Associate Director of Career & Professional Development

Purpose
The University of Texas at Austin is seeking an innovative career champion to work with career services professionals across campus for the shared goal of advancing student career success. This individual will lead a team that creates and develops tools, knowledge and continuing education in collaboration and partnership with faculty and staff who work directly with students in the colleges and schools.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Engagement: Work closely with the director of career and professional development to develop and lead campus collaborative strategies for scalable programs and resources that support career success across the colleges, schools and units (CSUs). Partner with leadership team to integrate career success into broader organizational goals and strategies. Identify and prioritize opportunities for collaboration within CSUs and across units.
• Research & Innovation: Conduct national and regional research related to emerging trends, workforce development, labor market insights and the support of and best practices for student career success. Develop content, collateral, programming and resources that incorporate innovative approaches and practices that can be implemented by the campus career centers to enhance career services operations. Develop innovative approaches to career success that adapts to and stays ahead of the way students engage across the university with career and professional development.
• Career Success: Collaborate with the career centers to identify opportunities for professional development, and create and deliver tailored programming – including trainings, playbooks, guides and other best practices content – to enhance career services in the CSUs. Develop and implement AI-based knowledge and trainings designed to help career centers incorporate AI into the student career development and job search and to help career centers use AI for business operations. Lead a train-the-trainer program that identifies the needs of and provides training offerings for the career centers to support new and advancing software implementations, coaching methodology, and innovations in career education. Lead an initiative to create and develop industry-specific resources and programs that can be implemented by the colleges and schools for students across academic disciplines. Develop creative solutions for connecting students with alumni for networking and career programs. Partner with career centers to evaluate utilization of career software by students, staff and faculty, and develop strategies and resources for increasing adoption rates and effective utilization. Collaborate with employer engagement teams to support campus initiatives for aligning the skills and competencies that students can acquire at UT with the needs of the labor market.
• People Leadership: Supervise, support and mentor staff to develop a team that provides top-quality support to campus career centers, campus partners and students, and a team comprised of individuals who are empowered to succeed in their roles. Maintain compliance with all related federal, state, institutional, UT System, and NACE regulations, guidelines, and best practices, and ensure staff do likewise.
• University Brand: Represent Career Success at high-profile events, committee meetings and workgroups to demonstrate best-in-class university career success operations. Attend conferences and professional development meetings pertinent to experiential learning, skill acquisition, certificates and badging and career development connections, learning and sharing best practices.

Required Qualifications
Three to five years of professional experience in career services, higher education, or related industry role performing a variety of experiential learning or career activities and programming. Professional supervisory experience with full-time and student staff. Demonstrated ability to establish and maintain effective rapport with students, faculty and campus partners. Excellent project management, attention to detail and organizational skills with demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects and logistics within a deadline. Excellent public speaking and written communication skills. Ability to adapt to changing priorities and operate in high-pressure situations. Ability to work independently as well as within a team. Proficiency in Microsoft Office. An equivalent combination of relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Preferred Qualifications
The ideal candidate will exceed the required qualifications and have significant experience at an associate/assistant director level. Master's degree preferred. Experience and expertise in developing experiential learning opportunities and career development programming. Experience preparing students to learn from, reflect on and articulate the value of experiential learning. Experience working with faculty on experiential learning and career development curriculum integration. Familiarity with UT departments and campus programs. Experience organizing and implementing large events. Proficiency in data management. Experience with cloud-based software, including Handshake, Symplicity, 12Twenty, and/or Canvas.

Salary Range
$77,000 + depending on qualifications