Associate Director, Careers and Student Life

University of Chicago•Chicago, IL

3d•$68,000 - $78,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Associate Director, Careers and Student Life plays a central, cross-functional role on the Specialized Masters Programs team, executing employer relations and business development in partnership with the Senior Associate Director, Careers, providing 1:1 career coaching to early-career students, and helping lead student life and community programming for the Master in Management (MiM) and Master in Finance (MiF) programs. The careers-focused work is the highest-priority function of this role, requiring a proactive, outward-facing professional who can identify and cultivate new employer relationships, drive recruiting activity, and build a sustainable pipeline of opportunities for students across the Master in Management (MiM) and Master in Finance (MiF) programs. Simultaneously, the Associate Director provides independent career coaching to early-career students navigating career exploration and the job search. On the student life side, this role helps drive community and belonging across the programs, partnering with students, including shepherding the Student Community Council. This is a high-impact, relationship-driven role suited to someone who is entrepreneurial, adept at navigating ambiguity and equally comfortable coaching a student one-on-one and building a new employer relationship from scratch.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a related field.
5-7 years of work experience in a related job discipline.
Candidates with advanced degrees may substitute higher education for a portion of the required experience.
Proficiency in MS Office and familiarity with CRM and career management platforms, such as Handshake, Salesforce, or equivalent.
Comfortable with proactive outreach, including cold contact with employers and alumni, and the persistence to build relationships from scratch.
Strong interpersonal skills to build trust quickly with students, employers, alumni, and colleagues.
Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills.
Highly organized to manage a varied workload across multiple functions and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity in career services, employer relations, talent acquisition, recruiting, or a related field.
Demonstrated experience in employer outreach, business development, or relationship management.
Background in a university or professional school context.
Coaching or advising early-career individuals on job search strategy, career positioning, or professional development.
Supporting student programming, community building, or student organization advising.

Responsibilities

Partners with the Senior Associate Director, Careers to proactively identify, target, and develop new employer relationships across industries relevant to MiM and MiF students, with particular attention to underpenetrated sectors and geographies.
Conducts sustained outreach to companies, search firms, and alumni-affiliated organizations to generate internship and full-time opportunities, employer-hosted events, and recruiting activity.
Manages and grows an assigned portfolio of employer accounts, maintaining regular contact, understanding hiring needs, and building recruiting plans that connect companies to the right students.
Gathers and shares market intelligence with the Careers SME, fellow coaches, and program leadership, and maintains accurate, up-to-date records in the team's CRM and career management platforms.
Maintains CRM and career management platforms with the Careers SME and produces regular pipeline and activity reports.
Coordinates logistics for employer visits, info sessions, and recruiting events.
Provides individualized coaching to MiM and MiF students on career exploration, goal-setting, job search strategy, and offer evaluation.
Coaches students on effectively positioning their graduate education and prior experience, including resumes, LinkedIn, and professional narrative.
Develops students' networking skills and confidence, and prepares them for interviews across behavioral, case, and technical formats, through mock interviews and targeted feedback.
Identifies students who may need additional coaching support, proactively following up and connecting them to appropriate resources.
Designs programs and interactive workshops to be delivered through the program, providing guidance and resources to students’ recruiting journeys.
Manages scheduling and logistics for workshops and mock interview programs.
Serves as a key partner to students, including the Student Community Council, supporting programming that builds community and belonging.
Designs and helps execute student engagement initiatives, including social events, community-building activities, and program traditions.
Supports signature student-facing events, including orientation, BoothCamp, and milestone celebrations, in partnership with the broader team.
Acts as an accessible, trusted presence for students beyond formal advising, surfacing themes relevant to program improvement.
Handles vendor coordination and event budgets for orientation, BoothCamp and milestone celebrations.
Analyzes markets and trends as they relate to job searches. Assesses student feedback and evaluations and collaborates with other career services staff members, student organizations, or other staff to determine program offerings and innovations.
Researches organizations that are hiring and partners with a wide variety of employers to ensure recruitment strategies meet their needs. Maintains contact with a portfolio of employers to serve as their dedicated Career Advancement liaison.
Performs other related work as needed.