Assistant Director of Career Readiness, Health and Human Sciences Liaison

The University of Memphis • Memphis, TN

2d • $60,000 - $65,000 • Onsite

About The Position

The Assistant Director of Career Readiness advances the University of Memphis’s commitment to preparing students for professional careers by strengthening a university-wide career readiness ecosystem. The role collaborates with academic colleges, faculty, student success professionals, students, alumni, employers, and community partners to integrate career readiness learning outcomes and experiences across academic programs, experiential learning, and co-curricular activities. The Assistant Director turns the university’s career readiness vision into actionable strategies, collaborative initiatives, and measurable practices that connect students’ education with their professional goals.

A key responsibility is leading the university-wide Career Champions program to foster campus engagement and shared responsibility for student career success. Through strategic partnerships, educational innovation, and continuous assessment, the Assistant Director promotes a sustainable culture of career readiness that helps students navigate an evolving world of work.

The position includes career advising and coaching, support for career readiness implementation across academic colleges, cultivation of employer and community partnerships, and coordination and assessment of the Career Champions program. The employee is regularly required to sit, use hands, and talk or hear; frequently required to walk; and occasionally required to stand, reach, stoop, kneel, or crouch, and lift or move up to 10 pounds. Close vision is required.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in higher education, student affairs, counseling, education, communications, health and human services, or a related field; an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience may substitute for the degree requirement.
• At least four years of relevant professional experience in university career services, academic affairs, student success, experiential learning, workforce development, health and human sciences, or a related area.
• Strong communication, organization, project management, facilitation, and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to translate broad institutional priorities into actionable plans, resources, and implementation steps.
• Proficiency with common productivity, presentation, collaboration, and reporting technologies.
• Authorization to work in the United States; the University is unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.

Nice To Haves

• Familiarity with career readiness frameworks, including National Association of Colleges and Employers Career Readiness Competencies, labor-market information, career management platforms, digital portfolios, and student success technologies.
• Experience developing collaborative relationships across academic and administrative units and coordinating multi-stakeholder projects, programs, initiatives, or implementation activities.
• Experience integrating career readiness into curriculum, academic assessment, experiential learning, or co-curricular programming.
• Experience engaging alumni, employers, nonprofit organizations, and community partners in educational initiatives.
• Demonstrated commitment to student development and success, accessible practices, and expanding opportunities for career learning.

Responsibilities

• Support implementation of the university’s career readiness framework across academic colleges and relevant administrative and student-facing units, including college plans, learning outcomes, and measurable milestones.
• Serve as a career services liaison to assigned academic colleges and student-facing professionals, collaborating to embed career competencies, transferable skills, professional identity development, and experiential learning into academic and co-curricular activities.
• Collaborate with campus partners to develop and maintain practical career readiness implementation plans aligned with university-wide outcomes, college or department priorities and requirements, and student needs.
• Help campus partners connect students with career resources, experiential learning opportunities, alumni networks, employer engagement, and specialized services.
• Support colleges in developing strategies to engage alumni, employers, and community partners in discipline-specific career learning.
• Provide career advising and coaching to help students explore career pathways, articulate career-ready and transferable skills, and develop career management skills, including résumé and curriculum vitae development, interviewing, networking, professional communication, and job and internship search strategies.
• Cultivate stakeholder relationships and develop industry- and employment-specific events and workshops that support student learning, skills and career competency development, and networking.
• Refer students to specialized career services, experiential learning programs, academic support, alumni networks, and other campus resources as appropriate.
• Guide students in identifying and articulating career-relevant skills developed through academic projects, research, employment, leadership, service, and experiential learning.
• Develop and maintain relationships with employers, alumni, and community organizations, and conduct employer engagement and recruitment activities with targeted organizations and industries.
• Coordinate, implement, and manage the university-wide Career Champions program; oversee its administration and continuous improvement; develop program guidelines, resources, and tools; promote the program; manage recruitment; and coordinate orientations, meetings, professional development sessions, and special events.
• Create and regularly update the Career Champions webpage and collaborate with champions on programs, projects, and initiatives.
• Assess the Career Champions program and recommend and implement enhancements.
• Track and prepare progress summaries and reports on implementation milestones, partner participation, integration of career learning activities, and established deliverables.
• Stay informed about emerging practices in career-connected learning, higher education, career development, competency-based education, and workforce preparation; identify improvement opportunities involving technology, pedagogy, cross-campus collaboration, and community engagement.
• Contribute to department and university initiatives related to career-connected learning, student success, academic innovation, experiential learning, and graduate outcomes.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level