Director of Career Services

Valparaiso University•Valparaiso, IN

14h•$80,000 - $85,000•Onsite

About The Position

Valparaiso University (“Valpo”) seeks an innovative, collaborative, and strategic leader to serve as its next Director of Career Services. Valpo is a distinctive community of teaching and learning, rooted in its Lutheran values and reaching into the next generation to build lives for good. Operating within Academic Affairs, Career Services is positioned to play an increasingly important role in Valpo’s academic and co-curricular student experience. The Director will serve as the primary architect of Valpo’s strategy for career development and readiness, supporting students from their first year through graduation and into alumni status. Working across the University, the Director will integrate career exploration, experiential learning, career preparation, and connections with employers and alumni throughout the student experience. A central opportunity will be strengthening connections between Valpo’s academic programs and the evolving world of work. In partnership with faculty, staff, alumni, employers, and community partners, the Director will expand internships and career-engaged experiences, strengthen employer and alumni networks, and help students connect their education and vocational discernment with meaningful lives and careers. The Director will also advance the use of technology, artificial intelligence, labor-market information, and outcomes data to strengthen programs and demonstrate the value of a Valpo education. The University is experiencing renewed momentum under President Rev. Brian E. Konkol, Ph.D., including a growing emphasis on lifelong faith and learning. Career Services will help students and alumni navigate continued learning, vocational growth, and career development throughout their lives. The Director will lead and develop the Career Services team, including the opportunity to hire an Assistant Director while working alongside an experienced Coordinator. This is an opportunity for a creative and entrepreneurial leader to shape the future of career development at Valpo. Located approximately one hour southeast of Chicago in Northwest Indiana, Valpo is a teaching-focused, student-centered university serving approximately 2,000 undergraduate and 350 graduate students across four academic colleges and Christ College, The Honors College. Its network of more than 60,000 alumni provides a significant resource for mentoring, networking, experiential learning, and career opportunities. Position Description: The Director of Career Services provides strategic leadership and direction for career development at Valparaiso University, positioning career readiness as an integral part of the University’s academic and co-curricular student experience. The Director serves as the primary architect of Valpo’s student career success strategy, establishing institutional direction, developing partnerships, managing resources, and building a comprehensive career development ecosystem that supports students from their first year through graduation and into alumni status. Working collaboratively across the University, the Director connects Valpo’s distinctive programs with evolving workforce needs while advancing the University’s mission of preparing students to lead and serve in life beyond the University. The Director develops strong partnerships with academic colleges, faculty, student success and engagement units, alumni, employers, and community organizations to expand career education, experiential learning, internships, mentoring, networking, and employment opportunities. The Director leads Career Services staff and operations and uses technology, labor-market information, assessment, and career outcomes data to strengthen programs, demonstrate impact, and advance broader University priorities related to student success, retention, enrollment, and the value of a Valpo education.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required.
Minimum of six to seven years of progressively responsible professional experience in career services, higher education, student success, employer relations, workforce development, talent development, or a related area.
Demonstrated leadership and supervisory experience, including responsibility for staff, programs, operations, budgets, and organizational priorities.
Demonstrated success developing collaborative relationships with academic units, employers, alumni, community organizations, and other internal and external partners.
Experience with career management platforms, career technologies, labor-market tools, data analysis, and outcomes assessment.
Experience developing scalable approaches to career development and integrating career readiness into the broader student experience.
Demonstrated ability to lead change, develop new initiatives, and translate strategic priorities into measurable results.
Strategic Leadership: Demonstrated ability to establish vision and priorities, translate strategy into action, lead and develop teams, manage change, and foster an innovative and collaborative working environment.
Career Development: Comprehensive knowledge of contemporary career development practices, career readiness competencies, experiential and career-engaged learning, employer recruiting practices, and workforce trends.
Student Success: Understanding of how career development contributes to student engagement, persistence, academic success, vocational discernment, and post-graduate outcomes.
University Collaboration: Demonstrated ability to work across academic and administrative boundaries and build shared ownership for institutional initiatives.
Employer and Alumni Engagement: Demonstrated ability to establish and sustain productive relationships with employers, alumni, community organizations, and other external partners.
Technology and Innovation: Ability to leverage career technologies, artificial intelligence, digital platforms, and emerging tools to expand access, improve services, and increase organizational effectiveness.
