Manager, Programs, University Success, Israel - Tel Aviv, Israel

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (www.dell.org) builds pathways that change lives for families around the world. With offices in Austin, New Delhi, Cape Town, Nairobi, and Tel Aviv, the foundation supports programs that advance quality public education, promote children’s health, and strengthen family economic stability. Since its inception, the foundation has committed over $3 billion to initiatives that expand opportunities and improve outcomes for families globally.

 

The foundation is seeking a mission-driven, highly capable Manager, Programs, University Success, Israel to join our growing team in Tel Aviv. This role will play a critical part in designing and delivering scholarship and wrap-around support programs that enable high-potential students from underrepresented backgrounds in Israel to access, persist in, and complete high-quality post-secondary education, and to transition into strong employment pathways.

The ideal candidate brings strong operational and project delivery skills, a deep commitment to student success, and the ability to work collaboratively with universities, government partners, NGOs, and private-sector stakeholders. This individual will drive day-to-day execution of our scholarship portfolio in Israel, lead on-campus implementation, and help build scalable models that deliver measurable (and sustainable) outcomes for students.

The Manager, Programs, University Success, Israel will be part of a highly collaborative global team and will work closely with foundation colleagues in Israel, the United States, India, and South Africa. This is an in-office role, based in Tel Aviv, with work expected from the Tel Aviv office/Partner universities on all weekdays.

 

 

• Build strong, trust-based relationships with scholarship recipients to support them throughout their academic journey and early career, with a clear focus on graduation and placement outcomes. 

• Conduct individual and group sessions to address scholars’ academic, financial, wellness, and career-related needs, and to help them develop strategies for success.

• Design, organize, and facilitate group activities, workshops, and events (for example: academic skills, soft skills, career readiness, and community-building) that contribute to holistic scholar development.

• Provide career guidance and support, including CV reviews, mock interviews, and connections to internship and job opportunities where appropriate.

Program and outcomes management

• Lead project management activities that deliver measurable (and sustainable) outcomes for students served, deploying agreed-to portfolio strategies in all projects managed. 

• Provide operations leadership for the day-to-day running of scholarship and wrap-around support programs in Israel, ensuring efficient and effective delivery aligned with program guidelines.

• Translate strategic objectives into clear operational plans, timelines, and processes, and manage their execution with high attention to detail.

• Coordinate selection and onboarding processes for new cohorts, including application screening, interview support, communication with candidates, and orientation to the program’s support model and technology tools. 

 

• Proactively work with existing and potential partners (universities, NGOs, employers, and service providers) to strengthen student success models and support the foundation’s portfolio strategies in Israel.

• Identify and test innovations in student support (academic, psychosocial, financial, and career) that can improve outcomes at scale.

• Provide analytical assessments and recommendations to elevate opportunities for adaptive management and course correction, including when to refine or discontinue underperforming interventions.

 

• Build and maintain strong relationships with universities, government counterparts, implementation partners, and other ecosystem players to support program and portfolio goals.

• Serve as a primary point of contact for program operations with university teams and partner organizations, including scheduling, agendas, documentation of progress, and follow-up on agreed actions.

• Liaise with learning and service partners to ensure timely and high-quality delivery of interventions to scholars, aligned with program standards. 

• Work alongside internal functional team leads (including Communications, Impact & Insights, and Technology) on projects that help deliver and sustain outcomes.

 

• Manage data collection, quality assurance, and analysis on scholar and program performance, including participation in interventions, academic progress, wellbeing indicators, and placement outcomes.

• Use data and external evaluation findings to monitor program performance, identify risks and gaps early, and propose corrective actions.

• Prepare clear, concise reports and presentations for internal and external stakeholders, highlighting progress, challenges, and lessons learned.

• Contribute to knowledge management, documenting effective practices and helping to disseminate them across the foundation’s global scholarship programs.

 

• Conduct regular check-ins with scholars and partners to assess academic progress, wellbeing, and program experience, and identify students who may be at risk of underperformance, dropout, or distress. 

• Formulate and execute course-correction plans with relevant stakeholders for at-risk scholars, including referral to additional support where needed.

• Escalate acute or complex cases appropriately, while maintaining sensitivity, confidentiality, and alignment with foundation policies and local regulations.

Team collaboration and culture

• Work closely with the Israel Programs team and University Success colleagues globally to align operations with strategic goals and ensure cohesive program implementation.

• Play a leadership role within the scholarship portfolio, contributing to a culture of operational excellence, continuous improvement, and strong stewardship of resources.

• Provide input and support to other projects in the Israel portfolio where student success, higher education, or workforce transition are relevant.

 

• Bachelor’s degree from a recognized academic institution required; a master’s degree is a plus.

• Approximately 8+ years of experience in operations, project or program management, or student-facing work, preferably within higher education, youth programs, or related sectors.

• Proven ability to manage complex projects, balance multiple priorities, and drive action and results in a dynamic environment.

• Experience working directly with university students or young adults, including exposure to psychosocial support or wellbeing-related topics, is strongly preferred. 

• Strong analytical skills and comfort working with data and technology tools to inform decision-making and track outcomes.

• Mastery of Microsoft Office, including the ability to perform advanced analytics in Excel and create articulate presentations in PowerPoint.

• Excellent oral and written communication skills in Hebrew and English, with an emphasis on distilling complex issues for a wide range of stakeholders.

 

• Deep curiosity and commitment to finding more effective ways to offer young people and family’s pathways out of poverty and into meaningful educational and employment opportunities.

• High degree of personal organization, attention to detail, and results-orientation suited to a quantitative, outcomes-driven environment.

• Ability to learn quickly and connect learning to ongoing program and portfolio conversations.

• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to demonstrate inclusiveness, collaboration, and respect across organizational and cultural lines.

• Ability to dive into details when needed, yet synthesize learnings to help shape overall strategy.

• Demonstrated ability to influence and achieve results even without direct managerial authority.

• Embody the highest levels of stewardship and ethical leadership in administering the foundation’s resources, particularly in direct-to-student programs.

• Agility and thoughtfulness in adapting to shifting priorities, comfort operating in ambiguous and challenging contexts.

• Humility, empathy, and a student-centered mindset.

 

Regular travel within Israel (primarily to university campuses and partner sites) is required. Occasional international travel may be needed.