Civic Engagement & Partnerships Manager

Civic Engagement & Partnerships Manager

ABOUT MINERVA UNIVERSITY

Minerva University is a highly selective four-year institution challenging the traditional approach to higher education. Minerva has been intentionally designed -- combining a reinvented curriculum rigorous academic standards cutting-edge technology and an immersive global experience to prepare the most motivated students in the world to solve complex challenges. Students develop both academically and as culturally dexterous individuals interacting with classmates from more than 40 different countries.

Minerva undergraduate students come from all over the world to spend their first year in residence in San Francisco and their second year in Tokyo and then live and study in a different major world city each year thereafter. These cities have included Seoul Hyderabad Berlin Buenos Aires London and Taipei. These rich international experiences provide students with deep global understanding and skills.

ABOUT STUDENT LIFE

The Student Life team oversees the growth and development of students outside the classroom. Student Life staff members work within and across teams focused on residential life and Minerva community development civic engagement and cultural immersion mental health and wellbeing and professional development of students to prepare them for post-graduation employment or graduate and professional school. These teams are unified by a shared goal of providing and/or supporting opportunities for integrated learning for our diverse and global student community.

ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES

Reporting to the City Director the Civic Engagement & Partnerships Manager will support a small team to build strong external relationships to facilitate experiential learning opportunities for Minerva students. The manager will be adept at building and maintaining high level relationships in Japan as well as able to communicate and work effectively with partners to produce detail oriented workshops and programs for students. This individual will embrace the opportunity to work with young adults from more than 40 different countries who are navigating a professional cultural and academic journey and are eager and excited to grow through engaging in experiences in the places in which they live. Reporting to the City Director the role will be an integral member of the Student Life Team in Tokyo supporting all activities in the city and nationally providing students with a holistic two-semester experience.

Job Responsibilities

PARTNERSHIP STRATEGY AND MANAGEMENT ( summer & fall term) (60%)

• Develop local partnership outreach strategy and implementation to recruit local organizations as civic partners for the institution
• Build and maintain a strong network of local professionals who are excited to work with our students collaborate on experiences and offer local opportunities
• Support event management of Japanese Society & Culture Course a required fall-course for students in Tokyo in collaboration with Faculty-in-Residence with joint oversight over curricular experiences related to the course.

PROJECT EXECUTION (spring term) (60%)

• Lead the execution of the Civic Project Course a required spring-course for students in Tokyo in collaboration with the Faculty-in-Residence with primary oversight over partnership relationship maintenance and development.
• Triage any issues that arise with the partner(s) or student civic project group(s).
• Design and facilitate engaging skills-based sessions that complement the Civic Project Program and promote knowledge transfer
• Lead experience design and facilitation in collaboration with the Academic Team for the Civic Project course and partnership events.
• Lead and produce Civitas & Symposium two class-wide events which connect students and local partners & showcase end of year learning respectively

PARTNERSHIP RELATIONSHIPS (10%)

• Maintain and foster relationships with existing partners in preparation for spring semester civic project implementation and course support
• Represent Minerva University at meetings with local strategic partnerships including but not limited to The Nippon Foundation Tokyo Metropolitan Government partner universities and others.
• Coordinate with city governments in partner cities

STUDENT LIFE TEAM & ADMINISTRATIVE DUTIES (30%)

• Maintain and track assigned budget on an ongoing basis with reconciliation taking place on a monthly basis.
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• Work collaboratively with other members of the Student Life team to cross-support city initiatives and student programs
• Provide reasonable language support occasionally during programs and meetings.
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• Organize and participate in city preparation and management opening and closing including roommate assignments check-in and check-out duties
• Support the execution and planning of Milestone Events with assigned lead responsibilities. Milestone events include
• Elevation (Spring Orientation) in September January
• Quinquatria (Spring Celebration) in March
• Continuum (End of Semester Celebration) in April
• Hold the emergency phone on a rotating weekend basis (roughly once a month) Thursday evening - Monday morning during which time the on-duty staff must remain in the Tokyo Metropolitan area to respond to emergencies as they arise. All emergency response staff will receive training to understand the building and resources to effectively respond to student emergencies.
• Be visible to students during the Monday to Friday work week with demonstrable active contributions during the entire semester including the requirement for some weekend or evening work
• Host weekly office hours as well as 1-on-1 meetings with students as needed
• Other duties as assigned by the Tokyo City Director

Requirements:

YOU ARE A...

• Natural connector with experience building and maintaining long-lasting local partnerships. Experience using an established CRM is a plus.
• Strong project manager who is expertly able to prioritize multiple projects at once with familiarity with tools such as Asana and Notion.
• Proactive problem solver who pays close attention to details.
• Experienced team player who is adaptable and committed to putting in the extra effort needed to get the job done.
• Comfortable working at all levels of an organization (executive staff faculty etc.).
• Dynamic individual who is comfortable working in ambiguity.
• Self-starter with an ability to work independently and take initiative.
• Person passionate about student development in multicultural environments and deeply aware of intercultural dynamics in Japan.
• Positive individual with an ability to give and receive feedback well.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelors degree (or equivalent) in an applicable field.
• 5-7 years relevant professional experience.
• Excellent communication skills in English and Japanese (written and verbal).
• Strong working knowledge of Tokyo and Japanese cultural norms systems and day-to-day practices with the ability to support student adjustment and navigation.
• Fluent in Japanese and English.
• Possess a local professional network.
• Citizen of Japan or in possession of work authorization documents for Japan.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Applications received by April 15 2026 will receive priority consideration.

Candidates should include a Resume Cover Letter and Supplemental Question Responses to the below questions as three separate documents:

• What excites you about this role and Minervas Student Life department
• What challenges do you anticipate when engaging with partners in Japan on behalf of Minerva University
• How would you engage a potential partner who is hesitant about establishing a connection
• What contributions do you hope to bring to this new role
• What changes do you foresee in this role compared to your previous role

This is a full-time position. The role will commence as an independent contractor engagement for an initial six-month period with eligibility for transition to employee status based on successful performance. Salary range is $61000 - $75000 annually.

Minerva is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race color creed gender religion marital status registered domestic partner status age national origin or ancestry sexual orientation gender identity physical or mental disability or any other consideration made unlawful by federal state or local law.