Role Overview
At Stony Brook University, our Jewish students face a vastly different reality than those on traditional residential campuses. With heavy academic loads, commuter schedules, and personal responsibilities, many simply don’t have the time or emotional bandwidth to participate in Jewish life—even when they want to. That’s why we’re reimagining what it means to be a Hillel here.
What if Stony Brook Hillel could be the go-to space where students access what they need most—support, wellness resources, mental health check-ins, food, mentorship, and practical “adulting” help? We’re constantly asking ourselves: how can we remove barriers and meet students where they are, so they can more freely and fully explore their Jewish identity?
The Wellness Director will be a masters-level professional serving as the key link to social service agencies within the UJA network, collaboratively bringing social services (including access to food, employment services, and mental health support) to Jewish students in culturally sensitive, de-stigmatized ways. This professional will oversee the wellness and resources hub, clinical mental health support for students, and all wellness programming. They will support their teammates to take pride in collaborating with our students, local partners, and Hillel International in designing new and creative ideas to grow engagement.
What You’ll Do
- Build meaningful relationships with students of diverse backgrounds and experiences with an orientation toward wellbeing promotion and deepened involvement in Jewish life and by connecting them with culturally sensitive services and resources in the community.
- Provide comprehensive and culturally-competent mental health counselling to students.
- Guide and empower student leaders and interns to develop and lead meaningful wellness experiences based on their peers’ needs and interests.
- Create strategies with students and colleagues to expand wellness programming while infusing well-being curriculum into current Jewish life experiences at Stony Brook Hillel, with a global view toward offerings supporting physical, emotional, and mental health.
- Train Hillel staff on best practices to serve our student populations through wellness-centered practices and by incorporating these into our structures and culture.
- Establish & maintain partnerships with local and campus social service partners including local food pantries, the Career Center, Counseling and Psychological Services, the LGBTQ+ Center, and the Center for Prevention and Outreach.
- Seek out additional opportunities and investments that will generate an undercurrent of cultural change and capacity building that leads to long-term engagement growth and impact.
What You’ve Accomplished
- A graduate-level degree in social work or other related field including, but not limited to: psychology, public health, etc. Preference will be given to those with an up to date LCSW certification in New York State.
- At least 3-5 years of post-graduate work experience in a related field.
- Preference for those with prior experience working with college students.
- Preference for previous program planning or training session development and facilitation experience.
What You’ll Bring to the Job
We are most interested in someone who is organized, driven, and mission focused. The most important experience we are looking for is the ability to be a thought leader, organize people and projects, and the ability to inspire commitment and action. In terms of prerequisite requirements, we are open to candidates with the following:
- Strong entrepreneurial spirit, a willingness to take risks and learn from your wins as well as your losses.
- Capacity to create space for a diversity of perspectives and allow all student voices to be heard.
- Strong relationship building skills and accessibility to students from diverse backgrounds.
- A desire to support students in their time of need.
- Experience training or empowering college students to design opportunities to promote social, emotional, or physical well-being.
- An attitude of proactive communication and collaboration.
- Expertise in leading complex conversations around mental health and wellness.
- A commitment to Jewish pluralism.
What You’ll Receive
- Competitive salary in the nonprofit marketplace. The salary range for this role is $65,000-75,000 depending on level of experience.
- A comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance, retirement plan, Life, AD&D and Long Term Disability (LTD) insurances, Flexible Spending accounts, generous vacation/sick time, and parental leave.
- High-level professional development to help develop core skills and gain expertise from changemakers, engagers, and Jewish life experts.
- Plenty of Hillel and university schwag
About Stony Brook Hillel
Stony Brook University is located in Suffolk county on the east end Long Island and is the #1 public school in the state. Stony Brook Hillel is located in the Student Union and serves 1,700 Jewish undergraduate and graduate students on a campus. Stony Brook Hillel is home to passionate, driven, and hardworking students who will impress you the moment you set foot on campus. Year after year, the students, with the help of dedicated staff, work towards the Hillel mission and vision to provide a pluralistic Jewish hub to Jewish students who call Stony Brook home. Stony Brook Hillel is a home for Jewish students at Stony Brook University to explore their relationship with Judaism, Israel and each other. We strive to create a dynamic space where students feel a sense of community, the desire to explore, the freedom to be authentic and are empowered to lead.
Stony Brook Hillel is affiliated with Hillel International. Hillel International enriches the lives of Jewish students so they may enrich the Jewish people and the world, and envisions a world where every student is inspired to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning and Israel.
About Hillel International
In 1923, Rabbi Benjamin Frankel started Hillel with humble means, a noble mission and a breathtaking vision: to convey Jewish civilization to a new generation. Today, Hillel International continues to enrich the lives of Jewish students and is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world at nearly 1,000 colleges and universities across North America and around the world. As Hillel evolves as an organization, the mission remains steadfast: to create lasting connections with every Jewish student that foster an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning, and Israel and train them to become the next Jewish leaders.
Hillel is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to creating an accepting and inclusive environment for all.