Associate Director of Career Pathways
Position Announcement
Associate Director of Career Pathways
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, seeks a dynamic team leader to serve as the Associate Director of Career Pathways within the Office of Career Exploration and Success.
Application Deadline to Apply: 11:59 pm on August 1, 2024
Institution Overview
Rutgers University-New Brunswick, the flagship campus of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a renowned academic institution that boasts a vibrant and diverse community of learners. With its enrollment numbers exceeding 43,000 students, Rutgers-New Brunswick offers a broad range of programs across its schools and colleges, providing students with ample opportunities for intellectual growth and personal development. The campus's rich history, state-of-the-art facilities, and distinguished faculty contribute to a dynamic learning environment that prepares students for success in their chosen fields and equips them with the skills necessary to thrive in an ever-changing world.
About Career Exploration and Success
Career Exploration and Success (CES) is committed to assisting students with making connections between their academic experience and career paths. We provide career-related advising, resources, and programs to help individuals discover their interests, values, and skills, explore careers and majors, develop skills through internships and experiential opportunities, and pursue their post-graduate goals. We build relationships with alumni, employers, and graduate schools to optimize internship, job, and career opportunities while also creating strategic partnerships with campus departments to assist students in developing and articulating co-curricular experiences that will help to ensure they are competitive in their future pursuits.
CES is comprised of four units, each with its own director who is responsible for the day-to-day operations of their unit, making hiring decisions, providing leadership to their unit, managing their unit's budget, solving challenges and celebrating wins, and making decisions aligned with overarching goals.
About the Career Discovery Unit
One of four units within the Office of Career Exploration and Success, the Career Discovery unit guides students through the early stages of their career journey. Its primary objective is to assist them in discovering their interests, skills, and values, while facilitating the exploration of potential career pathways to inform future decision-making. The unit consists of 11 full-time staff members and five graduate coordinators organized into three teams led by associate directors: the First-year Career Engagement Team, the Career Exploration Team, and the Career Pathways Team (associated with this role).
About the Career Pathways Team
Aligned with the Career Discovery Unit's mission, the Career Pathways Team directs its efforts toward empowering students to leverage their individuality as a strength. This entails guiding them through their career trajectories, facilitating mentor connections, and presenting them with employers that resonate with their values, inspiring students to delve into these connections proactively.
The team facilitates multiple student career communities (i.e., military-affiliated students, international students, student athletes, ethnically diverse students, women, students with disabilities, doctoral students, or first-generation students) that specialize in the dynamic needs of our diverse student populations. Career communities have tailored programming, distributed information, and advisory groups. The team also oversees various high-impact initiatives and signature programs for their communities including the Graduate Student Career Pathways Program (doctoral and masters students), 4WARD Career Pathways Program (first-generation students and those without a demonstrated career network), and the Career Advocacy & Professional Inclusion Initiatives.
About the Director of Career Discovery
Sue Pye is the director of Career Discovery and direct supervisor of the associate director. Sue has decades of experience leading high-impact experiential education initiatives, working with campus partners to develop career curricula, leading teams, and even liaising with graduate school programs in a previous role. Before Rutgers, she worked in career services at Seton Hall University and the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). She began her full-time career in higher education in residence life, working at Kean University, William Paterson University, and the College of Saint Elizabeth.
About the Executive Director
Sue Pye, director of Career Discovery, reports to William (Wil) Jones, executive director of Career Exploration and Success. Wil was officially named executive director in 2021 by Rutgers University-New Brunswick Chancellor-Provost Francine Conway. Jones previously served in various roles within CES, including director of Operations and Strategic Initiatives, senior director, and interim executive director. At Rutgers, he co-founded the industry-centric career community approach to career development – which has become a national model – to diversify office offerings and help students think about their professional goals beyond the confines of their academic discipline. Before joining Rutgers, Wil oversaw various functions at the University of Maryland Career Center, including helping student leaders translate their experiences to the world of work by making connections to the skills employers sought.
Position Description
Reporting to the director of Career Discovery, the associate director is an integral part of the development and implementation of the career student community ecosystem. The incumbent will supervise a team of at least three full-time professionals and various student employees. The team directs its efforts towards empowering students to leverage their individuality as a strength. This entails guiding them through their career trajectories, facilitating mentor connections, linking them with employers that resonate with their values, and inspiring students to proactively delve into these connections. The associate director will directly and indirectly oversee career communities for targeted career areas and all the responsibilities associated. The associate director serves as a member of the broader management team within the Office of Career Exploration and Success.
Community Engagement
The associate director will recruit and lead a group of community partners to serve on their various career community advisory boards. Board membership shall include faculty/staff, employers/alumni, student leaders, CES employer engagement staff, etc. The board will direct the overall administration of community-specific career journey programs, student-alumni activities, and employer/alumni networking programs. The board will also assist the career community lead with engaging campus departments, large student organizations, and other community members. The boards will meet virtually or in-person at least twice per year.
