Director, Media, Entertainment & Sports Career Pathway

Vanderbilt University•Nashville, TN

About The Position

The Director, Media, Entertainment & Sports Career Pathway is a strategic leader on Vanderbilt University’s Career Advancement & Engagement (CAE) team. The Director develops and advances a career pathway integrating career advising, industry expertise, employer and alumni engagement, experiential learning, and student preparation across media, entertainment, sports, and adjacent creative industries. Relevant sectors include film and television, music, sports, streaming and digital media, gaming, content and creative industries, and entertainment technology. The Director brings deep knowledge of these industries and their nonlinear, relationship-driven career paths. In partnership with CAE’s Employer Relations and Experiential Learning teams, the role strengthens relationships with employers, alumni, parents, and industry leaders and helps turn those relationships into internships, projects, mentoring, industry immersion, recruiting opportunities, and full-time outcomes. The Director leads the pathway’s strategy and coordinates its broader ecosystem, connecting students with Vanderbilt’s academic programs, alumni networks, geographic assets, and industry relationships in Nashville, New York, Los Angeles, and other key markets. The Director reports to the Vice Provost for Career Advancement & Engagement and serves on the Vice Provost’s leadership team, contributing to CAE’s broader strategy and Vanderbilt’s Career Ecosystem. The position does not initially have direct supervisory responsibility, but provides strategic direction and coordinates the work of advisers and other university and external partners. Regular travel to key industry markets is expected.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required.
Minimum 10+ years of relevant professional experience in media, entertainment, sports, creative industries, career development, employer relations, or a closely related field.
Deep understanding of the structure, culture, career paths, talent needs, and relationship-driven hiring practices of media, entertainment, and sports industries.
Demonstrated ability to develop relationships with senior industry leaders, employers, alumni, and other external stakeholders.
Experience developing industry partnerships, experiential learning opportunities, talent programs, or professional networks.
Demonstrated ability to translate industry knowledge into effective strategies for student or early-career talent development.
Leadership experience managing staff, complex programs, or cross-functional initiatives.
Strong strategic thinking, communication, collaboration, and relationship-building skills.
Ability to operate effectively across organizational boundaries and connect people, resources, and opportunities.
Willingness to travel regularly to key industry markets and engage extensively with employers, alumni, and industry leaders.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree or equivalent combination of advanced education and relevant professional experience preferred.
Significant professional experience within one or more media, entertainment, sports, or creative-industry sectors is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead Vanderbilt’s Media, Entertainment & Sports career pathway strategy and set priorities for student preparation, experiential learning, industry engagement, and career outcomes.
Define priority sectors, career opportunities, readiness milestones, and preparation models suited to MES industry recruiting and hiring practices.
Integrate advising, employer engagement, experiential learning, alumni engagement, and programming into a coherent pathway.
Monitor industry, technology, labor-market, and recruiting trends and use insights to refine strategy.
Build Vanderbilt’s visibility and reputation as a source of undergraduate talent in media, entertainment, sports, and creative industries.
Represent Vanderbilt with employers, executives, alumni, parents, and other industry leaders; cultivate relationships that create student opportunities.
Partner with Employer Relations leadership to identify priority organizations and develop multidimensional partnerships.
Activate alumni and parents as mentors, connectors, speakers, advisers, employers, and champions.
Expand student access to internships, projects, industry professionals, networking, and full-time employment.
Leverage Vanderbilt’s relationships and presence in Nashville, New York, Los Angeles, and other industry centers to develop a connected MES network.
Set the pathway strategy for experiential learning and industry exposure in collaboration with CAE’s Experiential Learning team.
Develop and deliver experiences such as Vandy in Hollywood, industry treks, employer-sponsored projects, shadowing, mentoring, internships, company visits, and other forms of industry immersion.
Create progressive opportunities for students to explore MES careers and build experience as their interests and readiness develop.
Partner with academic programs, faculty, alumni, employers, and student organizations to connect classroom learning with industry practice.
Lead strategy for preparing students to navigate the nonlinear, competitive, and relationship-driven nature of MES careers.
Establish pathway-specific milestones and readiness expectations related to industry knowledge, professional relationships, experiential learning, portfolios or creative work where relevant, and recruiting preparation.
Lead and develop staff responsible for pathway advising and student programming.
Provide selective high-level coaching and industry perspective to students navigating competitive opportunities or complex career decisions.
Build partnerships with faculty, academic programs, Development and Alumni Relations, Athletics, student organizations, and other university partners.
Connect Vanderbilt’s academic strengths and alumni relationships with industry opportunities and career pathways.
Work with CAE leadership to steward employer, alumni, and experiential relationships as institutional assets and leverage them across Vanderbilt where appropriate.
Identify opportunities to connect the MES pathway with Vanderbilt’s presence in New York and other network locations.
Establish and monitor measures of pathway engagement, experiential learning participation, employer activity, internship and placement outcomes, and student readiness.
Use student feedback, employer input, labor-market information, and outcomes data to evaluate and refine pathway strategy.
Identify gaps in access or outcomes and develop strategies to help students build meaningful industry relationships and experiences regardless of their existing networks.
Contribute to the broader strategy, priorities, and continued development of Career Advancement & Engagement and Vanderbilt’s Career Ecosystem.
Travel regularly to key industry markets and engage with employers, alumni, and industry leaders.