Executive Director of Career Services and Student Employment
Requisition Number:
63444
Location:
Boulder, Colorado
City
Boulder
State
Colorado
Employment Type:
University Staff
Schedule:
Full-Time
Posting Close Date:
04-May-2025
Date Posted:
14-Apr-2025
Job Summary
The Division of Student Affairs is encouraging applications for the Executive Director of Career Services and Student Employment! Reporting to the Senior Associate Vice Chancellor in the Division of Student Affairs, the Executive Director of Career Services and Student Employment serves as an integral member of the Division of Student Affairs Leadership Team - a team committed to supporting student success and actively advancing innovative and promising practices concerning increasing student engagement and skill development, and is outcomes driven. The Executive Director has a dotted line reporting to the Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs to ensure the future of work and career for our students remains at the forefront of our institutional, divisional, and philanthropic goals and priorities.
Under the direction of the Senior Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, the Executive Director of Career Services provides innovative and strategic leadership to, and administration of a comprehensive center dedicated to preparing undergraduate and graduate students, along with alumni for a multitude of careers. This position serves as a leader in integrating high-impact practices through developing and amplifying experiential learning opportunities, providing comprehensive student employment support, and establishing mechanisms for internships both on- and off-campus. The position ensures the university is positioned as a national leader in student career development and exploration.
The Executive Director of Career Services is responsible for a department committed to providing innovative career development services to students during their tenure at the University while also providing services for students to engage in community work and development opportunities. This position promotes creativity and innovation in responding to the needs of the students and community while creating a diverse, inclusive, and welcoming experience for all who engage with Career Services.
The Executive Director provides oversight of the department’s efforts in strengthening and expanding relationships with employers, alumni, and faculty to coordinate semi-centralized career development, employer recruitment, and experiential learning opportunities for the CU Boulder campus. The Executive Director works cooperatively and in partnership with academic departments and administrative offices to integrate students’ career development in alignment with the academic mission of the University.
The Executive Director serves as the expert and leader of student career services as well as student employment. The position collaborates closely with campus academic and administrative leadership to ensure career development goals are being met within each school, college, and administrative department. This position leads in the creation, maintenance, and amplification of undergraduate and graduate students’ skill development and provides career-related experiences. This position works closely with Financial Aid and Human Resources to ensure student employment is a robust, developmental opportunity, aligned to learning outcomes at the university level.
The University of Colorado Boulder is committed to building a culturally diverse community of faculty, staff, and students dedicated to contributing to an inclusive campus environment. We are an Equal Opportunity employer, including veterans and individuals with disabilities.
Who We Are
The Division of Student Affairs consists of 30 departments that provide student support and services dedicated to helping students become successful, curious, competent individuals during their time at CU Boulder.
The work in Student Affairs supports all factors of the student experience, no matter what department a staff member may work in. This includes where students live, eat, make friends, build professional skills, and find help if they need it. Many departments provide involvement opportunities, educational resources, and support services to help students find their community and build lifelong skills. Student Affairs also has shared services departments that support the work and staff of our student-facing areas, including areas like assessment, business services, financial planning, human resources, marketing communications, and information technology (IT).
What Your Key Responsibilities Will Be
Divisional, Campus, and Community Representation and Advocacy:
- Serves as the campus expert for undergraduate, graduate, and alumni career services and connections while partnering with campus subject matter experts to provide advice, consultation, and influence to faculty, administrators, staff, students, and the community related to career and experiential learning in their areas.
- Builds and maintains strong relationships at the campus and system level.
- Develop campus partnerships that holistically support student career development, reduce redundancy in services, and provide an exceptional student experience at both the macro and micro levels.
- Serves on a variety of division and University-wide committees, teams and work groups to ensure a seamless experience for students and to enhance the experience related to career/professional development
- Work within the appropriate strategic plans of the university and division to align Career Services goals and strategies.
- Maintains involvement and relationships nationally to stay abreast of career trends while ensuring career education programming and services meet the needs of the student body and alumni, intending to serve as a national leader in the field.
- Represents CU Boulder nationally to showcase the work of Career Services while using data to tell the story of career support and development with all students and alumni.
- Develops, builds, and supports relationships between CU Boulder and our students, key alumni, and critical employers within the state, regional, national, and international levels.
- Connect with businesses and nonprofits to build a deep understanding of their industry and hiring needs, providing students with access to opportunities while supporting the growth of these organizations.
- Uses data to showcase the effectiveness of the Career Services offered to the student body while partnering with external employers to hire CU Boulder students.
Departmental Leadership:
- Leads, motivates, develops, and supervises professional and paraprofessional staff within the Career Services team while supporting Career Services leadership to assess performance, coach, and provide effective performance feedback for their direct reports.
