Senior Jewish Educator

Texas Hillel Foundation

Role Overview

Join Texas Hillel as the Senior Jewish Educator to help enrich the lives of students and shape the future of Jewish life on a large, vibrant campus in one of America’s most exciting cities. As a relationship-builder and a passionate and engaging educator, you will spend time with students in the Hillel building and around campus, maintaining and increasing involvement of students in all aspects of Jewish life on campus. The Senior Jewish Educator will embrace Hillel’s pluralistic identity and serve as a Judaic role model and resource for students at various places in their Jewish journeys. Working collaboratively with staff and student leaders, you will infuse Hillel’s programs and initiatives with meaningful Jewish content and provide frameworks for the continued growth of our students. As the Senior Jewish Educator at the University of Texas at Austin, you can relate to students from diverse Judaic, social, and academic backgrounds and perspectives.

What You’ll Do

• Oversee religious, spiritual life, and education at Texas Hillel.
• Develop and support vibrant Jewish experiences, such as one-on-one or small group learning, Jewish learning fellowships, holiday programming, immersive trips, and other relational initiatives. 
• Direct our Jewish Learning Fellowship Program, including curriculum-planning and design, cohort-building, recruitment, marketing, teaching and grant-reporting. Support and collaborate with members of the Jewish Student Life team to implement Texas Hillel’s fellowship course offerings.
• Serve as the lead on Shabbat on holiday programming at Texas Hillel by partnering with the Jewish Student Life team and student leaders to continue  nurturing and enhancing Hillel’s Shabbat and holiday experiences., 
• Identify and meet the needs of underserved Jewish communities on campus, using creative, proven, and innovative outreach methods. 
• Provide non-judgmental pastoral counseling, support and when appropriate, referrals to trained professionals, including Texas Hillel’s Director of Community Care and Wellbeing. 
• Report to the Associate Director, collaborate with the full Hillel staff team, and work in partnership with the Jewish Student Life team (the program/engagement division of the Hillel staff) to uphold Texas Hillel’s mission while shaping and developing the educational vision.
• Contribute to and help implement Texas Hillel’s overall engagement strategy.
• Build and maintain relationships with approximately 300 students from diverse backgrounds through outreach, meaningful conversations, and programming. 
• Staff Birthright Israel and other immersive experiences, and assist with marketing, recruitment, and program planning and support.
• Lead Texas Hillel’s interfaith efforts by building and strengthening relationships with the University Interfaith Council and clergy from non-Jewish organizations.
• Work with early career staff on their own Jewish knowledge, self-confidence and educational skills.

On a day to day basis you will

• Facilitate learning opportunities for students such as fellowships, leadership workshops, and classes.  
• Have coffee with students to discover their interests and passions and work together to create relevant and meaningful programming. 
• Join a fraternity for dinner at their chapter house and lead a conversation about an issue connecting Judaism to a relevant topic in their lives.
• Support student leaders in learning to lead Shabbat services and rituals, as well as holiday celebrations.
• Serve as the staff lead for certain Texas Hillel groups, like Weekly Torah Study,  and others that may arise out of student interest.
• Complete administrative tasks such as: tracking engagement data, writing grant reports, and attending trainings and meetings.

What You’ve Accomplished

• Rabbinic ordination or an advanced degree in Jewish studies, Jewish education or a related field.  
• 4+ years of relevant work experience. Experience in community organizing, Hillel, youth movements, camping, or experiential Jewish education is a plus. 
• Proven success in community building and outreach and previous experience in program visioning, marketing, recruitment and implementation.

What You’ll Bring to the Job

• A strong knowledge base of Jewish content, ranging from traditional Jewish texts to contemporary Jewish wisdom, culture and relatable Jewish sources.
• Expertise in leading complex conversations about Judaism and Israel in a way that is approachable and meets students at various points in their personal Jewish journeys.  
• A commitment to creating an inclusive, vibrant and pluralistic Jewish community. 
• Experience developing, marketing, recruiting for and implementing a range of programs and opportunities and comfort with making adjustments according to feedback.
• A strong entrepreneurial spirit. Things may not always go according to plan, but you must be willing to take risks and learn from your wins as well as your losses. 
• Confidence initiating and running programs, and comfort asking questions. 
• Creative problem-solving, proactive and high-level communication, organization, collaboration, humor and empathy.
• Ability to collaborate across teams both inside and outside of Hillel.

What You’ll Receive

• Competitive salary in the non-profit marketplace. The salary range for this position is $80,000-$100,000, commensurate with experience. 
• A comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance, retirement plan, Life, AD&D and Long-Term Disability (LTD) insurances, Flexible Spending accounts, generous vacation/sick time, and parental leave.
• Great professional development, mentoring, and skill building opportunities. 
• Travel regionally and abroad, particularly to Israel.

Written Skills Assessment

As part of the interview process for Texas Hillel’s SJE position, there will be a written skills assessment ahead of a first interview. No more than an hour should be spent on this assessment and it will be due within 48 hours of receiving instructions. 

About Texas Hillel

Texas Hillel at The University of Texas at Austin was founded in 1927 and has a long history of community service and programmatic innovation, serving approximately 3,000 Jewish students in the Austin area. The Topfer Center for Jewish Life at the Abe & Annie Seibel building was opened in 2006 and hosts a full array of award-winning student groups and events.  Governed by a statewide board of directors, Texas Hillel enjoys strong partnerships with the UT Austin campus and community organizations. Long recognized by Hillel International and The University of Texas at Austin for innovation, Texas Hillel is adjacent to the UT-Austin campus and enjoys a strong partnership with The University and the wider Jewish community. 

About Austin

Recently named the #1 city to live in, Austin is one of the fastest growing cities in the United States. Austin has a young and mobile Jewish community of approximately 20,000.  Much of the community’s Jewish life is centered at the Dell Jewish Community Campus in Northwest Hills, including three synagogues, the JCC, a community day school, Federation and subsidiaries.  Austin is the live musical capital of the world, home to SXSW, Austin City Limits and more.  Located in the geographic center of the state, Austin is 200 miles from Dallas and 170 miles from Houston.  It offers the amenities of a large city with a distinct flavor that makes Austin unique.  Austin is the capital of Texas, and UT-Austin is the flagship campus of the UT System with 50,000 students.

Texas Hillel is affiliated with Hillel International. Hillel International enriches the lives of Jewish students so they may enrich the Jewish people and the world, and envisions a world where every student is inspired to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning and Israel.