Associate Director of Employer Relations - Center for Career Development and Academic Exploration - UTK

University of Tennessee • Knoxville, IA

6d • $73,000 - $78,630 • Onsite

About The Position

The Associate Director of Employer Relations provides strategic and operational leadership for the Center for Career Development & Academic Exploration’s employer relations, external partnerships, and career outcomes efforts. The position supervises the Assistant Director of Employer Development and the Assistant Director of Employer Engagement, aligning employer development, engagement, and strategic partnership activities. It manages the Center’s highest-level employer relationships, including Elite Partners and the Employer Advisory Council; develops opportunities for alumni to support student success and career readiness; coordinates strategic employer and executive engagement with the University; and leads the Center’s career outcomes strategy. The role collaborates with the Center, Division of Student Success, academic colleges, Advancement, alumni engagement, and other University partners.

The Associate Director also leads career outcomes data collection, validation, analysis, and reporting, ensuring alignment with NACE standards and University expectations. The position develops coordinated alumni engagement strategies and cultivates alumni participation in mentoring, career education, experiential learning, networking, employer engagement, and other student-facing initiatives. The role contributes to Center, departmental, divisional, and professional activities, including employer orientation, career fairs and major events, staff training, outreach, and professional development.

This is an onsite position in Knoxville, Tennessee. The anticipated hiring range is $73,000–$78,630. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States full-time without current or future sponsorship for employment-based visa status.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in higher education, student affairs, business, communications, public administration, human resources, or a related field.
• At least five years of professional experience in career services, employer relations, corporate partnerships, alumni engagement, advancement, workforce development, or a related area.
• Demonstrated experience supervising professional staff or leading teams.
• Knowledge of employer relations, strategic partnerships, career development, career outcomes, and workforce trends.
• Knowledge of career outcomes data collection and reporting practices, including NACE standards and data quality principles.
• Skills in building, stewarding, and expanding relationships.
• Skills in supervision, team leadership, strategic planning, project management, and cross-functional collaboration.
• Ability to analyze, interpret, and communicate data to varied audiences.
• Ability to navigate complex organizations, build consensus, and lead initiatives across stakeholder groups.
• Ability to think strategically, exercise sound judgment, and manage multiple priorities independently.
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis without needing employment-based visa sponsorship now or in the future.

Nice To Haves

• Higher education career services or employer relations experience.
• Strategic partnership program experience.
• First-destination or career outcomes experience and knowledge of NACE standards.
• Experience with 12Twenty, Handshake, or comparable career technologies.
• Experience collaborating with advancement, alumni relations, academic units, and senior leadership.

Responsibilities

• Directly supervise, coach, support the professional development of, and manage the performance of the Assistant Director of Employer Development and Assistant Director of Employer Engagement.
• Provide operational leadership for the Employer Relations unit and align employer development and engagement activities with Center and University priorities.
• Establish goals, priorities, expectations, and workflows across Employer Relations in partnership with the Director.
• Promote collaboration across the Employer Relations team and other Center functions, including Career Coaching & Education and Academic & Career Exploration.
• Identify process, employer experience, team effectiveness, and resource-utilization improvements through assessment, stakeholder feedback, and emerging best practices.
• Serve on the Center’s leadership team and represent Employer Relations in the Director’s absence, as appropriate.
• Serve as the primary relationship manager for Elite Partners and develop individualized partner engagement strategies tied to recruiting, career readiness, experiential learning, student success, and University priorities.
• Lead partnership stewardship, assessment, renewal, and expansion, using engagement data and stakeholder feedback to evaluate impact and identify growth opportunities.
• Lead the Employer Advisory Council, including membership strategy, meeting planning and facilitation, member engagement, and translating employer insights into recommendations.
• Provide strategic direction for high-level employer engagement and campus visits, and collaborate with University partners to deepen employer relationships.
• Lead and streamline the Center’s career outcomes strategy, including collection, validation, analysis, and reporting of first-destination and career outcomes data.
• Ensure career outcomes practices align with NACE standards and University reporting expectations, and improve data quality, consistency, efficiency, and knowledge rates.
• Coordinate outcomes data from students, employers, institutional systems, and other sources; collaborate with the Career Systems Manager on 12Twenty and related technologies.
• Translate career outcomes data into insights for strategy, communicating student success and impact to internal and external stakeholders.
• Lead and support annual and institutional reporting on student career outcomes and employer engagement.
• Develop and lead a coordinated strategy to engage alumni in career development and student success through their time, talent, expertise, and professional networks.
• Create alumni opportunities in mentoring, career education, experiential learning, networking, employer engagement, and other student-facing initiatives.
• Partner with Advancement, alumni engagement, academic colleges, Student Success, and other stakeholders to align and steward alumni and external partnerships.
• Develop collaborative opportunities among alumni, employers, and campus partners that advance career readiness and post-graduation success.
• Support employer orientation to UTK recruiting; monitor employer engagement and industry trends; and identify opportunities for growth.
• Contribute to departmental leadership, operational planning, performance standards, events, career fairs, marketing, and community outreach.
• Participate in Division of Student Success activities and professional development.
• Investigate employment trends and hiring practices, train Center staff on relevant information, and participate in local, state, regional, and national organizations such as chambers of commerce, SoACE, and NACE.

Benefits

• Employees have access to career development and coaching, continued education, and development and training opportunities.
• The University describes its employee values as including work-life balance, compensation, and innovation leadership.

What This Job Offers

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