Assistant Director for Hillel, Urbana-Champaign

As Assistant Director for Hillel at The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, you will be the Executive Director’s right hand in implementing Hillel’s mission on campus through mentorship and management of Hillel’s excellent team of Jewish professionals. You will take an active part in the hiring, training, and mentoring of new and current talent. You will help develop additional relationships and opportunities to collaborate with the University of Illinois, Hillel International, the Jewish Federation/Jewish United Fund of Chicago (JUF), and other organizations. We are seeking a leader with a strong talent for coordinating and integrating the many moving parts of Hillel’s programs and projects to ensure the effective flow and function of our staff and student leaders. You will work collaboratively with a talented staff and engaged student leaders to pursue Hillel’s mission to connect Jewish students to each other and to Jewish life, learning, and Israel. The salary range for this role is $70,000-$75,000.

• Manage all information flow within the organization to keep our team informed of their projects and progress.


• Collaborate with senior staff to craft, implement, develop, and review Hillel’s vision for engagement, wellness, programming, and education.


• Take a lead role in training new and current staff members with assistance from other staff, interns, and outside resources. Develop staff training curriculum with structural and adaptable components to achieve the best learning curve for each staff member.


• Support the Executive Director in implementing Hillel’s annual goals and long term vision.


• Participate in Hillel’s engagement and programmatic work as defined by the engagement and programmatic strategies.


• Direct, coordinate, mentor, and support the growth of our programming staff members.


• Participate in Hillel’s engagement and programmatic work as defined by the engagement and programmatic strategies.


• Develop and implement opportunities to expand Hillel’s reach and visibility on campus and in the community through partnerships, relationship building, sponsorships, and campus-wide initiatives.


• Lead weekly staff meetings, meet one-on-one with staff, and facilitate staff involvement in full-team efforts.


• Supervise the Israel Fellow and Administrative Interns.


• Oversee the program budget, distribute funds, account for costs, and pursue grant opportunities.


• Lead skills learning initiatives such as the Civic Engagement Fellowship and Jewish Learning Fellowship; Develop and run student leadership and educational opportunities.


• Lead the recruitment and staffing of Hillel’s Leadership Trip to Israel and partakes in the recruitment and staffing for Taglit-Birthright Israel. Work with the Israel Fellow to plan effective Israel experience follow-through programming aimed at encouraging participants to continue exploring their connection to Israel.


• Participate as a full member of The Hillels of Illinois Staff in local, regional, and national Hillel programs and programs of the Jewish Federation, as may be appropriate.

• 5+ years of relevant professional work experience.


• Bachelor’s degree required. Master's Degree preferred.


• Experience and proven success in supervising professional staff and/or facilitating leadership development for young adults.


• Comfort in managing teams as well as working independently and collaboratively.


• Accomplished organizational skills related to strategic planning, program oversight, and time management.


• Excellent interpersonal skills and an ability to effectively communicate with a variety of stakeholders.


• A serious work ethic, sense of humor and willingness to take risks and learn from unexpected situations.


• A commitment to pluralism, a comfort with your own relationship to Judaism, and fluency of Jewish knowledge and tradition to act as a role model and mentor for emerging Jewish adults.


• Willingness to work some evenings (on a weekly basis), weekends, and holidays for program support.


• The ability to excel in a dynamic and growth-oriented entrepreneurial organization that seeks to say yes often and envision new modalities for success.

We offer generous benefits including medical, dental, and vision insurance, 401(k) match, great professional development, mentoring, and skill-building opportunities as part of the global Hillel movement, paid family leave, 22 days of paid time off, 11 sick days, and up to 21 paid holidays. The salary range for this role is $70,000-$75,000.

Illini Hillel is the first Hillel in the world. Established in 1923 by Rabbi Benjamin Frankel, Illini Hillel strengthens the Jewish identity of 3,500 Jewish students at the University of Illinois. With one of the largest fraternity and sorority populations and over 1,000 student organizations on campus, the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign is one of the most social campuses in the country. That alongside the tier 1 research work on our campus makes our University attractive to Jewish students of all background. At Illini Hillel, we embrace the work-hard-play-hard culture of our campus by creating the perfect mix of fun social and deep meaningful Jewish programming and engagement. Outside of campus life, our Jewish professionals enjoy the vibrant social life of the cities of Champaign and Urbana and the surrounding towns. University staff and Champaign's High Tech hub create a young vibrant community that meets and celebrates life in many ways. The Champaign Urbana Jewish Federation and Sinai Temple are our close partners in building a strong and welcoming Jewish community that serve over 2,000 Jewish community members beyond campus life. Additionally, Champaign-Urbana mark the perfect halfway point between some of the major cities in the Midwest - Chicago, Indianapolis and St. Louis.