VP & General Manager | Admissions & Counseling Division

The Opportunity: Build and scale our premier college counseling and graduate admissions divisions. Guidewell Education (GWE) is a private equity-backed education firm on a mission to 5x our business in the next five years. We are seeking a General Manager—serving as our Vice President of Advisory—to take full P&L ownership of our undergraduate and graduate advisory divisions, including the continuation and/or integration of multiple consumer-facing brands.

This is more than a leadership role; it's a mandate to build. You will be the architect of the systems, processes, and culture that will transform our counseling divisions from a collection of talented individuals into a scalable, integrated, and high-performance engine of growth. Reporting directly to the President and sitting on the senior leadership team, you will be empowered to drive change, integrate acquired brands, and build a world-class team. If you are a hands-on leader who thrives on creating order and scaling a services business, this is your opportunity to make a defining impact on our company and the families we serve.
 

Our Culture & Values

At Guidewell Education, we’re guided by values that shape how we support students and work together as colleagues — we are student-centered, empathetic, expert practitioners, and growth-oriented. These principles show up in every coaching relationship we build and every decision we make. You can read more about how our team lives these values at guidewelleducation.com/about.

Supervisor: President, Guidewell Education 

Work Location: Remote 

Work Hours: This is a full-time, executive-level role requiring the flexibility and commitment to drive transformative growth and lead a dynamic division.

What You'll Do: Key Responsibilities

As a key member of the GWE Leadership Team, you will:

• Own the College Counseling and Graduate Admissions Businesses & Drive Strategy
  • Hold full P&L accountability for the undergraduate and graduate advisory divisions, with responsibility for delivering on ambitious sales, revenue, and EBITDA targets.
  • Collaborate with business unit leaders and the President to co-author the annual budget, ensuring each division is strategically resourced to achieve its growth goals.
  • Serve as a strategic partner on the senior leadership team, shaping and executing GWE’s overall growth plan.
  • Embrace and drive accountability through the EOS Traction framework, owning and executing a portfolio of quarterly company priorities ("rocks").

• Build the Operating System
  • Work with leaders in your business unit(s) to architect and implement the division's core infrastructure from the ground up, including standardized processes for sales, service delivery, and client management.
  • Serve as the business owner for the selection and implementation of CRM/Counseling Management software to streamline the counselor and family experience.
  • Develop and launch data-driven scorecards and KPIs for sales and counseling teams to foster a culture of performance and accountability, including but not limited to: 
    • Counseling contracts sold 
    • Average price per counseling contract 
    • Counselor NPS  
    • Counselor utilization and Gross margin per counselor
    • Counseling cross-sell conversion to tutoring, test prep, summer camp, and other GWE services
    • Student application outcomes and matriculation data
  • Work with leaders in your business unit(s) to design scalable counselor compensation models and caseload standards that attract top talent while protecting margins.
  • Work with the Talent Team to create a comprehensive recruiting, training, and onboarding program to ensure every new counselor embodies GWE’s standard of excellence.

• Lead, Unify, and Develop Your Team
  • Lead a 100+ person division (and growing) by serving as a strategic partner to the heads of college counseling and graduate admissions.
  • Act as the chief culture officer for your division, navigating change management to unify teams from multiple brands and acquisitions.
  • Standardize best practices across the current brand portfolios while preserving the unique value propositions that made these brands successful.
  • Foster an environment of collaboration, high performance, and continuous improvement.

• Drive Growth and Innovation
  • Partner with leaders of other divisions (such as Academic Services and Summer Enrichment) to pioneer innovative cross-sell and upsell strategies, maximizing Customer Lifetime Value.
  • Collaborate closely with your division's leaders and the Marketing Team to define the brand message, develop high-impact thought leadership content, and ensure consistent representation of all counseling and advisory brands. 
  • Continuously evaluate the market to ensure our counseling services remain cutting-edge and best-in-class.

Who You Are: Qualifications

• The Mission-Driven P&L Architect: You possess 10–15 years of progressive leadership experience. A background in and passion for Education or Ed-Tech sectors is strongly preferred. You have a proven track record of managing a services P&L of $10M+, and you deeply understand the levers of EBITDA, margin expansion, and utilization.
• The Pioneer & Scaling Specialist: You are a "Builder" by nature who has successfully built systems, processes, and teams from scratch. You thrive on moving an organization from "scrappy" to "scalable" by implementing data-driven scorecards.
• The Talent Multiplier: You are a Leader of Leaders with at least 5 years of experience specifically managing other managers. You have led large, distributed teams (100+) and know how to build a world-class recruiting and training "engine" while maintaining a deep commitment to coaching, developing, and inspiring leadership talent.
• Change Management Veteran: You are an expert at unifying cultures and leading people through transformation (including post-acquisition). You know how to respect the legacy and "soul" of an educational brand while standardizing the operations that allow it to scale rapidly.
• PE-Fluent (Strongly Preferred): You understand the "operating rhythm" of Private Equity. You are comfortable with high-velocity reporting, rigorous transparency, and the accountability required to drive value creation within a 5-year growth horizon.

Compensation

• Annual Salary: $170,000 - 200,000
• Annual Bonus Opportunity: $50,000
• Participation in company equity ownership plan on par with senior leadership team
• All standard GWE benefits, including 
  • Health, Dental, and Vision Insurance
  • 401k with company match after 1-year of employment
  • Generous PTO
  • Additional supplementary benefits