Director, Career Services

Position Overview:

The Director will champion the effort to scale and integrate career development into the culture of the campus, with the main career center serving as an activator for a robust career ecosystem for all students from all colleges and majors. This will include integrating into existing campus-wide initiatives, developing new opportunities to forge strategic partnerships, and coordinating new relationships across academic colleges and with current and new employer partners.

Department Specific Essential Job Functions:

Resource Management

• Oversees and directs the strategy, goals, and activities of the Career Development Center.
• Leverages data to effectively draw insights, create strategies, and create visuals that tell the story of success to students, prospective families, alumni, employers, and other key stakeholders.
• Supervises, evaluates, and motivates Career Development Center team/staff, including professional Career Development Specialists and administrative staff.
• Ensures supervisees receive regular training and professional development.
• Plans, executes, and manages the budget and fiscal needs, including revenue generation for the department.
• Coordinates and facilitates all Career Development Center meetings.
• Delegates and assigns responsibilities and projects to Career Development staff pertaining to the needs of the department.
• Manages career development software needs, including Handshake and active student CRM.
• Evaluates, edits, and grants final approval for all Career Development Center publications.
• Develops policies and procedures related to student support services, including enrollment, student success, graduation, retention, and alumni affairs.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Campus Affairs

• Leads efforts in developing scalable and innovative career education solutions that reach all students, equip others on campus to support students, and that create robust relationships with employers.
• Serves as a member or delegates a team member to serve on division and/or university committees.
• Introduces planning, development and refinement processes to assess and enhance student learning outcomes in Enrollment and Student Success activities.
• Serves as primary Career Development Center liaison with/to academic departments. Leads efforts to integrate career development and major exploration into classrooms and curricular and co-curricular activities.
• Leads employer relations strategy and efforts, including networking, employer presence on campus, outreach, and presenting employer relations strategy to internal and external stakeholders. Provides a vision and strategy to engage with regional, national, and global employer partners
• Prepares proposals and reports.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Student Support

• Provides leadership for Career Development Center processes.
• Intentionally grow existing and new employer partnerships that provide opportunities for all students and majors.
• Communicates and networks with other career development offices/personnel.
• Develops policies and procedures for career development advisement, Career Development Specialists, and support staff of the Career Development Center.
• Delegates and assigns responsibilities and projects to Career Development Specialists pertaining to the needs of Career Development Center.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications/Experience Required

Requires a university degree, or equivalent experience, in education, counseling or related field and experience that provides extensive knowledge of fundamental theories, principles, and concepts. Requires the application of expertise in a chosen field to achieve results. 7+ years of experience with leading planning, including program development and innovation, program prioritization, and assessment. Full-time professional experience with increasing leadership responsibilities in career development, academic advising, employer relations, and/or other relevant experience. Extensive knowledge and comprehensive understanding of functional area. Appropriate professional accomplishments and credentials.

Qualifications/Experience Preferred

Prior advising/counseling/human resource experience. Must be proficient in basic mathematics. Master’s degree or above in education, human resources, or related field. Minimum six years’ experience in advising or other closely related units within higher education. Proven ability to lead, train and supervise others. Extensive knowledge of University, college, and departmental policies, procedures and resources. Knowledge of student development and student success initiatives. Demonstrated interest in The Future of Work and rapidly changing employment trends and understanding of emerging trends and innovations within the field of higher education. At least 3 years management/supervisory leadership experience in higher education. Must possess excellent communication skills, both verbal and written.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities

Skills and behavior: Technical proficiency; trust and credibility; dedication; self-awareness; Accepting ambiguity; team player; time management skills; independent; results oriented. Knowledgeable in the higher education attainment process, particularly the requirements and general value of education. Demonstration of a warm and caring professional attitude and creative counseling techniques. Ability to communicate effectively with department chairpersons and/or deans regarding degree program requirements. Ability to work well under pressure.

Job Level

Scope and impact Responsible for the management of a department or major function(s) within a department. Responsible for directing the administrative and policy development, and implementation endeavors that will expand and improve the department and division as a whole. The Director maintains and manage the portfolio of services offered by the department.

Communication and interaction Build partnerships between all levels of staff. Acts as liaison between senior-level management and staff. Uses diplomacy and advanced communication skills in unstructured settings.

Effective knowledge Applies advanced skills in planning, development, negotiation, and communication. Incorporates knowledge of trends into planning. Provides expert consultation in planning and problem resolution.

Problem solving and judgment Provides strategic guidance and planning support on the type of initiatives to advance. Identifies opportunities and develops programs and initiatives that will enhance current service offerings. Resolves complex, controversial, or unprecedented issues. Exercised judgment by considering risk, impact, and implications of various courses of action.

Budget authority Oversees resource allocation within the department or function. Must have delegated signature authority for defined programs, activities, or functions within the department. She/he may serve as the department business officer.

Policy and procedure authority Consults with other directors, deans, or VPs on policy changes. Represents department with regard to cross-functional policy changes. Has delegated authority and primary responsibility to develop and implement policies/procedures within area of responsibility, within the guidelines set forth by the university. Has authority to grant reasonable exceptions to policy, with courtesy notification to his/her supervisor. Note: Director’s supervisor has the authority to require pre-approval of policy exceptions in his/her scope of responsibility.

Reporting relationships Generally, reports to a VP or Dean-level. Typically, does not report to another Director.

Supervisory and team leadership responsibilities Typically supervises departmental employees and evaluates staff performance (typically has a minimum of two direct reports). A Director generally supervises managers and professionals, though may additionally supervise individual contributors. Sets clear expectations and holds teams accountable for performance. Establishes shared vision and goals for function. Promotes talent management. Promotes practices that support diversity and inclusion at all levels.

Does this position supervise others? Yes

Physical Demands

Reasonable accommodations (in accordance with ADA requirements) may be made, upon request, to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

Qualifications