Recruiting Manager - People

Do you think hiring should feel like a conversation, not a stack of applications?

Are you energized by running a hiring process that has to hit a spring peak and still treat every candidate like a person?

Do you get more out of a sharp intake meeting with a hiring manager than out of a full inbox?

Collegewise is looking for a Recruiting Manager to join our People team. This role owns hiring from the first conversation with a hiring manager through the moment a candidate accepts an offer, across counselors, program advisors, sales and marketing, and corporate and senior roles. It's hands-on work. You'll source, screen, interview, and close, while building the systems that keep the process running. This is a remote position, and candidates must be located in the United States.

Who We Are

Collegewise is a college counseling company that helps high school students confidently navigate their journey to college. We believe the college admissions process has spun out of control, with too much confusion, too much anxiety, and too many students losing agency for what should be their path to higher education. We’re out to change all that.

Since 1999, we’ve helped more than 35,000 students apply and get accepted to schools—sometimes famous, often not—that they’re excited to attend. We do it all with just the right mix of advice, encouragement, and occasional cheerleading—all backed by data and experience—to ensure that each student’s college admissions process runs smoothly and thoughtfully. And our work doesn’t stop with students who enroll in our program. We speak in public, write, and constantly look for ways to spread relevant college planning information to anyone who needs it, whether or not they work with us. To learn more about Collegewise, check out this short video.

Ambition with heart. Strategy with soul.

Yes, we're a business. But students come first, and that's never up for debate. We have an excellent reputation with both high school counselors and admissions officers. We present at NACAC, local ACACs, and at high schools and community events. We partner with community-based organizations to directly support their students and increase college access. We tell the truth, we treat people right, we recycle, and we have at least five confirmed vegetarians on the team. We're biased, but really, this is a pretty great place to work.

What's the Job?

Every hiring need starts with a conversation. A hiring manager needs a wave of counselors ahead of the spring peak, or one senior hire who has to be right. You'll sit down with that manager, get clear on the scope, scorecard, and timeline, and turn it into a job req and posting the team can act on.

From there, you run the process. You'll write external postings, build sourcing plans for core, specialist, and boutique counselors, program advisors, sales and marketing, and corporate roles, and keep a talent pool warm between hiring peaks. You'll lead hiring for program advisors, who build the trust families need to commit to a customized counseling and tutoring package. You'll run screening and interviews through to offer, draft and track offers within approved pay bands, and keep candidates informed until they accept.

The process itself is yours to design. You'll shape the screening criteria our counseling volunteers use, partner with Counseling leadership on how that training gets delivered, and own our employee referral program and the recruiting metrics that show whether hiring is working. You'll run Rippling as our applicant tracking system, including stages, scorecards, scheduling, and reporting. You'll also mentor and develop a part-time Recruiting Coordinator.

The hard part is making sure hiring managers get enough from each interview to decide. When they don't, you find out why and get them what they need, without losing the human side of the process. You'll work alongside our Chief People Officer, who approves job descriptions, senior and corporate hires, and pay bands. You make sure the people making those calls have what they need.

Who We're Looking For (You)

You run hiring like it matters, because it does. You make work a way of life without making it your actual life. You win people over quickly and earn trust fast, which matters when you're asking a candidate to bet on us.

The ideal candidate has some of the following experience, but probably not all. We get it.

• You've run full-cycle recruiting on your own, owning requisitions from intake through offer acceptance.
• You've recruited for multiple role types, including at least one of education, sales, or hourly and high-volume hiring.
• You source hands-on: boolean search, outbound outreach, and building pipelines, not only reviewing inbound applicants.
• You administer an ATS yourself, including workflows, scorecards, scheduling, and reporting.
• You write and track offers within approved pay bands, and you know pay transparency rules and EEO and ADA interview practice.
• You have full-cycle recruiting experience in education, healthcare, or another high-touch field.
• You've managed a recruiting coordinator or other support staff.
• You've managed an external recruiter or agency.

Most importantly, you believe in the vision of Collegewise. Every student we work with depends on the people we hire, and you'll help make sure we hire the right ones.

Work Life at Collegewise

We've worked hard to create the company we'd want to work for, with a culture that draws smart, fascinating professionals united by a desire to do the best work of our careers. For more information about our benefits and our approach to work, check out our Careers page.

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary: $80,000-85,000 per year
• Employment Type: Full-time, salaried
• Benefits: Full medical, dental, and vision coverage; paid parental leave; 401(k) with matching; and generous vacation and sick day policies.
• Start Date: December or January
• Location: Remote, US-based

How to Apply

Instead of a traditional cover letter, please choose 3 of the following questions to answer (150–250 words is a helpful guideline, but use as much or as little space as you need).

Application questions (choose 3):

1. Why recruiting, and why Collegewise? Tell us what draws you to this work and our team specifically.
2. Walk us through how you'd source for a role you've never filled before. Where would you look first, and how would you know it was working?
3. Walk us through a time you used data to change a hiring decision. What did the numbers show, and what did you do with them?
4. Describe how you've developed someone who supports your recruiting work. What did you hand off, what did you keep, and how did you know they were ready for more?
5. A candidate you really want asks for more than we can offer. What do you do next, and how do you keep them engaged while you work it out?
6. Tell us about a week when three or more open roles competed for the same time and attention. What did you drop, what did you protect, and how did you tell hiring managers?

Please submit your resume and responses through our Careers page. Every single applicant will receive a response from us, and we do our very best to reply within 10 days.

We Want to Hear from You

If you’re excited about this opportunity but unsure if you’re the right fit, we hope you’ll take a shot. There is no such thing as a perfect applicant (or a perfect job, for that matter). And we promise to give a fair and thorough read to every applicant who takes the time to submit a thoughtful application to us.

Collegewise is stronger because of the different perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences our team brings. We’re committed to building a place where everyone can do their best work—and we actively work toward that through our IEA Committee, our resources for students from all backgrounds, and our everyday practices. If that matters to you too, we’d love to meet you.

Questions? Feel free to email us at [email protected] (please no phone calls). We promise to respond to you quickly.

Thanks for reading! We’d love to hear from you, but if we don’t, we hope you find the perfect professional fit someplace else.