Assistant Director, Planning and Continuity

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Bargaining Unit:
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Standard Work Schedule:
• Building:
• Salary Range: $113,000 - $118,000

Position Summary

Reporting to the Executive Director, Housing Services, the Assistant Director, Planning & Continuity provides high-level oversight for undergraduate housing assignments and ensures continuity, accuracy, and long-term planning across core administrative housing functions. The role maintains primary accountability for academic year and summer housing assignments while elevating oversight, quality control, and forward planning for assignment processes, documentation, and staffing continuity.

This position serves as a central planning and coordination lead within Housing Services, ensuring that Housing strategies, policies, documentation, and administrative workflows are aligned, clearly documented, and resilient during peak operational periods, policy shifts, and unexpected changes. The Assistant Director partners closely with internal Housing teams and campus stakeholders to support consistent service delivery and informed decision-making.

This position is designated as essential personnel and is required to report to campus as needed.

Responsibilities

Academic Year & Summer Assignments Leadership:

• Maintains primary oversight and accountability for undergraduate academic year housing assignments for approximately 6,200 residents, ensuring allocation strategies align with institutional priorities, policies, equity considerations, and space constraints
• Provides strategic direction for room selection, assignment methodologies, exception handling, and accommodation pathways, including coordination with the Office of Disability Services and other campus partners
• Oversees summer housing assignment strategy for Columbia students and assists colleagues with assignments of interns, conferences, and special programs, ensuring accurate placement, billing alignment, and adherence to operational timeline
• Reviews, validates, and approves assignment outputs produced by the Associate Manager, Housing Services to ensure accuracy, consistency, and compliance with housing policies
• Identifies and responds to emerging assignment-related risks (e.g., enrollment fluctuations, space availability, policy changes) by adjusting allocation approaches and advising senior leadership accordingly

Planning, Risk Mitigation & Business Continuity:

• Serves as the primary owner of the Housing Assignments Roadmap, documenting critical processes, timelines, interdependencies, and decision points to ensure continuity during peak periods and staffing transitions
• Proactively assesses vulnerabilities within assignment and administrative workflows and recommend improvements to reduce operational risk and service disruption
• Leads scenario planning related to enrollment changes, capacity constraints, and policy shifts impacting housing allocations
• Translates complex assignment data and constraints into clear planning recommendations for leadership

Documentation Governance & Intranet Oversight:

• Provides strategic oversight for Housing Services documentation maintained on the departmental intranet, ensuring policies, processes, and reference materials are current, accurate, and accessible
• Establishes standards and cadence for annual review and updates of assignment-related documentation in collaboration with functional leads
• Ensures alignment between documented processes, system functionality (e.g., StarRez, Asana), and day-to-day practices
• Promotes documentation as a foundational tool for training, knowledge transfer, and business continuity

Supervision & Administrative Staffing Oversight:

• Directly supervises the Associate Manager, Housing Services (Grade 11), providing guidance, quality control, performance feedback, and professional development support
• Provides oversight of administrative hiring processes for casual and temporary staff, including staffing plans, interview frameworks, and final recommendations
• Ensures staffing models support peak housing periods and aligns with documented processes and service expectations
• Fosters accountability, consistency, and continuous improvement within the assignments and administrative function

Collaboration & Special Projects:

• Partners with Systems & Operations, Guest Services, Residential Life, Dining, Facilities, Public Safety, and other campus stakeholders to ensure assignment decisions align with operational readiness and student experience goals
• Convenes cross-functional discussions to collect feedback on assignment-related processes and identify opportunities for improvement
• Leads or contributes to special projects that enhance planning, coordination, and long-term sustainability of Housing Services
• Performs other duties as assigned in support of departmental priorities

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required
• Minimum of 4–6 years of progressively responsible experience in housing, student services, or a complex administrative environment
• Demonstrated expertise in housing assignments, allocations, or comparable large-scale administrative planning functions
• Strong analytical, documentation, and process-planning skills
• Proven ability to supervise staff and guide work through review, validation, and strategic direction
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Experience working with housing management systems and administrative tools (e.g., StarRez, Asana, intranet platforms)
• Ability to work on-site during peak periods, emergencies, weekends, and holidays as required

Preferred Qualifications 

• Master’s degree preferred

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.