Company Overview:

Professional Linguistic Upper Studies (PLUS) operates English as a Foreign Language (EFL) programs across the world. PLUS U.S. Corporation, headquartered in New York City, runs summer English language study and travel programs for international high school students in across North America. The programs allow students the opportunity to take English classes and explore the surrounding regions while staying at U.S. colleges and universities.
 

Position Overview:

The Center Manager position is a seasonal, salaried and full-time position during Summer 2019 with PLUS U.S. Corp. PLUS U.S. offers summer study travel programs to international high school students at college campuses across North America. The Center Manager oversees all operational aspects of the PLUS USA West Coast Discovery program for PLUS participants. The USA West Coast Discovery program consists of back-to-back 14-day tours of the West Coast, stretching from Los Angeles to Vancouver, with a 5-night stop at a college in the San Francisco Bay Area. Center Manager responsibilities include coordinating the day-to-day aspects of the tour, such as rooming lists for hotels, planning activities at tourist sights, and planning on-campus activities at the college campus. The Center Manager directly supervises program instructors. The Center Manager works under the direct supervision of the Director of North American Operations and the Program Manager. 

In addition to a salaried wage, full room and board is provided for the duration of employment; residing on-site is required. PLUS employees are expected to work a rigorous schedule. Night and weekend work is mandatory to meet the demands of the program, and regional travel is required. PLUS employees are responsible for all travel and moving costs to and from program start and end location prior to and at the conclusion of their contract. Tour travel and travel to excursion destinations and any work travel during the contracted period will be covered by PLUS.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The following is expected of the Center Manager:

Standard Expectations

• Interact with groups of international high school students and their group leaders in a professional, enthusiastic, and customer service-oriented manner
• Be familiar with, adhere to, and enforce PLUS U.S. policies and procedures
• Ensure the safety of all participants, including taking them to the hospital, if necessary, and documenting all hospital visits for insurance purposes
• Be familiar with campus-specific information, including everything in the PLUS U.S. Guide
• Maintain frequent communication with PLUS U.S. staff
• Be on call every night for the duration of the program
• Assist with emergency situations, as needed
• Complete all PLUS U.S. assessments received during employment period
• Assist in duties other than the aforementioned and the following, as assigned and as they arise

Supervision

• Directly supervise Tour Teacher and EFL instructors
• Train all instructors
• Hold daily staff meeting with Tour Teacher to ensure that all program and position needs are met

Customer Service

• Provide superior customer service to group leaders: monitor group leader feedback reports and liaise with group leaders to understand and address any concerns
• Be readily available and present on tour bus and on campus to speak with group leaders and students
• Conduct group leader meetings at the beginning of each session, welcoming them and providing an overview of the program
• Liaise with group leaders in the planning of extra excursions; submit all extra excursion requests to the PLUS U.S. Head Office
• Liaise with overseas PLUS offices, as needed
• Compile a list of student and group leader birthdays, by session, and organize a birthday card signed by all staff members, if possible

Off-Campus Activities (Excursions)

• Coordinate and lead the USA West Coast Discovery tour for PLUS students and group leaders, including being the point-person on all excursions
• Provide students and group leaders with information about tourist sights
• Conduct walking and bus tours of sights for participants according to the PLUS U.S. Guide; be familiar enough with the PLUS U.S. Guide to present the information and tours in a high-quality manner
• Interact with participants on the coach buses on the way to and from tourist sights, doing activities, playing games, etc.
• Engage with and conduct activities with students during their “free time” to explore tourist sights
• Communicate regularly with transportation companies to ensure all transportation needs are met for PLUS excursions and airport transfers
• Confirm all excursion-related bookings with ticket vendors and off-campus meal providers
• Coordinate all airport arrival and departure schedules
• Create rooming lists and provide hotels with a finalized rooming list upon check-in
• Coordinate hotel check-ins and check-outs
• Supervise students on the buses and at the tourist sights
• Greet students and their group leaders at the airport
• Provide a “welcome speech” upon picking them up and coordinate with bus drivers to ensure groups are transported safely back to campus

On-Campus Activities (in San Francisco only)

• Plan, lead, and participate in all on-campus activities at the college, such as but not limited to recreation, evening programming, workshops, talent shows, graduation ceremonies, etc.
• Confirm bookings for all multipurpose rooms, fields, theaters, and pool (if applicable) for on-campus activities/events
• Confirm bookings with outside vendors for on-campus activities
• Participate in and encourage student participation in on-campus events
• Conduct campus tours for participants

