Job Description

SUMMARY OF FUNCTIONS:
The Director of Professional and Career Development serves as the primary liaison between the University, its students and alumni, and potential employers on a local, regional, national, and international scale on matters related to student employability.
S/he supervises and coordinates all programs and activities that provide advice and career assistance to students and maintain long-term partnerships with employers. S/he is responsible for the planning and implementation of a holistic ecosystem so that students and alumni are given opportunities to explore and select career options and acquire work related experiences to maximize career placement prospects.
The Director of Professional and Career Development works closely with the Chancellor, Cabinet members, Student Affairs, College Deans and the Office of Development and Alumni Affairs to operationalize collaborative and cross-functional guidance for students and alumni to optimize their career path.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Provides strategic and operational leadership and accountability for the University-wide delivery of high quality and high impact advising and professional career services to students and alumni; including job-search process, interviewing, resume, and letter writing, and all other facets of career planning.

• Ensure culturally responsive and inclusive professional advising and career development that serves historically underserved communities; accountable for flexible service delivery modalities that support access and equitable outcomes.

• Plan, coordinates, and conduct events that prepare students and alumni for employment and provide employment opportunity.

• Develop strong long-term relationships with employers that hire recent graduates. promote career services' employment-related services to this constituency.

• Develops new contacts with external organizations for the purpose of expanding employment opportunities for students and alumni.

• Designs, develops, implements and maintains a holistic and effective ecosystem for student support on matters related to preparing them to the job market.

• Partners closely with other internal and external stakeholders, including staff and industry leaders to inform the development and design of system, structures and tools that support consistent and delivery of high quality services to students, such as: Technology platforms, training and development curriculum, peer advisor programming and assessment/continuous improvement practice.

• Build and maintains collaborative and productive partnerships across Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Alumni affairs, development, and IT, in order to integrate the planning and execution of holistic, proactive, and seamless delivery of student services.

• Ensures staff knowledge of, and institutional compliance with, federal/local/University regulations, policies, bylaws and guidance related to professional advising, career and employment services.

• Support the local and international accreditation standards in terms of documentation and reporting. Communicates the impact of potential legal or regulatory change that impact the University.

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE:

• Master's Degree in Counseling, Psychology, Human Resources, Education, Administration or related field.
• A minimum of (10) years of progressively responsible professional experience with University students in the field of professional advising, career services, or consulting capacity within a higher education institution, with experience providing program/project management or coordination.
• A minimum of five years experience in a managerial or leadership role.

KEY LEADERSHIP COMPETENCIES:

• Drives Vision and Purpose

Participates in the creation and execution of a vision for student-centered, flexible and inclusive professional and career development services.

• Drives Engagement

Initiates and drives authentic exploration and engagement, internally and externally, to arrive at collaborative solutions that lead to student success.

• Accelerates Agility and Innovation

Analyzes systems, policies and practices and commits to continuous program improvement through the strategic use of culturally responsive data.

• Builds Partnerships

Partners to solve problems, adapts communication and approaches, supports healthy conflict, and develops strong relationships across several disciplines and functional areas to advance institutional goals. KNOWLEDGE & SKILLS:

• Good knowledge of higher education environment, local and international accreditation standards and best practices;

• Strong capabilities of planning, implementing, improving, and evaluating operations, programs, policies and procedures;
• Ability to research and identify potential solutions, resolve problems, and provide information;
• Utilization of data and assessment outcomes for communication and continuing improvement for programs and services;
• Familiar of working with diverse academic, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds within an academic institution, including students, faculty and staff.

• Counsel, direct, and facilitate professional development of employees while motivating them toward goal achievement.

Job Type: Full-time