RESIDENCE LIFE MANAGER
JOB DESCRIPTION
ABOUT MINERVA UNIVERSITY
Minerva University, based in San Francisco, California, offers a unique undergraduate experience for the brightest, most motivated students in the world. Minerva has been deliberately designed to teach the capabilities needed to solve complex challenges. Combining a reinvented curriculum, rigorous academic standards, cutting-edge technology, and an immersive global experience, Minerva provides an exceptional and accessible education to prepare future leaders and innovators across all disciplines.
Minerva undergraduate students come from all over the world to spend their first year in residence in San Francisco, and then live and study different major world cities. These rich international experiences provide students with deep global understanding and skills.
ABOUT STUDENT LIFE
The Student Life team oversees the growth and development of students outside the classroom. Student Life staff members work within and across teams focused on residential life and Minerva community development, civic engagement and city/cultural immersion, mental health and wellbeing, and professional development of students to prepare them for post-graduation employment or graduate and professional school. These teams are unified by a shared goal of providing and/or supporting opportunities for integrated learning for our diverse and global student community.
RESPONSIBILITIES
Minerva is seeking an experienced residential life professional to join the Student Life team. Reporting to the Tokyo City Director, the Residence Life Manager is a live-in professional (housing provided) with overall responsibility for supporting students in the housing where the students live, work and study. Specifically, the Manager is the first point of contact for students and supports the health, safety and welfare of students, along with leading student community-building and bringing a passion and wealth of knowledge for connecting students of diverse backgrounds to create a community mutually shaped to meet each member's needs.
The role includes supporting Minerva students as they complete a semester of studies. Ensuring that they take ownership over building a healthy residential community that learns from each other and supports engagement.
As part of the Student Life team at Minerva, the Residence Life Coordinator is responsible for:
Community Support & Programming
- Promoting the health, safety and welfare of students living in the residences. This includes handling emergencies, escorting students to medical appointments, providing translation services where necessary, planning and providing educational programming for residents, facilitating a strong sense of community, and promoting the character development of students.
- Handling and coordinating operational matters related to the residences with the building management team such as maintenance requests and facility upkeep.
- Building community and fostering a sense of belonging for students within our diverse, global student community.
- Developing and implementing programming and shared resources that supports the welfare of students, including sexual health education, prevention of sexual harassment and assault, safety in the city, continued alcohol and substance awareness, financial literacy, healthy eating, and day-to-day city logistics.
- Connecting students with relevant Minerva resources, such as financial aid, visas, health insurance, etc., as needed.
- Organize weekly community programs.
- Co-coordinating room allocation assignments and all subsequent related issues, including roommate conflicts and room swaps during the semester.
- Clarifying and enforcing policies with regard to student conduct, housing, guest policy, and emergency procedures.
- Updating content for students on city resources and information on the myMinerva, Minerva’s internal student-facing website.
- Facilitating communications to students through established Minerva platforms such as the Community Portal.
- Building community and fostering a sense of belonging for students within our diverse, global student community.
STUDENT LIFE TEAM MEMBER
- Be visible during the Monday to Friday work week, hosting office hours and occasional student 1:1 or small gatherings, with demonstrable, active contributions during the entire semester
- In collaboration with the SLT, manage work study students’ leadership, student feedback surveys and organization of weekly community events, in addition to other programming and activities
- Organize and participate in city preparation and management, including roommate assignments, policy violation and misconduct investigation, crisis management, opening and closing the rotation city, plus check-in and check-out duties
- Contribute to and serve on the Community Care Initiative (CCI), a committee across departments that convenes weekly to discuss students of concern
- Hold the city’s Emergency Phone on a rotational basis with the other team members, across the whole semester, during which the on-duty employee may not leave the rotation city
- Attend regular staff meetings as required
- Complete special projects and tasks as assigned
This position requires availability on-site every day and on-call when off site. Any time off is coordinated with other team members so that staff are always available on-site and on-call for the safety and welfare of the students, including nights and weekends.
ELIGIBILITY
- Must be legally able to work in Japan
- In depth local city and culture expertise
- Must be fluent in English and Japanese, spoken and written (native level)
- Skills, experience, and interest in facilitating collaboration within a highly diverse, international community; exceptional awareness of intercultural dynamics.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills; high capacity for quick communication across multiple channels
- Ability to define goals, meet urgent deadlines, organize and prioritize projects with follow-through
- Exemplary interpersonal skills with strong student-centered focus and attention to detail
- Capacity to learn and use new technology in a very fast-paced environment (Google Suite skills a plus)
- Must be available to work late nights/weekends (with time off duty during the semester)
- Ability to respond to and triage unexpected and serious incidents effectively
- Need to work collaboratively as part of a team and interact effectively with colleagues, faculty and students
- Bachelor’s Degree with relevant graduate work preferred
- 2-3 years’ experience in residential life and/or student services preferred
- First Aid and CPR certification preferred (or will be trained)
- Strong sense of discretion, confidentiality and tact
- Record of sensitivity and respect to diverse cultures, politics, values and forms of communication
- High capacity for quick communication across multiple channels and global time zones
- Familiar with local crisis management processes, authorities and legislation