- Fosters an engaging and inclusive workplace environment through trust, respect, and care.
- Develop a data-driven story and strategy that shares Career Services’ role in career development and job placement information intending to disseminate the information to other units on campus, university administration, and the Boulder community.
- Develops policies and protocols that are appropriate for the efficient operation of the department’s daily operations and are in alignment with and support the Division of Student Affairs and campus policies.
- Develops and maintains an innovative and contemporary vision and strategic plan for the Department of Career Services, inclusive of 30,000+ undergraduate and 6,000+ graduate students as well as alumni interests.
- Is responsible for all activities of Career Services including, but not limited to, career advising, employer relations, career education, and experiential education programs (internships, student employment).
- Ensures compliance with all state and University policies and procedures.
- Incorporates inclusive and equitable practices in Career Services to maintain a welcoming environment for all students that supports and meets the needs of a diverse and constantly evolving student body.
- Leads and stays active in using technology and innovative practices to continue to meet the current and ongoing needs of the student body and career development.
- Creates and maintains an annual assessment and communication strategy that demonstrates the department's effectiveness in collaboration with the Student Affairs Planning, Assessment, and Data Analytics team and the campus’ Office for Data Analytics (ODA).
Student Employment:
- Ensure the development of a comprehensive and consistent student employment program for the CU Boulder campus.
- Elevate student employment as a high-impact practice that is connected to assessable learning outcomes for students and skill development.
- Partner with campus offices including Financial Aid, Human Resources, and other relevant areas to create a seamless and accessible experience for both student employees and supervisors.
- Create consistency in student employment practices across the campus to ensure students are aware of employment opportunities and experience proven employment techniques before graduation.
Budget and Fiscal Operations:
- Provide oversight of the overall budget of approximately $3 million for the department, ensuring the responsible and efficient planning and expenditure of fiscal resources in a manner consistent with all University policies and applicable local, state, and federal laws in collaboration with internal leadership.
- Routinely assesses the necessity of various technologies, programming activities, and associated expenses.
- Meets target dates for all requests for reports, data, publications, and budgets.
- Provides timely/pertinent budgetary information to staff as necessary throughout the year.
- Ensures compliance with relevant policies/procedures as they pertain to various revenue sources; including gift funds, insurance payments, and inter-department transfers.
- Solicits alternate funding when possible to support programmatic initiatives that support the student body.
Other Duties as Assigned:
- Stays abreast of current literature, ongoing trends, demographic changes, laws, and policies that impact the diverse student body.
- Ensure compliance with all local, State, and Federal laws, codes, and regulations; and systems, campus, and departmental policies and procedures.
What We Can Offer
- The salary range for this position is $120,000 - $140,000 per year.
- Onboarding assistance may be available per divisional guidelines.
Benefits
The University of Colorado offers excellent benefits, including medical, dental, retirement, paid time off, tuition benefit and ECO Pass. The University of Colorado Boulder is one of the largest employers in Boulder County and offers an inspiring higher education environment. Learn more about the University of Colorado Boulder.
Be Statements
Be collaborative. Be inclusive. Be Boulder.
What We Require
- Master’s degree.
- 6 years of job-related experience, including at least 1 year of experience at a manager or director level.
- An equivalent combination of education and experience may substitute.
What You Will Need
- Excellent public speaking and communication skills.
- Excellent written communication skills.
- Demonstrated track record of successfully serving diverse student populations.
What We Would Like You to Have
- Doctorate degree from an accredited institution in Business Administration, Higher Education Administration, or related field.
- Eight years of successful experience in planning, developing, and implementing complex strategic goals and program initiatives related to Career Services.
- Experience supervising professional staff and managing strategic goals in a fast-paced environment.
- Experience working with diverse populations and meeting individual needs based on goal setting.
- Increasingly responsible experience as a senior leader/administrator in Student Affairs;
- Advanced experience managing staff as well as experience with complex budgets and operations.
- Experience with assessment, strategic planning, and implementation of new initiatives and organizational change.
- Initiative to be a regional and/or national leader in Career Services within higher education.
- Experience with external relations and outreach.
Special Instructions
To apply, please submit the following materials:
1. A current resume.2. A cover letter that specifically tells us how your background and experience align with the requirements, qualifications, and responsibilities of the position.
We may request references at a later time.
Please apply by May 4, 2025, for consideration.
Note: Application materials will not be accepted via email. For consideration, please apply through CU Boulder Jobs.
In compliance with the Colorado Job Application Fairness Act, in any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.
Posting Contact Information
Posting Contact Name: Boulder Campus Human Resources
Posting Contact Email: Recruiting@colorado.edu