Assistant Vice President for Career Integration & Executive Director, Center for Career & Professional Development

Job Title:

Department:

Job Description:

Rhodes College seeks a strategic student-centered outcomes-driven leader to serve as the Assistant Vice President for Career Integration and Executive Director of the Center for Career & Professional Development (CCPD). The AVP leads a campus-wide curriculum-to-career ecosystem that embeds career readiness across the academic and co-curricular experience so every student can identify build and communicate the skills they develop through a Rhodes education.

Grounded in the NACE Career Readiness Competencies and responsive to a hiring landscape increasingly shaped by skills-based evaluation digital portfolios and rapidly evolving workplace expectations the AVP In collaboration with the faculty and other campus partners aligns curriculum advising experiential learning employer/alumni engagement and career technology to strengthen student outcomes and post-graduate success.

This position requires occasional evening and weekend commitments and periodic travel for employer relations conferences and alumni engagement.

Job Responsibilities:

• Serve as the institutions chief strategist for career integration setting a measurable multi-year plan that links academic learning to career outcomes and post-graduate success.

• Build and chair a Career Integration Council (faculty/staff/students/employers/alumni) to align priorities scale effective practices and remove barriers to participation.

• Establish shared outcomes and transparent reporting for career integration and student success including regular updates to senior leadership and relevant governance groups.

• Lead change management and adoption across divisions ensuring strategy translates into consistent practice resourcing and accountability.

• Provide executive direction for CCPD operations staffing budget policies and service delivery.

• Lead and develop a high-performing team of career professionals and student staff; establish expectations coach performance and invest in professional development tied to outcomes.

• Ensure CCPD delivers high-impact career coaching and programs with equitable access across student identities majors and class years.

• Maintain professional and ethical standards consistent with the field of career services.

• Partner with faculty and academic leaders to make career readiness visible in the curriculum helping students connect course learning to career competencies and employer expectations.

• Support curriculum and assignment design that strengthens competencies aligned with NACE (e.g. communication critical thinking teamwork professionalism leadership technology career & self-development equity/inclusion).

• Develop faculty-friendly tools (templates sample syllabus language assignment and rubric templates) and deliver workshops that build faculty capacity to integrate career outcomes into teaching and advising.

• Expand Rhodes signature career-integrated learning experiences (e.g. industry projects client-based courses Gen Ed modules capstones with professional deliverables).

• Lead strategy for experiential learning that connects classroom learning to professional practice (internships micro-internships practicums research-to-work pathways project-based learning).

• Strengthen systems that increase access to opportunity (including paid experiences) with special attention to first-generation students and those with financial barriers.

• Align student employment and campus work experiences with competencies and career readiness outcomes.

• Create scalable pathways that support exploration early and targeted preparation later (career communities by industry/function alumni mentoring and milestone planning by class year).

• Expand employer partnerships to grow internships jobs mentorship and project-based collaborations prioritizing industries and geographies aligned with student interest and alumni strength.

• Partner with Development/Alumni Relations to activate alumni as mentors hosts recruiters and donors strengthening the career ecosystem around Rhodes students.

• Elevate employer and alumni engagement through fairs recruiting networking and targeted experiences that build social capital for all students.

• Represent Rhodes externally through professional associations and regional and national partnerships enhancing institutional visibility and outcomes.

• Lead a comprehensive outcomes and assessment strategy including First Destination outcomes engagement metrics learning outcomes and program ROI; use findings to continuously improve services.

• Strengthen the institutions ability to translate learning into market language leveraging career platforms skills/portfolio documentation resume analytics and labor-market insights.

• Prepare annual reports and contribute to institutional planning accreditation narratives and board-level updates as needed.

Job Qualifications:

• Masters degree in higher education counseling business organizational leadership or related field required.

• Eight (8) years of progressive leadership experience in career services experiential learning student success employer relations or related fields required; demonstrated success leading teams and complex initiatives required.

• Demonstrated expertise in career readiness frameworks and outcomes-based program design including NACE competencies required.

• Proven ability to build strong partnerships with faculty academic leadership employers alumni and external stakeholders required.

• Strong analytical skills communication and executive presence required; able to influence align and deliver results across competing priorities required.

• Terminal degree (EdD/PhD) or equivalent senior leadership experience preferred.

• Experience in a liberal arts college environment and/or integrating career readiness into curriculum at scale preferred.

• Demonstrated success leveraging career technologies (e.g. Handshake assessments e-portfolios/resume analytics tools LMS integrations) preferred.

• Fundraising partnership experience or experience building donor-supported career initiatives preferred.

Benefits Highlights:

• 403 (b) Retirement

• Medical Dental and Vision Insurance

• Vacation Time (23 days)

• Sick Time (12 days)

• Paid Holidays (21 days)

• Employee Assistance Program

• Long-Term & Short-Term Disability

• Life and AD&D Insurance

• Tuition Remission

For a full list of our benefits and additional information please navigate to our benefits site.

Rhodes is an equal opportunity employer that offers an excellent benefitspackage and a great working environment.

A complete application includes a cover letter and a resume.

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