Chief Experience Officer (CXO)

Job Description: The CXO will be joining an innovative leadership team and passionate faculty and staff who are ready to evolve and continue leading the way in providing a student-centric, Catholic, liberal arts education. President Charles "Chuck" Seifert, inaugurated in 2023, created this unique CXO role-one of very few like it in the nation-to encourage innovative thinking to best serve students throughout their full Siena life cycle. The CXO role will combine strategy, service design, and cross-functional leadership to foster a more student-centered, responsive, and inclusive institution. In close collaboration with a strong team of direct reports who are experts in their fields, the CXO will ensure Siena remains competitive in a saturated higher education marketplace by highlighting their Franciscan mission and values, close-knit community, and compelling value proposition. The CXO will foster collaboration and lead the university in leveraging its many strengths to evolve in support of the full lifecycle of all undergraduate and graduate students. In doing so, the CXO will advance best practices and innovative strategies that effectively recruit and retain students, ensuring their success through timely graduation and meaningful career placement. Through the success of these initiatives, Siena will continue to graduate alumni who are satisfied customers and remain engaged with Siena throughout their lives. A list of the desired qualifications and characteristics of the CXO can be found at the end of this document, which was prepared with the assistance of Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm. All confidential applications, inquiries, and nominations should be directed to the parties listed at the conclusion of this document. ROLE OF THE CXO The Chief Experience Officer (CXO) leads efforts to improve how stakeholders interact with the institution-academically, administratively, and culturally-ensuring every touchpoint reflects the university's mission, values, and commitment to excellence. Working in partnership with senior administrators, faculty, staff, students, parents, alumni, and community partners, the CXO has autonomy to influence, collaborate with, and lead teams across divisions to ensure integrated services and the delivery of a seamless, student-centered experience. The CXO is data-informed, highly innovative and entrepreneurial, and institutionally savvy to best advise leadership based on past performance and future possibilities. The CXO is highly collaborative in fostering and ensuring an enriching and transformational experience for students at every point of their interaction with the university. Directly reporting to the CXO are the Dean of Enrollment and Marketing, and Dean of Student Life. The CXO has an overall staff of 34+, including the following units: Student Life, Public Safety, Counseling Center, Health Services, Friars in Residence, Admissions, Enrollment, Financial Aid and Marketing. KEY OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES FOR THE CXO The CXO will build on a solid, student-centered foundation by spearheading new strategies to ensure Siena continues to attract and graduate students who want to lead compassionate, reflective, and productive lives of service and leadership. In doing so, they will address the following opportunities and challenges: Create and implement a vision that supports all students' life cycles from recruitment through graduation and beyond The CXO will join an innovative and forward-thinking community eager to define and execute a new vision for Siena's enrollment, student, parent, and alumni experiences in alignment with their Franciscan mission and values. The CXO will work across campus to bridge efforts in providing meaningful and enriching students experiences inside and outside the classroom. This will include creating a more vibrant campus life that attracts and retains students of varying interests and backgrounds, including transfer and commuter students on a mostly residential campus. The CXO will have a data-informed approach, listening closely and responding to feedback from prospective students, current students, and alumni on how best to adapt services, positioning Siena as a first-choice institution and providing life-changing experiences for all students. The CXO will consider the lived experience of students as the best form of marketing, as students become the best spokespeople for Siena. With success, Siena will become a model for the nation around how best to support and innovate the full student life cycle. Provide inspirational leadership to leverage their team's talent and expertise, rally the campus community, and foster new collaborations The CXO will lead a talented and high-performing team, many of whom have been at Siena since they were undergraduates or have been employed at Siena for many years, though they are highly eager to contribute to a new innovative and holistic student life cycle strategy. The beauty of the Siena campus and the institution's reputation attract significant interest among prospective students, and the university continues to have strong retention rates. Building on these strengths, the CXO will work with their team to develop new markets, engage new audiences, improve yield efforts, and ensure more nimble, creative, and cohesive student support and services. They will continually assess efforts and adapt strategies with the campus community while leveraging their team's talents and content expertise to fulfill university ambitions. Partnerships and collaboration will be key to the CXO's success. They will have the opportunity to collaborate closely with a dedicated and passionate university community who make the campus a coveted place to work, live, and learn. The campus is ready for new ideas on how to best ensure Siena remains a destination of choice for students, with unmatched opportunities for faculty engagement, experiential learning, and co-curricular opportunities. The CXO will build bridges across campus, especially with the Provost, to ensure students are well supported throughout their engagement with Siena. The CXO will facilitate new and impactful collaborations and encourage a highly responsive and proactive customer service approach in all interactions. They will unify all divisions of the university that touch the student experience, from recruitment to well beyond graduation, to ensure a consistently positive experience at every point. The campus has a strong relationship with the surrounding Capital Region community, and the new CXO will partner closely with the Vice President for Strategy, Communications, and the President's Cabinet to build upon and expand those partnerships to benefit both Siena students and the region. While Siena already has a well-respected reputation for career placement, this initiative will include connecting with industry, many of whom are alumni, to provide additional opportunities in experiential learning, internships, and career pathways for students. The CXO will need to understand the distinct needs and perspectives of various communities of students to provide the support and resources necessary for all students to feel welcome, to thrive, and to succeed academically