Director of Athletics

Haverford College invites applications to our available Director of Athletics position.

About Haverford College

Founded in 1833 by the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), Haverford College (Haverford) is a leading liberal arts undergraduate college located just outside of Philadelphia. The beautiful and stimulating campus environment spans 200 acres of award-winning architecture and landscape with more than 50 academic, athletic, and residential buildings. Known for its academic rigor, Honor Code, and beautiful arboretum, Haverford offers a one-of-a-kind education, with specific emphasis placed on students having direct engagement with their education, which ultimately provides robust opportunities for students to shape their own paths.

Haverford serves approximately 1,300 students, creating an intimate educational setting and boasting a 9:1 student to faculty ratio. Alongside Haverford's world class faculty, students are expected to participate in research and other scholarly activities including completing senior theses in their major areas of study. The College's three Academic Centers -- the Center for Peace and Global Citizenship, the Hurford Center for Arts and Humanities, and the Koshland Integrated Natural Sciences Center -- play an essential role in supporting cutting-edge, interdisciplinary, and experiential learning activities.

In continuing to build and expand upon the founding beliefs as outlined by the Religious Society of Friends, the students of Haverford are uncommonly engaged in the life of the community. While the College is not formally religiously affiliated today, Quaker values of individual dignity, intellectual vitality, and social justice, remain essential to its character. Students govern the Honor Code, serve on College committees, manage sizable programming budgets, and operate more than 140 clubs and organizations. Through Haverford's extraordinary liberal arts curriculum and opportunities for co-curricular learning, students develop knowledge, skills, and critical thinking abilities that prepare them for ethical engagement and lives of meaning after college.

About Haverford Athletics

Sponsoring 23 varsity sports at the NCAA Division III level, as well as a strong intramural, instructional and recreational program, Haverford Athletics is committed to the belief that physical education is an integral component of a well-rounded liberal arts education. Haverford offers a wide range of athletic opportunities, designed to meet the diverse and changing interests of its student body within the College's mission of excellence and individual growth.

The Athletics Department is committed to advancing the educational mission of the College and creating and supporting a culture of success which promotes and encourages student-athletes' pursuit of both academic and athletic excellence. While maintaining a balance between academic and athletic achievement, each coach seeks to establish a positive competitive environment which will foster the intellectual, physical and personal development of each student-athlete based upon the values of sportsmanship, integrity, leadership, trust, respect, loyalty and concern for others. The Athletics Department also works collaboratively with colleagues in the Student Life division to provide facilities and guidance in order to facilitate the students' training and competitive goals at the club, intramural, instructional, and recreational levels.

Position Overview

Reporting to the Dean of the College, the Haverford College Director of Athletics is charged with providing inspiring and visionary leadership for the Athletics Department and ensuring that the College's values of sportsmanship, integrity, and personal responsibility are communicated through the coaches and staff to students, both on and off the field.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Support and promote the College's commitment to the full intellectual growth, personal development, health, and wellbeing of student athletes and all Haverford students, recognizing that student-athletes must balance success in a rigorous academic setting and in their athletic endeavors.
• Demonstrate core competencies in the areas of leadership and vision, strategic planning, and effective and efficient management of an Athletics Department, including oversight and preparation of annual budget proposals and participation in assessment activities as directed by the Dean of the College.
• Manage all fiscal operations of the Athletics Department in accordance with College regulations and establish procedures to assure adherence to these regulations by all departmental coaches and staff members.
• Lead efforts within the Athletics Department to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism, including through recruitment efforts, ongoing professional development for staff, and social justice education for student-athletes.
• Work in coordination with Institutional Advancement to best leverage alumni and prospective donor engagement and enthusiasm in support of program and team priorities.
• Demonstrate awareness of and alignment with the Quaker values upon which Haverford was founded, including consensus driven decision-making, seeing the value of every individual, and personal accountability within the community.
• Maintain proficient working knowledge and ability to comply with all College, Centennial Conference and NCAA rules and regulations, especially those governing Division III, as well as those of other athletic groups to which the College belongs.
• Select, recruit, motivate, inspire, mentor, and retain high performing professional staff (e.g. coaches and administrators), with an emphasis on racial and gender equity and advocacy for underrepresented groups.
• Effectively and efficiently communicate and disseminate pertinent information on relevant topics at the College, Conference and NCAA levels.
• Provide supervision and oversight to the Sports Medicine/Athletic Training operation and ensure members of that team liaise with the College's Health Services as to policies and practices related to student-athlete health and wellness, within the normal limits of confidentiality.
• Provide oversight and supervision to the Sports Information operation with responsibility to ensure effective communications with internal and external constituencies, including maintaining the athletics portion of the College website.
• Assist College leadership in the development and implementation of an overall athletic facilities plan for improvements and maintenance of athletic fields and facilities.
• Partner with the Admission Office to ensure a cohesive and collaborative relationship. Organize and monitor recruitment efforts of the coaching staff to continue the College's successful enrollment of academically qualified student-athletes.
• Proactively maintain open lines of communication with members of the Faculty, particularly the Faculty Athletics Representative to receive input from duly constituted faculty bodies, to communicate the goals and policies of the program and to help mediate any academic/athletic conflicts.
• Accept responsibility for the development and continuance of good sportsmanship, leadership, and ethical behavior of athletes, coaches, staff, and spectators.
• Seek opportunities to take leadership in Conference, regional and national athletic associations and remain in close contact to engage in mutual communication on major developments with the Directors of Athletics at Haverford's TriCo partners, Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore Colleges.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; advanced degree preferred.
• A thorough knowledge of athletic administration at the collegiate level and a demonstrated record of successful athletic administrative experience or equivalent management experience.
• Commitment to excellence in academics and athletics.
• Demonstrated ability to develop an athletics vision and strategy that supports the College's overall mission and strategic plan.
• Demonstrated track record of success in designing and implementing diversity, equity, inclusion, and antiracism initiatives within an intercollegiate athletics context.
• Experience in campus master planning as well as athletics facilities renovation and/or construction projects.
• Effective interpersonal and communication skills with both internal and external constituencies.
• Demonstrated ability to promote the intercollegiate athletic program throughout the College community through successful fundraising, creation of external partnerships, fiscal management, and sport supervision.
• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of NCAA rules and operations, with the ability to work with admissions and coaches in the appropriate recruitment of student-athletes.

Application Process

Haverford College invites nominations and applications or expressions of interest to be submitted to the search firm assisting the College. Applications must include a cover letter, resume or curriculum vitae, and list of references. For full consideration, application materials should be submitted to Parker Executive Search's website by December 10, 2021. Confidential review of materials will begin immediately and continue until the appointment is made.

For additional information, please contact:

For additional information, please contact:

Daniel Parker, Vice President and Managing Director

DeLaina Jordan, Senior Associate

Taylor Middleton, Associate

danielparker @ parkersearch.com () | djordan @ parkersearch.com () | tmiddleton @ parkersearch.com ()

Parker Executive Search

770-804-1996 ext. 116 | 770-804-1996 ext. 119 | 770-804-1996 ext. 124

Haverford College is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, social justice, and providing equal opportunities and access to all individuals regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, age, marital status, disability, or veteran status. Women, non-binary and transgender individuals, people of color, Indigenous people, and those with other or multiple historically marginalized and/or underrepresented identities are especially encouraged to apply. Haverford College and our consortial partners are located on Lenape lands.