Director, Academic Advising and Career Services

Gateway Technical College • Kenosha, WI

1d • Onsite

About The Position

The Director of Academic Advising and Career & Employment Services provides strategic and operational leadership for Gateway’s academic advising, career development, and employment services. This leader translates institutional priorities into departmental strategies, implements student-centered programs and services, and continuously improves practices that advance student success. The Director leads integrated advising and career services supporting student onboarding, persistence, completion, transfer, employment, and lifelong career readiness. Working across academic divisions, Student Services, employers, workforce partners, and community organizations, the Director strengthens support systems, improves service delivery, and uses technology and data to advance institutional effectiveness. This position supervises approximately 16–18 Academic Advisors and the Manager of Career & Employment Services.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Five years of progressively responsible experience in higher education, student affairs, academic advising, career services, enrollment management, or a related student-services environment, including supervisory experience.
• Experience leading departmental operations, student-success initiatives, organizational change, and services across multiple functional areas.
• Strong organizational, planning, analytical, and communication skills.
• Experience leading, coaching, developing, and evaluating professional employees.
• Knowledge of student-success practices, academic advising, career development, student-development theory, and institutional resources.
• Experience using student information systems, CRM platforms, advising technologies, career-management systems, or related technologies.
• Demonstrated professionalism, sound judgment, and ability to work effectively with diverse stakeholders.
• Must be legally authorized to work permanently in the United States.
• Must be flexible to work daytime, evening, and weekend hours based on operational and student needs.
• Must travel among Gateway locations and to external partner sites.
• Must have reliable transportation.

Responsibilities

• Direct and continuously improve advising, career development, employer engagement, experiential learning, and student-success initiatives.
• Lead cross-functional planning with academic divisions, Student Services, Institutional Research, Information Technology, employers, and community partners.
• Direct departmental operations, technology initiatives, staffing, and resource allocation.
• Oversee grant implementation, regulatory compliance, performance monitoring, and reporting.
• Establish performance measures, monitor outcomes, and align initiatives with institutional priorities.
• Provide leadership, supervision, coaching, and performance management for department employees.
• Translate institutional priorities into departmental strategies, service models, and operational initiatives.
• Lead continuous improvement of advising and career-development models.
• Analyze student-success data, labor-market trends, workforce information, and institutional performance measures.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen partnerships, improve services, use technology effectively, and secure external funding.
• Build relationships with academic leaders, faculty, employers, workforce organizations, community partners, students, alumni, and other stakeholders.
• Represent Gateway through professional partnerships, advisory groups, workforce initiatives, and professional organizations.
• Communicate priorities, outcomes, recommendations, and initiatives to internal and external stakeholders.
• Ensure advising and career services are accessible, responsive, student-centered, and aligned with student and employer needs.
• Ensure compliance with institutional policies, accreditation standards, FERPA, grant requirements, and applicable regulations.
• Oversee departmental budgets, grant administration, reporting, assessment activities, and operational documentation.
• Oversee advising technologies, career-management systems, CRM platforms, assessment processes, and operational procedures.
• Maintain accountability for departmental records, reporting, and performance measures.
• Evaluate institutional, workforce, and student-success data to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Recommend improvements to advising models, career services, technology use, resource allocation, and operations.
• Balance competing priorities and implement solutions that improve student outcomes.
• Exercise sound judgment when interpreting policies, regulatory requirements, and strategic priorities.
• Serve on institutional committees and represent Gateway through professional organizations and workforce partnerships.
• Maintain current knowledge of trends, best practices, regulations, and technologies.
• Support institutional initiatives, special projects, and other assigned duties.

Benefits

• Leadership opportunity to help students navigate educational journeys and connect learning with career opportunities.
• Opportunity to guide a team influencing student persistence, completion, transfer, and employment outcomes.

What This Job Offers

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