and socially. The CXO will become an advocate and champion, ensuring that every university action contributes to positive engagement between the school and students, parents, and alumni. By developing linkages across campus, the CXO will identify student needs and strengths, gaps in services, and ways the university might best respond to provide support. The CXO will build on a strong student-centered culture by educating the campus regularly regarding the specific needs of Siena students to augment institutional efforts. Serve as a strategic, creative, and thoughtful partner on the President's Cabinet As an expert on prospective and current student experiences, the CXO will serve as a strategic partner to the President and senior leadership team on how to best serve Siena's student body and enhance the overall strategic vision of the university. Together, they will ensure that Siena thrives within a competitive higher education landscape while advancing the distinctive mission and values of the institution. The CXO will provide strategic, creative, persuasive, and collaborative leadership in discussions within the Siena community and externally, acting as a voice for all students. Ensure Siena's organizational and financial effectiveness The CXO will promote excellence, emphasize adaptability, balance competing priorities, and ensure that staff and faculty have the resources and infrastructure necessary for success while also supporting the financial sustainability of Siena. The CXO will evaluate current practices, policies, and organizational structures and provide solutions to pain points as needed, with an eye toward providing outstanding, seamless services to prospective and current students. In doing so, the CXO will identify opportunities for efficiency, create synergies and improved integration, encourage process adaptations, and foster a culture of continuous improvement. This will include promoting a culture of data utilization and ongoing assessment, and they will regularly educate the campus on the prevailing trends in higher education. The ultimate goal is to ensure Siena continues to be a first choice for students while supporting the university's long-term sustainability. The CXO will work with their team of experts to create a comprehensive enrollment plan that will determine Siena's optimal size, deliver on objectives, and align financial aid optimization to balance new revenue with the institution's goals and mission. They will also be expected to augment revenue by working closely with the Vice President for Development & Alumni Engagement. Ultimately, cultivating a culture of engagement both within the Siena community and the surrounding region will encourage new services and opportunities for students. These students then become satisfied alumni, and the cycle of success continues: Siena provides a transformational student experience well into the future. Requirements: The successful candidate will be an energetic, innovative, creative, student-focused professional who can facilitate change, generate synergies, and work collaboratively within and across departments. The CXO will also have the following qualifications and characteristics: Required: Bachelor's degree in Business, Higher Education, User Experience, Design Thinking, Communications, or another discipline aligned with student experience leadership. 10+ years of progressive leadership experience within higher education, in the areas of enrollment management, marketing, student affairs and/or student success. Experience leading cross-functional teams and fostering collaboration across diverse roles and units. Demonstrated success leading institution-wide change or service improvement initiatives. Exceptional skills in stakeholder engagement, facilitation, and systems thinking. Experience using data and design thinking to solve complex user experience challenges. Experience using customer/student experience methodologies, including journey mapping, experience measurement, and other service design tools. Preferred: Master's degree in Higher Education Administration, an MBA in Organizational Leadership, or related field. Experience in an executive leadership role in a higher education institution. Familiarity with CRM and student engagement platforms. Demonstrated success creating customer/student experience strategies with measurable impact on student satisfaction, engagement, or retention Track record of building experience with strategy from the ground up, including the successful launch, implementation and assessment of new systems, frameworks, or initiatives. A background screening will be required. Additional Information: Loudonville is a quiet neighborhood right outside Albany, NY known for its beautiful homes, architecture, and excellent schools. Albany was ranked the 36th best place to live in the country by U.S. News & World Report and by Citizen Bank as one of the 5 Best Cities for Young Professionals in the Northeast for its affordability, parks and recreation, local festivals and entertainment venues. The Capital Region spans New York's Albany, Troy, Schenectady, and Saratoga areas, with a wide range of things to see and do. There are countless places to intern and work. The area has incredible food and a top-notch dining scene that includes restaurants among the top 100 in the country, according to OpenTable. With music festivals every season (like Lark Fest and Pearlpalooza), a growing open mic circuit, and small and large venues, live music is everywhere. The area hosts an annual Tulip Festival and has more than 30 farmers markets in the area due to their approximately 1,500 farms nearby. The anticipated salary for this role is $240-$275K. This represents the University's good faith estimate at the time of posting in compliance with the Albany County Transparency Law. Siena University offers a generous benefit package to eligible full-time employees. The benefit package currently includes a retirement plan contribution equal to 10% of an eligible participant's compensation (as defined under the plan) after meeting the plan's eligibility requirements, and tuition reimbursement and exchange opportunities for eligible employees, spouses, and dependents. Eligible university employees currently enjoy a work schedule that includes half-day Fridays in the summer and an expansive holiday schedule, including up to two weeks off during winter break. Other perks currently include complimentary breakfast Thursdays in the dining hall, access to Siena community lectures and productions, complimentary university gym and library memberships, discounted and complimentary tickets to Siena Division I sporting events, and more. Opportunities for remote work may be available. Siena cares for and values each member of its workforce and actively supports upward mobility. They are a community of Siena Saints, and as they often say, the world needs more Saints. Siena University is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Application Instructions: Screening of complete applications will begin immediately and continue until the completion of the search process. Inquiries, nominations, referrals, and CVs/resumes with cover letters should be submitted via the Isaacson, Miller website: URL:

Created: 2026-03-04