Associate Director, Internships & Work-Based Education

ESSENTIAL JOB DUTIES

• Serve as an institution-wide leader and coordinating partner for internships and work-based education helping shape shared vision strategy and guiding practices.

• In collaboration with academic and institutional partners develop and support implementation of a comprehensive framework for experiential learning.

• Ensure alignment between internship strategy and institutional priorities related to student success equity and post-graduate outcomes.

• Partner with the Director Industry Relations to ensure strong alignment between employer pipelines and internship opportunities while supporting alignment across academic operational and policy dimensions.

• Serve as the central coordinating resource for internship policy and shared institutional practices. Advocate for and educate about institutional policies related to academic credit and learning outcomes compensation and labor compliance (e.g. FLSA considerations) risk management and liability and international internships and regulatory considerations.

• Develop clear accessible guidelines for students faculty and employers about internship policies.

• Co-chair the cross-college internship committee bringing together stakeholders from academic departments academic affairs legal risk management and career services among others.

• Partner with relevant stakeholders to support alignment of internship programs with legal ethical and accreditation standards

• Support faculty and academic units in exploring and expanding high-impact embedded work-based learning opportunities including credit-bearing internships capstone and project-based courses and industry-sponsored courses or studios.

• Support faculty in developing learning outcomes assessment frameworks and reflective components for experiential learning.

• Collaborate with faculty and partners to develop and help scale new work-based learning models

• Expand access to experiences through micro-internships and short-term projects on-campus and campus-affiliated experiential roles and alumni and industry-sponsored projects.

• Help align models with the realities of freelance gig-based and portfolio-driven careers common in arts and media industries.

• Pilot and scale programs that address barriers to access including funding location constraints and unpaid work.

• Promote broad access to high-quality internships and work-based learning opportunities by helping to identify and reduce structural and logistical barriers to participation.

• Partner with institutional stakeholders to expand paid internship opportunities financial supports such as stipends or micro-grants to reduce barriers to participation and employer practices that support fair transparent and skills-based recruitment:

• Monitor participation and outcomes to identify trends and opportunities to improve access and student success across the institution.

• Oversee the day-to-day management and strategic oversight for the EMTERN program.

• Develop and manage systems to track internship participation rates credit vs. non-credit experiences employer engagement in experiential learning and internship conversion outcomes.

• Use data and assessment to drive continuous improvement and strategic decision-making.

• Produce reports for institutional leadership on impact trends and areas for growth.

• Benchmark against peer institutions and national standards (e.g. NACE).

• Ensure a cohesive end-to-end student experience from preparation through placement and reflection.

• Other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS Qualifications are deemed required or preferred and represent what is needed to effectively perform job.

• A Masters degree in Counseling Higher Education Human Resources or a related field required.

• 5-7 years of experience in experiential learning internships academic program development and/or career services leadership required.

• Demonstrated expertise in internship program design policy development and compliance required.

• Experience working collaboratively with faculty and academic leadership required.

• Demonstrated success in leading cross-functional initiatives and governance structures required.

• Experience using data to inform program design and institutional strategy required.

• Experience in arts media communications or creative industries preferred.

• Experience designing programs for nonlinear freelance or portfolio-based career pathways preferred.

• Experience with experiential learning technologies and platforms preferred.

KNOWLEDGE SKILLS AND ABILITIES May be representative but not all-inclusive of those knowledge skills and abilities commonly associated with the job.

• Strong understanding of work-based learning models including internships project-based learning and co-op frameworks

• Excellent communication skills and ability to influence across diverse stakeholder groups

• Familiarity with labor laws and regulations related to internships (U.S. and/or international).

• Strong relationship building and influencing skills

• Strong knowledge of system thinking and program design

• Strong knowledge of policy development and governance

• Expert knowledge of market and industry trends and emerging opportunities

• Familiarity with academic governance and ability to collaborate with faculty

• Ability to make data-driven decisions

• Knowledge of fairness-oriented approaches to access and opportunity

• Ability to innovate and develop experiential learning programs

• Strong data analysis and assessment skills

PHYSICAL ABILITIES Activities commonly associated with the performance of the functions of this job. The physical demands described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

• Position is generally sedentary requiring movement throughout the area as needed.

• Ability to sit and concentrate for long periods of time.

• Continuous oral and written communication with co-workers students and supervisors.

WORK ENVIRONMENT Environmental or atmospheric conditions commonly associated with the performance of the functions of this job.

• General office conditions

• Exposed to moderate noise levels

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In addition to a competitive salary Emerson College is committed to the health and well-being of our employees and family members. We offer a generous benefits package to regular staff scheduled to work 20 hours per week.

Emerson Employment Categories influence work schedules benefits eligibility and time off policies. Benefits include outstanding health plans with limited out-of-pocket expenses dental plans generous time-off programs and a 403(b) retirement benefit with a 9% employer contribution once eligible. Additional benefits such as life and disability coverage and commuter offerings are available.

Please refer to our benefits website for a full list of benefits and eligibility requirements.