States without employer sponsorship
  
  

Nice-to-have Requirements

• Professional background that New York's most selective families immediately respect—independent school admissions, high-end hospitality, an exclusive membership organization with recognized prestige in the city, or philanthropic development at an institution they already value
• Direct or professional exposure to independent or alternative education models
• Established connections within New York City's private school parent communities
• Experience working with internationally mobile, diplomatic, or globally oriented families
• A personal network extending through the residential buildings, private clubs, and institutions where Alpha's families make decisions and form opinions
  
  

About Alpha

Want to join a learning rebellion that’s transforming the traditional classroom?

Alpha School is on a mission to reshape education with a bold approach that harnesses AI to accelerate learning and unleash student potential.

They don’t play by the old rules.

Alpha is creating a new paradigm where students master core academics in just two hours a day, freeing up time for hands-on, passion-driven learning that truly prepares them for the real world.

Alpha School is rewriting the rules of education.

Sounds too good to be true? It’s not.

There is so much to cover for this exciting role, and space here is limited. Hit the Apply button if you found this interesting and want to learn more. We look forward to meeting you!

Working with us

This is a full-time (40 hours per week), long-term position. The position is immediately available and requires entering into an independent contractor agreement with Crossover as a Contractor of Record. The compensation level for this role is $200 USD/hour, which equates to $400,000 USD/year assuming 40 hours per week and 50 weeks per year. The payment period is weekly. Consult www.crossover.com/help-and-faqs for more details on this topic.

Crossover Job Code: LJ-5721-US-Yonkers-DirectorofFami1