Description
ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY
Something rare is being built in the mountains of Northern California — a tuition-free, two-year residential college rooted in Indigenous wisdom, contemplative practice, and rigorous liberal arts study. Jubilee College is situated on 83 acres in Dunsmuir, CA, at the foot of Castle Crags and the headwaters of Mount Shasta, on land stewarded for thousands of years by the Winnemem Wintu people, whose presence and partnership remain central to everything Jubilee does. Its inaugural cohort of 28 students arrives in fall 2028.
The founding Director of Operations & Programs will be Jubilee College's first full-time hire. This is not a role that comes with a finished organization to step into — the systems, rhythms, and culture of daily life remain to be created, and the Director will be central to creating them. Reporting to the Co-Presidents, roughly two-thirds of the work is operational: standing up the administrative infrastructure of a college, managing logistics and project timelines, and ensuring the practical machinery of a small-but-complex residential institution runs with care and precision. The remaining third is the work of embodying and hosting the spirit of Jubilee when prospective students, families, visiting faculty, and funders arrive. This person will be a primary face of the college in its most formative moments and a living example of what Jubilee is trying to cultivate in its students: curiosity, groundedness, generosity, and joy.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Operations and Administration: Serve as the operational hub of the college — coordinating with Co-Presidents and advisors, managing the monthly operating budget and joining co-founders in financial forecasting, overseeing administrative systems, and flagging emerging issues requiring leadership attention.
- Admissions and Hosting: Execute major parts of the student admissions process; plan and manage hosting logistics for campus visits from prospective students, faculty, funders, and partners; serve as a bridge between the College and the Dunsmuir community.
- Student and Residential Life: Manage residential advisors; support students through post-graduation apprenticeships; work closely with the Jubilee Railroad General Manager on campus expansion projects; create a day-to-day culture of deep service and gratitude.
- Fundraising, Communications, and Partnerships: Play a key support role in fundraising, partner development, and communications; co-design and implement off-site service-work programs and field trips for students and the broader learning community.
WHO THRIVES HERE
Jubilee College is not looking for a certain kind of resume. It is looking for a certain kind of person — someone whose life, not just their career, has prepared them for this moment. The founding Director will be as comfortable in a community council circle as in a budget spreadsheet, as energized by a conversation with a prospective student as by an afternoon of work on the land. They will be creative, improvisational, and entrepreneurial, with extraordinary attention to detail and follow-through. They will bring a real and abiding relationship with the natural world and some form of active spiritual or contemplative practice. This is a start-up in the truest sense, and the Director will need to think on their feet, pivot when necessary, and build something new without the comfort of a blueprint.
LOCATION
Dunsmuir, California (Siskiyou County) — one hour from Redding, CA; one and a half hours from Ashland, OR; four hours from San Francisco, CA.
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
This position is being offered in a spirit of gift — Jubilee deeply believes that communities are built on generosity, reciprocity, and care for the whole person. So they hope to have an active dialogue with seriously interested candidates.
A base salary of $80,000–$90,000 is where the compensation conversation begins, not where it ends. A health insurance stipend, paid time off, and funds for professional development are baseline benefits. Also, housing is among the additional benefits Jubilee is open to discussing as part of the compensation package, for example, and on-campus options may be available based on the needs and preferences of the successful candidate.
More broadly, the founding Director of Operations & Programs will have the opportunity to travel domestically and internationally alongside students, and will enjoy daily exposure to one of the most remarkable networks of founders, advisors, visiting faculty, and spiritual leaders assembled around any educational institution in the country.
Jubilee is committed to understanding what the right candidate actually needs to thrive, not just financially but in every dimension of their life, and to doing its best to meet those needs.
To read the full job description, please visit the following: https://www.strategenius.org/opportunity-jubilee-dir-ops-programs
Requirements
Jubilee College is open to candidates whose preparation for this role looks nothing like a traditional path. The right background might be found in arts administration, nonprofit leadership, environmental activism, spiritual community management, experiential education, higher education operations, or somewhere else entirely. What matters is not the name of the institution on a resume, but the depth and authenticity of the experience behind it.
That said, the founding Director of Operations will bring:
- Significant experience working with young people, ages 18-24, and facilitating learning environments based on a culture of mutual respect
- Depth in executing a wide range of project management and administrative duties
- Strong critical thinking skills and the ability to bring incisive questions to a wide range of subjects and situations
- Ability to work with and abundantly support students of color and those from a range of economic class backgrounds
- Good physical fitness - be able to stand or walk for extended periods, to lift reasonably heavy objects, etc.
- The practical wisdom to recognize that relocating to Dunsmuir, a rural community of 1,600 people in the mountains of Northern California, is a significant life decision; to have overbrimming enthusiasm to be here!