Academic

• Manage all logistics of the site-specific academic program
• Manage all instructors, including coordinating their schedules, reviewing and approving time sheets, supervising instruction, and assigning them classrooms based on the list of available classrooms provided by PLUS
• Together with instructors, create a safe, comfortable, and engaging learning environment for all students
• Review the curriculum provided by PLUS to be adequately familiar with lesson plans. Instructors may supplement the curriculum with their own materials, as appropriate.
• Download and review all online placement test scores per session; sort students into levels and classes based on test scores
• Consult with EFL instructors after the first lesson to ensure students have been placed into the correct level; conduct assessments of students’ oral proficiency, as needed
• Confirm all classroom bookings with host institution and communicate any changes to the PLUS Head Office
• Copy all worksheets needed per class and distribute to instructors daily
• Communicate with the host institution regarding classroom needs and technology issues, as needed
• Fill in as substitute teacher as needed
• Collaborate with the instructors and PLUS Head Office regarding instructional methods and the PLUS curriculum
• Maintain frequent and professional communication with instructors

University Liaison (in San Francisco only)

• Serve as primary point of contact for all on-campus university departments
• Responsible for the following Housing, Dining, and Office responsibilities: 

Housing

• • Coordinate all groups’ check-in and check-out from campus with the host institution
  • Oversee room checks prior to participant arrivals to ensure all rooms are clean and ready for participants’ arrival
  • Oversee room checks prior to student departures to determine any room damages
  • Create rooming lists for each session, and communicate changes to rooming lists to University and central PLUS office, as needed
  • Responsible for communicating with Facilities/Maintenance to fix any problems that arise in the residence halls

Dining

• • Regularly update on-campus meal spreadsheet and submit to host institution
  • Confirm on a daily basis all on-campus meals and boxed meals, including numbers, meal times and pick-up times (for boxed meals) with dining hall on campus
  • Provide dining hall with a list of food allergies per session; ensure all food allergy requests are met for on-campus and boxed meals
  • Distribute boxed meals prior to participants’ departure from campus
  • Communicate any last-minute changes to on-campus meals to dining hall and the Program Manager

Office & Miscellaneous

• Responsible for telling students and group leaders to complete weekly satisfaction surveys and following up with them to ensure completion
• Responsible for collecting and recording all fees for lost keys, room damages, and extra excursions
• Responsible for depositing all money collected for lost keys, room damages, and extra excursions within 24 hours of collection
• Responsible for ensuring the safekeeping of all participant passports and all money collected for lost keys, room damages, and extra excursions
• Utilize Plus Vision Software and the PLUS Master Program to properly understand participants’ arrivals and departures from the program
• Coordinate participant arrival and departure days from the program
• Participate in weekly meeting with the PLUS Head Office
• Responsible for appropriate use and documentation of company card
• Submit incident reports as needed
• Conduct bi-weekly inventory checks of PLUS wristbands or other collateral materials, and communicate with Program Coordinator in a timely fashion if running low
• Perform other duties, as assigned

Qualifications and Desired Skills:

• Authorization to work in the U.S. required
• Must be 18 years or older
• University degree required
• Event planning or coordination experience required
• Customer service experience required
• Ability to command a room and a big, energetic personality required
• Prior teaching experience strongly preferred
• Experience in the hospitality and tourism industry strongly preferred
• Experience with summer or study travel programs strongly preferred
• Command of Microsoft Excel and Google Drive strongly preferred
• International and intercultural experience strongly preferred
• Prior supervisory experience strongly preferred
• Administrative experience strongly preferred

The successful candidate will have strong coordination and organizational skills and be able to work with diverse groups of people in a high-pressure environment. He/she will be detail-oriented, self-motivated, adaptable, professional, enthusiastic, and always have a positive attitude. The successful candidate will also have strong problem-solving, customer service, multi-tasking, communication, management, and interpersonal skills.

Physical Demands:

Do the essential functions of this job require lifting? Yes

If yes, how many pounds? 25 lbs.

Do the essential functions of this job require standing? Yes

Do the essential functions of this job require walking up stairs? Yes

Do the essential functions of this job require stretching? Yes

Do the essential functions of this job require bending? Yes