Director of Admissions and Financial Aid

The Putney School is seeking a Director of Admissions and Financial Aid , a full-time administrative position to begin work in the summer of 2026. Reporting to the head of school, this position is responsible for all strategic and operational facets of recruitment, admission, enrollment, and financial aid, including helping to build the school's brand identity, generating positive "buzz" about the school, meeting enrollment and revenue targets, and promoting student retention. This role is an opportunity to shape the future of one of the most relevant and exciting schools in the United States, ensuring Putney's vibrant and sustainable place in a competitive marketplace.

About The Putney School

Putney is a progressive boarding school for 220 hardworking and curious students in a beautiful corner of Southern Vermont. Since 1935, Putney has prepared intellectually curious, community-minded students by joining time-tested educational princi es and cutting-edge progressive teaching methods. The school blends high expectations and unique levels of student agency so that alumni achieve college success and grow into inspiring and well-rounded peo e. Hands-on learning is embedded in the school's culture: a working dairy farm, expansive arts offerings, a robust work program, miles of wooded trails, and large solar arrays serve our curriculum. We seek applicants who find joy in their work and help others realize how much fun authentic, student-centered learning can be.

The school cultivates and sustains an educational community that values difference. Community members explore how they contribute to building a home at Putney where everyone, especially those from historically marginalized populations, can honor their individual racial, gender, political, ethnic, and socio-economic identities. Putney recognizes this is difficult, communal work, and the school supports all its employees in developing this critical skill set.

Putney enters its 90th year in a strong structural position. The school will complete in June the largest capital campaign in our history, propelling investment in modernizing our campus infrastructure. Among small, tuition-driven boarding schools in the Northeast, Putney has a robust per-student endowment, generous annual fund, and a balanced operating budget. To maintain an enrollment of approximately 220 students, Putney needs to enroll about 75 new students annually. Approximately 50% of Putney students receive need-based financial aid, and our tuition discount rate goal (excluding remission) is approximately 26% of tuition revenue.

Opportunities

The Director of Admissions will have the opportunity to leverage Putney's distinct mission, strong brand awareness, relevance, and clear pathways to grow enrollment. First, the time for Putney is now: as artificial intelligence overtakes traditional ways of living and working, Putney's ninety-year focus on creativity, collaboration, agency, community, and responsibility align with the skills and habits that will be required for success moving forward. Second, in an era when there is an oversupply of boarding school beds in the United States, Putney has a distinctive mission; we know the students who will thrive at Putney, and who will not. The task is to lean into our distinctiveness and ensure everyone aligned with the Putney mission is aware of our school. Third, Putney retains a strong brand: we are known nationally for our progressive pedagogical approach, commitment to the arts, and belief in student ownership of their experience. As a result, for generations, Putney has attracted members of America's intellectual and creative elite.

Priorities

• Grow the top of our admission funnel and eventually increase enrollment by about 8-10 mission-aligned students per year while maintaining sustainable tuition discount rates.
• Develop creative admissions strategies to connect with prospective students and families who will be drawn to Putney and who will find tuition within financial reach.
• Grow Putney's international student population. The number of international students enrolled at Putney has not returned to pre-Covid levels, and there is room to grow international enrollment from approximately 15% to 20-22% of the student body.

Position Responsibilities

• Collaborate with programmatic leadership to ensure clear understanding of program aspirations, strengths, hurdles, obstacles, and challenges
• Lean into learning and embracing Putney's unique program, students, and ethos
• Articulate Putney's brand identity to ensure our communications reinforce the ways in which Putney is distinct, competitive, and relevant
• Ensure robust recruitment outreach via innovative approaches in addition to traditional methods, such as visits to schools, high school fairs, educational consultants, and educational conferences
• Identify and shepherd families from inquiry, to application, to enrollment, as well as supporting retention
• Balance vision and clarity with offering individual agency in leading the admissions staff, and inspire the entire community to be admissions counselors in their areas of influence
• Build applicant pools that reflect a range of racial, socio-economic, geographic, and gender identities
• Lead the admission committee (made up of students and adults) to identify and enroll mission-aligned students
• Manage a $4.5 million financial aid budget by reviewing financial aid applications and allocating awards aligned with student needs and school goals, securing a balance of full-pay and aid-funded families to fund meet net tuition revenue and enrollment targets

Qualifications

B.A. or higher, with five or more years' experience in admission programs; expertise in brand positioning, marketing, and sales; experience in independent school settings, preferably in progressive and/or residential schools. The ideal candidate will have knowledge of international student recruiting strategies, as well as experience marketing to students from historically marginalized identities. He/she/they must communicate energetically and clearly, in large settings and in intimate conversations, and engage positively with parents, educators, consultants, peers, and students.

Benefits

Competitive compensation commensurate with the importance of the position to Putney and depending on experience; health benefits, paid vacation, and 403(b) retirement plan contributions; on-campus housing; annual professional development opportunities.

Procedure to Apply

The Putney School is an equal opportunity employer. It is the policy and practice of the School to hire and employ individuals without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, crime victim status, pregnancy, gender identity, HIV status, ancestry, place of birth, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, veteran status, military service, or other categories protected by federal, state, or local law. This policy applies to recruitment, hiring, training, promotion, and all other personnel actions and conditions of employment such as compensation, benefits, layoffs and reinstatement, tuition assistance, and disciplinary measures.

Interested candidates should submit via this link the following materials confidentially in one single PDF file:

• A cover letter indicating your particular interest in and qualifications for the position
• A current resume
• The names, email addresses, and telephone numbers of five references, including your current Head of School and at least one other recent supervisor. References should speak to your ability to be an effective educator and administrator, to work successfully with children, and to work collaboratively and collegially with adults (references will be contacted only with the candidate's permission). Please indicate your relationship with each reference (i.e. supervisor, colleague, or direct report).

Please address any questions by email to [email protected].

Salary Range

$110,000-$155,000 (plus on-campus housing)

Search Calendar

• Application deadline: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis with a priority to those submitted by Monday, February 9, 2026.
• Semifinalist interviews: Week of February 16, 2026
• Finalist interviews: Week of February 23, 2026
• Start date: July 1, 2026