Senior Success Coach

• Fairfax, VA

• Classified Staff

• Opening on:
  Feb 26 2026

Department: University Life

Classification: Education Support Spec 3

Job Category: Classified Staff

Job Type: Full-Time

Work Schedule: Full-time (1.0 FTE, 40 hrs/wk)

Location: Fairfax, VA

Workplace Type: Hybrid Eligible

Sponsorship Eligibility: Not eligible for visa sponsorship

Pay Band: 04

Salary: Salary range starting low $70k; commensurate with education and experience

Criminal Background Check: Yes

Works with Minors check: Yes

About the Department:

The Division of University Life's Student Success Coaching unit is a hub for student engagement for all new freshman and transfer students and provides access to coaching for all undergraduate students dent success coaching increases the retention rate and academic success of incoming students by helping students set and achieve academic, career, and personal goals and connecting students to campus and community resources.

The Student Success Coaching unit provides incoming students access to ongoing mentoring and coaching from professional and student staff that maintains university-wide and college-specific knowledge to ensure the success of Mason's incoming student populations.

About the Position:

Reporting to the Assistant Director, the Senior Success Coach provides holistic support for their assigned caseload of incoming students in their first year and available for the duration of students' time at Mason as needed by using the university's chosen methodology in the nine focus areas of development (academics and major fit, school community, managing commitments, effectiveness, commitment to graduation, career exploration, finances, civic engagement, and well-being).

Senior Success Coaches provide an element of support for student career goals beyond the academic component. The Senior Success Coach provides success strategies for students, manages outreach and support efforts, and intervenes on student concerns to increase retention. The Senior Success Coach provides mentorship and training to Success Coaches I and II and serves as a subject matter expert in coaching and student success.

Senior Success Coaches contribute to Mason's strategic goals of preparing career-ready graduates, while increasing graduation and retention rates.

Responsibilities:

Coaching:

• Supports daily operations and student support, reporting and troubleshooting with stakeholders to ensure holistic coaching is provided by using the university's chosen methodology in the nine focus areas of development (academics and major fit, school community, managing commitments, effectiveness, commitment to graduation, career exploration, finances, civic engagement, and well-being);
• Guides students' career exploration and major fit processes to achieve academic and career goals and identify barriers to success to help students implement strategies to overcome them;
• Maintains university-wide and college-specific knowledge of relevant policies, procedures, and resources for first year students; and
• Handles complex student issues brought from Success Coach I and II, including substantial mental health challenges and complex emotional and academic advising needs, and supports the interdepartmental CARE team, which coordinates care and interventions for high-risk students.

Student Impact and Outreach:

• Monitors student progress and performance, analyzes problem areas, determines solutions, and conducts intervention activities and processes for students;
• Meets with and provides success strategies to students;
• Manages outreach and support efforts for students with a variety of academic and personal development skills necessary to achieve student success;
• Assists and supports all success and retention efforts within the school/college, while implementing interventions such as creating academic intervention plans with at-risk students in coordination with their academic advisors and coordinating check-in meetings to ensure progress on stated goals, all to improve student retention;
• Collaborates with academic advisors and other university stakeholders to support student success;
• Provides appropriate, accurate, and timely academic advising, mental health, social, career, tutoring, and threat assessment referrals for students; and
• Follow-ups with at-risk/interventions for students identified in the Patriot Success Survey and other relevant student surveys to ensure students have access to food, housing, safety, and academic support.

Supervision and Mentoring:

• Mentors new Success Coaches from onboarding through certification, providing guidance on best practices, role expectations, and performance standards;
• Supports Success Coaches facing challenges with certification, offering targeted coaching and actionable feedback to ensure successful completion;
• Coordinates and oversees shadowing opportunities for assigned coaches, ensuring exposure to real-world scenarios and effective learning experiences;
• Leads training efforts to foster growth in coaching…