Data and Assessment: Ability to use career outcomes, labor-market information, assessment, and other data to establish priorities, evaluate effectiveness, and inform institutional decision-making.
Communication: Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to communicate effectively with students, faculty, administrators, employers, alumni, and community partners.
Planning and Execution: Strong organizational, project-management, analytical, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and move complex initiatives from concept to implementation.
Mission: Commitment to the mission of Valparaiso University and an understanding of the role career development can play in helping students connect their education, vocation, and preparation for lives of leadership and service.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree preferred in higher education, counseling, student affairs, business, organizational leadership, human resources, education, or a related field.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute a comprehensive strategy for career development and career readiness aligned with Valparaiso University’s mission, academic priorities, and student success goals.
Position Career Services as a University-wide partner in preparing students for meaningful lives and careers beyond Valpo.
Lead, supervise, mentor, develop, and evaluate Career Services staff while fostering a collaborative, innovative, and high-performing team.
Oversee departmental operations, budgets, technology, resources, policies, assessment, and continuous improvement.
Identify and incorporate emerging trends and best practices in career development, higher education, employer engagement, workforce development, technology, and artificial intelligence.
Ensure Career Services practices reflect appropriate professional and ethical standards, including the NACE Principles for Ethical Professional Practice.
Lead the development and delivery of comprehensive career education that supports students throughout their academic journey and transition to employment, graduate or professional education, and other post-graduate opportunities.
Develop strategies that increase student awareness, engagement, and utilization of career development resources beginning early in the student experience.
Integrate contemporary career-readiness practices and NACE Career Readiness Competencies into career education, programming, and resources.
Expand access to internships, job shadowing, micro-internships, research, project-based experiences, mentoring, and other experiential and career-engaged learning opportunities.
Develop scalable approaches—including technology-enabled and AI-supported resources—that extend career development opportunities to undergraduate students, graduate students, and alumni.
Build collaborative partnerships with deans, faculty, academic advisors, student success and engagement units, enrollment and outreach programs, Alumni Relations, and other University partners to integrate career development throughout the student experience.
Work with academic colleges and programs to embed career readiness, career exploration, experiential learning, industry engagement, micro-credentials, and other career-preparation activities into curricular and co-curricular experiences.
Provide consultation, resources, data, and tools to academic programs and other campus partners to strengthen connections between students’ academic experiences, vocational discernment, and future opportunities.
Advance University-wide priorities related to career readiness, experiential learning, student success, retention, and post-graduate outcomes.
Provide strategic leadership for employer and external engagement, creating strong pipelines connecting Valpo students with internship, employment, mentorship, networking, and career exploration opportunities.
Develop, maintain, and expand relationships with local, regional, national, and global employers, nonprofit organizations, community partners, and other organizations.
Provide strategic oversight for recruiting activities, career fairs, industry networking events, employer programs, student employment initiatives, and other opportunities connecting students with employers.
Collaborate with academic colleges, University Advancement, Alumni Relations, and other partners to activate Valpo’s alumni network in support of student mentoring, networking, career exploration, internships, and employment.
Identify opportunities for employer and alumni partnerships that extend beyond recruiting and contribute to the broader academic and student experience.
Establish measurable goals and key performance indicators for student engagement, employer engagement, experiential learning, career outcomes, and overall program effectiveness.
Direct the collection, analysis, and reporting of post-graduation outcomes, including the First Destination Survey, and use results to demonstrate the value and outcomes of a Valpo education.
Use career outcomes, student engagement data, employer feedback, and labor-market intelligence to establish priorities and continuously improve programs and services.
Provide strategic leadership for career management platforms, digital resources, artificial intelligence tools, and emerging technologies that support students, alumni, employers, and University partners.
Collaborate with University partners to use career and workforce data to inform institutional priorities related to academic programs, enrollment, retention, student success, and strategic planning.
Serve as the University’s primary advocate and thought leader for career development, career readiness, and the changing world of work.
Develop and oversee communication and outreach strategies that increase awareness, engagement, and utilization of Career Services.
Collaborate with University partners to communicate career opportunities, employer and alumni partnerships, experiential learning opportunities, and student career outcomes.
Represent Valparaiso University with employers, professional organizations, community partners, alumni, and other external constituencies.