Additionally, the associate director will facilitate programs associated with their community, requested programs from faculty, staff (both internal and external to CES), and student organizations associated with their community. The associate director will work with assigned campus liaisons. This includes meeting with assigned department leadership to establish potential partnerships, discuss student engagement, and presenting at departmental meetings.
Leadership & Supervision
Along with the associate director’s personal portfolio (below), they will also lead a team of at least three full-time staff as well as student employees. The full-time staff include the assistant director for Career Advocacy & Professional Inclusion, assistant director for the 4WARD Career Pathways Program, and the sr. assistant director for Graduate Student Career Pathways Program. The associate director will ensure that various goals and metrics are established, tracked, and met within provided budgetary guidelines. The incumbent will ensure quality of service delivery and motivate staff to work optimally. The associate director will also serve as a member of the management team within Career Exploration and Success which includes all unit directors (senior leadership team), associate directors (team leads), and sr. assistant directors (functional experts).
Career Community and General Advising
The associate director will also provide front-line advising services for students and recent alumni both within their community and for the general population. They will advise students regarding self-discovery, career and academic exploration, skills development, and pursuit of graduate studies and employment. This includes all advising modes such as drop-in office hours at various campus locations, individual appointments, etc.
Signature Event Programming
The associate director will oversee all signature events within their team, including budget management. The incumbent will also coordinate signature events for their assigned student communities working with relevant campus partners and will oversee the event budget.
Miscellaneous
The associate director will actively participate in various meetings, professional development activities, and other responsibilities as assigned. He/she will also work to increase the Rutgers University brand within the field of career services through conference presentations, award nomination submissions, professional online community involvement such as LinkedIn group participation, and other such activities.
Candidate Profile
To be considered for the assistant director position, candidates must meet the following minimum requirements:
- Experience and Education: The position requires a master’s degree in career counseling, career development, college student personnel, higher education administration, or a related field. A minimum of three (3) years of experience in career services or a relevant industry is also required.
- Skills and Competencies: Should have an in-depth understanding of NACE Career Readiness Competencies and aspects of career development unique to graduate students. Must demonstrate the ability to work effectively in teams, problem-solve, and manage projects and timelines. Should also have a track record of successfully increasing engagement by audiences and proficiency with standard office software packages.
- Preferred Qualifications: The candidate preferably has experience supervising full-time or part-time staff. Ideally, they will also have experience developing tailored career programming, or an in-depth understanding of, one or more of the following student populations: military-affiliated students, international students, student athletes, ethnically diverse students, women, students with disabilities, or first-generation students.
Flexible Work Arrangement Program
Rutgers is pleased to announce the extension of the FlexWork@RU Pilot Program through August 31, 2024. Full-time staff members within Career Exploration and Success are permitted to either a 4:1 compressed work week or up to two days per week of remote work.
The flexible work arrangements outlined in Rutgers Policy 60.3.22 are part of a pilot program that is effective September 1, 2022 and extended through August 31, 2024. Therefore, there is no guarantee that this flexible work arrangement will continue beyond that date. Flexible work arrangements are not permanent, are subject to change or cancellation and contingent on the employee receiving approval in the FlexWork@RU Application System. Additional information may be found at https://futureofwork.rutgers.edu.
Additionally, CES has implemented #FocusFriday, a department-wide practice where internal meetings between CES colleagues are discouraged every Friday. This dedicated time enables staff to concentrate on accomplishing their goals. Periodic meditation or mental health breaks throughout the day are also supported. To further support productivity, CES encourages the utilization of automated "Focus Blocks" through Microsoft Outlook. These automated blocks allow staff members to schedule designated periods of uninterrupted work time, further maximizing productivity and focus.
Benefits Program
Rutgers offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees. For details, please go to http://uhr.rutgers.edu/benefits/benefits-overview.
Rutgers also offers a benefit program to eligible full-time postdoctoral fellow students. For details, please go to https://finance.rutgers.edu/healthcare-risk/insurance/postdoctoral-health-insurance.
Non-Discrimination Statement
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, age, or any other category covered by law in its admission, programs, activities, or employment matters. For additional information, please see the Non-Discrimination Statement at the following web address: http://uhr.rutgers.edu/non-discrimination-statement
Search Committee:
William Jones, william.jones@rutgers.edu (Search Committee Chair)
Executive Director - Career Exploration and Success
Jennifer Broyles
Director, Career Readiness - Career Exploration and Success
Shalini Jain
Assistant Director, Industry & Campus Connections - Career Exploration and Success
Fore Odufalu
4WARD Career Pathways Program Intern - Career Exploration and Success
Joe Scott
Associate Director, Career Success Strategy - Career Exploration and Success
Jakora Thompson
Director - Paul Robeson Cultural Center
Apply Today
Application Deadline to Apply: 11:59 pm on August 1, 2024