Program Advisor
EF High School Exchange Year
Denver, CO

 

The opportunity

EF High School Exchange Year sponsors international high school students who spend a semester or academic year living with host families across the United States. In order to provide exceptional support for these students, we seek to hire a Program Advisor with a track record of proven success in the education sector, volunteer management, teenage mentorship, customer service or other related field.

Our international teenage students experience a true cultural exchange as they leave behind the familiarity of their home country, culture, and language, and immerse themselves in the local lifestyles of their host community. Imagine being a 16-year-old foreign student who has grown up living in a big city and is now on an exchange year living in a small town in the Midwest. What challenges might you encounter as you settle into a new community at the start of a new school year? How do you adjust to the expectations of your new host family? How do you manage homesickness and culture shock? Who do you turn to for guidance and support? The Program Advisor is a resource, mentor, and coach who is there to help with all challenges our teenage students face. 

 

Tell me more

Our Program Advisors are responsible for supporting international high school exchange students as they navigate an exchange year in the United States. In this role you will establish trusting relationships and provide collaborative support to enhance the student’s experience. The Program Advisor works with a team of local coordinators to support these students, while also communicating with volunteer host families and colleagues in our recruitment offices abroad to ensure seamless collaboration. Our goal is to help students learn, grow and succeed in their American surroundings and provide personalized support to them along the way. Working across different cultures and time zones adds yet another global layer to this dynamic role! To further strengthen the support provided to program participants, you will also be tasked with overseeing projects that are aimed to enhance program quality. The Program Advisor monitors student safety and wellbeing in-line with the industry standards set forth by the US Department of State.

Members of our Program Support team experience seasonality with student support much like the academic calendar. The fall season is fast paced as students settle into their exchange year, with spring and summer focused on quality-driven initiatives to enhance team operations. Program Advisors join a team of responders to our 24/7 emergency support line, serving as a point of contact a few times per year.

In accordance with public health guidance, all of our staff are currently working from home. However, our EF culture still runs strong. From virtual happy hours, group workout classes, and collaborative technology, we'll make sure you can stay close to your colleagues -- even from home. We hope to get back to the office at some point in Summer/Fall of 2021, and this role will be based in our Denver, CO or field offices at that time.

 

About you

Your outstanding relationship building, communication, and mediation skills, combined with your passionate performance and creative approach, and your sincere interest in international education will ensure a positive program experience for all participants.

• Bachelor’s degree or commensurate experience
• 3+ years of previous experience in related field
• Ability to travel 2-4 times per year
• Commitment to ensuring student safety and wellbeing
• Relationship building, conflict resolution and mediation skills
• Ability to communicate diplomatically with diverse program participants
• Desire to find innovative ways to connect with and coach all program participants to success
• Ability to make and implement difficult decisions and compromises while prioritizing competing projects and issues
• Attention to detail and strong writing skills
• Strong work-ethic, personal accountability, ability to work well both individually and in a team environment
• Fluency in a second language – particularly German, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, or Japanese – is a plus
• Experience working with diverse cultures and backgrounds a plus

 

Why You’ll Love Working Here: Perks, Benefits and Earning Potential

Work in our downtown office where you’ll enjoy comprehensive professional development, frequent social programming, office-wide sports leagues and employee-run social groups (including our “EF-finity” groups: Black@EF, LGBTQ+@EF, Latinos@EF, Asians@EF and Parents@EF). And did we mention the free coffee, beer and Kombucha on tap?! In addition, you can expect:

• Commitment to professional growth: robust monthly calendar of trainings, workshops and TED Talk style sessions
• Three weeks paid vacation your first year (four weeks starting in year two), in addition to nine paid holidays
• 25% company match on your 401(k)
• Market-leading medical, dental and vision coverage, along with life and disability insurance
• Wellness benefits including onsite and virtual classes run by EF instructors, and a yearly fitness reimbursement
• $1500 annual tuition reimbursement and $500 annual charity matching
• EF Product Discounts (discounts on travel, international language schools, childcare with our Au Pair product and more)
• Dependent care, healthcare and commuter Flex Spending Accounts (FSAs)
• Discounts at local venues and businesses
• Compensation:
• Starting salary range $45,000 to $49,000, depending on prior work experience.

About us

EF High School Exchange Year (HSEY) is a non-profit high school foreign exchange program affiliated with Education First. We bring students from around the world to live with volunteer host families and enroll in local high schools for either one semester or a full academic year. Our mission is to promote international understanding and global awareness across the US. Together we share culture and languages, open communities to the wider world and create lifelong bonds that span the globe. For more information about our program, please visit www.efexchangeyear.org.

About EF Education First

At EF we believe that the world is better when people try to understand one another. Since 1965, we have helped millions of people see new places, experience new cultures, and learn new things about the world and about themselves. Our culturally immersive education programs—focused on language, travel, cultural exchange, and academics—turn dreams into international opportunities.

When you join EF, you join a multicultural and diverse community working across more than 600 schools and offices in 50 countries, all with one shared mission of opening the world through education. Whoever you are, whatever you are passionate about—we welcome you and want you to bring that to work every day. EF is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and we are committed to inclusion and belonging across race, ethnicity, gender identity/expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, ability, parental status, experience and everything else that makes you unique.

Founded in Sweden in 1965, EF has school and offices around the world, including hubs in Boston, London, Mexico City, São Paulo, Shanghai, Stockholm, Zürich, and more. Learn more at https://ef.com.