"Associate Director for Career Development and Partnerships - Penn Engineering"

Job Description Summary

The Associate Director for Career Development and Partnerships provides leadership and operational oversight for career development and industry activation for Penn Engineering's growing on-campus master's community (2,000+ students across 15+ programs). Penn Engineering's residential master's portfolio is a global, fast-paced, and career outcomes-focused community. This leader will create scalable infrastructure that ensure students receive high-quality career coaching, professional development opportunities, and meaningful connections to employers and alumni-while demonstrating impact through outcomes reporting used to guide school-level investment.

Reporting to the Managing Director of the Office of Academic Services, the Associate Director will design and launch a modern, data-informed career ecosystem that blends self-guided learning, peer/GA supports, targeted 1:1 coaching, and robust industry programming. The role will build and lead a team of two advisors, set clear service standards and KPIs, and cultivate partnerships across engineering and technology sectors. In close collaboration with Penn Engineering Online and Central Career Services, the Associate Director will co-create reusable offerings, align resources and data, and scale what works across audiences-while maintaining clear ownership of the residential advising model and in-person activation.

Early priorities include launching a tiered career support model and establishing student-facing service standards, piloting three industry-specific programs with measurable participation and outcomes, and enhancing the knowledge rate of outcomes through an integrated survey and CRM workflow. Ideal candidates are energized by building new models, experimenting with high-impact formats, and delivering visible results for students and Penn Engineering.

Job Responsibilities

Strategy & Portfolio Leadership

• Build a comprehensive, tiered career development model for residential master's students (e.g., self-service learning; peer/GA supports; 1:1 advising), sharing best practices with the Online program's career support model.
• Develop an annual strategy and calendar that integrates advising, industry programming, and alumni engagement; ensure accessibility for international and career-switching students.
• Launch cohort-based career communities (industry pods, peer networking circles, alumni micro-mentoring) to increase belonging and job-search momentum.
• Own program design and implementation decisions; lead tool/vendor evaluation and make resourcing recommendations to scale the ecosystem.
• Establish service standards (e.g., response and appointment SLAs) and define KPIs (touchpoints, fill rate, wait time, NPS, outcomes knowledge rate, event participation, resource use).
• Co-create cross-audience programs and reusable content with Penn Engineering Online (Office of Academic Innovation) and Central Career Services.
  • Own career advising model and in-person activation for residential master's students.
  • Online owns online student career advising along with community-building and the online learner lifecycle.

Partnerships & Market Activation

• Design and deliver industry-specific programming (e.g., Industry Days, micro-fairs, employer spotlights, alumni panels, mock interviews, technical interview sprints, international hiring strategy series, alumni-in-residence weeks) in partnership with degree programs and/or cohort-based communities.
• Partner with central Career Services on employer relationships and large-scale fairs (the University is primary on fairs); co-sponsor events and share learnings where appropriate.
• Cultivate and track relationships with employers, alumni, and professional associations; manage pipeline health and yield.

Team Leadership & Operations

• Hire, onboard, supervise, and develop two full-time advisors who deliver both career advising and industry programming/employer relations with discipline area alignment, as well as periodic bridge programming open to online or non-master's audiences.
• Build team culture, professional development pathways, and a consistent advising/programming playbook that scales.
• Set priorities and goals, provide coaching and performance feedback, and manage peer/GA coverage during peaks.
• Oversee operations, calendars, communications, and records; ensure consistent use of platforms (e.g., Handshake, Slate/CRM, Canvas, event tools).
• Maintain playbooks/SOPs for advising, programming, and employer engagement to support consistency and scale.

Career Advising

• Maintain an advising portfolio centered on topical expertise and complex cases (strategy, negotiation, pivots), delivering select, high-impact coaching and serving as the quality and training backbone for the advising team.
• Ensure high-quality coaching in job search strategy, networking, resume/LinkedIn optimization, interviewing (technical/behavioral), and professional communication.
• Partner with graduate program administrators/faculty and student organizations to embed career learning (webinars, learning modules, clinic/lab touchpoints) and extend practice-ready skill development.

Data, Assessment & Continuous Improvement

• Implement NACE-aligned surveys and outcomes data collection; increase outcomes knowledge rate and use insights to iterate on programming.
• Monitor use, equity of access, event ROI, and employer pipeline metrics.
• Use data to refine services, inform resource allocation, and communicate impact.
• Prepare briefings and dashboards used by School leadership to guide investment and strategy in graduate career support.

Perform other duties as assigned to contribute to the wrap-around professional development support for Penn Engineering's student communities.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree and 3-5 years of progressively responsible experience in career services, employer relations, student affairs, workforce development, or a related field; or an equivalent combination of education and direct experience.
• Demonstrated experience supervising professional staff and/or high-volume advising operations, especially in professional/career development settings.
• Familiarity with job search strategy, resume/LinkedIn optimization, interviewing, and networking.
• Fluency with career platforms and CRM/event tools (e.g., Handshake; experience with Slate/Canvas or similar is a plus).
• Proficient with Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 Copilot, and communication tools (e.g., Slack, Teams), and able to adapt to new tools and technologies.
• Ability to, at times, participate in events and trainings outside normal business hours.
• Strong data literacy: ability to design surveys, interpret outcomes metrics, and make data-informed decisions.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and project management skills; commitment to student success.

Preferred

• Master's degree in Higher Education Administration or a relevant field.
• Experience in an R1 or highly decentralized research university; familiarity with STEM/engineering labor markets (e.g., software/data/AI, hardware/semiconductor, robotics, biotech, biomedical, product development, energy and sustainability).
• Direct experience advising master's-level or advanced professional students on job search strategy, resume/LinkedIn, interviewing, and networking.
• Proven record of building industry partnerships and delivering scalable programs (workshops, panels, recruiting events).
• Prior responsibility for hiring, onboarding, and developing professional advising teams.
• Demonstrated success coordinating with a central career office and/or multi-unit employer-relations ecosystem.
• Background in creating asynchronous learning modules or credit-adjacent career content.
• Knowledge of NACE standards and outcomes reporting; experience improving knowledge rate and storytelling with data.
• Comfort engaging with alumni, corporate partners, and faculty to co-create experiential programming.

Job Location - City, State

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Department / School

School of Engineering and Applied Science

Pay Range

$66,000.00 - $80,000.00 Annual Rate