Essay Counseling Director

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Job Description

About Tokyo Academics:

Tokyo Academics is the passion project of a constellation of teachers, researchers, and academics from around the world. Since 2012, we’ve evolved from a few university friends to a growing number of part-time and full-time individuals located in Tokyo, as well as working remotely. We are an organization of experts deeply passionate about helping students meet their potential and capture the opportunities of the future.

We are looking for an independent self-starter to lead and build our Application Essay Counseling Division, running quality assurance, recruiting qualified counselors, marketing and selling Essay Counseling services, and interacting with students and parents. This is an in-person role, and although some of the work can be done remotely, you must be available for meetings (internal and with clients) during our regular business hours (10am - 7pm Japan Standard Time).

This is an exciting opportunity to join a fast-paced startup of 120+ team members around the world. You will play a significant role in helping the organization by continuing to build our Application Essay Counseling Division.

 

What you will work on:

• Business development of our Application Essay Counseling Division
• Must be trained to be an essay counselor and work with 1-2 students as part of the training for the first 1-2 seasons
  • Help students brainstorm, outline, and polish their graduate, college, or boarding school application essays during the June-to-January essay counseling season
  • One-on-one tutoring sessions via Skype or in-person at our Tokyo offices
• Meeting with clients and pitching the service
• Communicating with clients about their budget, lesson schedule, and progress as necessary
• Troubleshooting
• Matching the student with a counselor / counselors
• Meeting with marketing team and finance team
• Contribute to the creation of a marketing strategy for essay counseling and help execute it 
• Reporting only to the CEO
• Meeting with the billing team to check the invoices
• Manage recruiting (set goals, deadlines, and putting it into motion)
• Reminding counselors to do post-season follow-ups (asking for results, offering to help with letters of continued interest, etc.)
• Weekly check-ins with counselors to check their progress
• Managing the Essay Check team (QA, keeping head of team on track)

 

Our ideal candidate:

• Graduate of a top Bachelor’s or Master’s degree program
• Is fluent in English and Japanese (speaking/reading/writing)
• Has some entrepreneurial or business background, ideally in a start-up environment
• Is committed to staying in Japan for the next 3+ years
• Has familiarity and comfort with international working cultures
• Is fast, self-starting, organized, detail-oriented, and systematic in order to “get it done”
• Is magnetic, energetic, sociable, efficient, and creative
• Is comfortable working independently in a growing organization, and feels comfortable asking questions and seeking help
• Has an entrepreneurial, hands-on, can-do attitude
• Has a high degree of judgment and can juggle a diverse range of priorities
• Is data-driven and results-focused
• Proven ability to communicate and effectively “sell” our services

 

Preferred qualifications:

• Publications (academic or creative, please include in your cover letter)
• BA in Creative Writing/English/Literature or MFA in writing
• Previous teaching, tutoring, or coaching experience
• High SAT Verbal/GRE score
• Editorial experience

 

Benefits:

• Competitive compensation package
• Bonuses based on company growth 
• 20 days of paid time off per year
• Join a growing bootstrapped company with a lot of potential for growth
• Autonomy to implement ideas and have a significant impact
• Visa and relocation support

 

Work hours:

• 40hrs/week, flexible schedule
• Working remotely and in-person. Must be available for meetings during business hours (10am-7pm Japan Standard Time)

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