Executive Director - Career Futures
About the Opportunity
Job Summary
Reporting to the Assistant Vice President of Leadership Relations
and Campaign Strategy, the Executive Director will build and lead
Northeastern's Career Futures platform, creating a university-wide
and globally connected capability that brings together workforce
intelligence, employer insight, alumni and parent engagement,
industry partnerships, and lifelong learning into a cohesive
ecosystem supporting professional success throughout the career
lifecycle.
Working collaboratively across Leadership Relations and Campaign
Strategy, Employer Engagement & Career Design, Global
Enterprise Initiatives, Education Innovation, the Co-op ecosystem,
colleges and schools, academic leadership, Northeastern's global
campus network, and external partners, the Executive Director will
serve as Northeastern's institutional connector to the evolving
global talent marketplace.
Bringing current, working knowledge of talent dynamics, career
pathways, hiring trends, and emerging opportunities, this leader
will translate workforce intelligence into scalable engagement
strategies, thought leadership, programming, and partnerships that
create meaningful value for alumni, parents, students, employers,
and the university.
As a newly created role, the Executive Director will help shape
both the vision and operating model for Career Futures. Building on
successful pilots and emerging initiatives across the university,
this leader will establish the infrastructure, partnerships,
governance, and scalable operating model needed to transform
innovation into a sustainable institutional platform.
Minimum Qualifications
- Minimum of 10 years of progressive leadership experience in
workforce strategy, talent, employer engagement, alumni engagement,
executive search, human capital, organizational development, or a
related field.
Demonstrated knowledge of labor market trends, workforce
dynamics, talent ecosystems, and the future of work, with the
ability to translate insight into scalable programs, partnerships,
and engagement strategies.
Experience building new initiatives, operational
infrastructure, partnerships, or platforms within complex
organizations.
Ability to engage alumni and parents as active contributors and
strategic partners, not solely as audiences.
An entrepreneurial, first-mover mindset paired with the global
fluency and nimbleness to work effectively across Northeastern's
global network of campuses.
Outstanding communication, relationship-building, and executive
presence, with the ability to convene diverse stakeholders and
influence across organizational boundaries.
Strong analytical orientation and experience using workforce
intelligence, engagement metrics, and outcomes data to guide
strategy and measure impact.
PREFERRED EXPERIENCE
- Experience working within higher education, employer
engagement, workforce development, talent strategy, or another
highly matrixed organization.
- Familiarity with AI-enabled workforce technologies, labor
market intelligence platforms, and digital engagement tools.
- Established professional credibility and networks within one or
more industry sectors, with the expectation that Career Futures
will expand strategically over time across additional sectors and
disciplines.
Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities
Build & Scale the Career Futures Platform
- Own the Career Futures platform, working with cross-university
collaborators (employer engagement, co-op, employer partners,
alumni and parent relations, advancement, etc.) to align around
shared workforce thought leadership.
- Serve as the scaling point for proven pilots emerging from
Global Enterprise Initiatives and network-market testing, building
the durable infrastructure to run them as an ongoing part of Career
Futures.
Lead Workforce Intelligence
- The workforce intelligence function will look beyond domestic
labor market trends to understand how talent, skills, industries,
and career pathways are evolving across the markets in which
Northeastern's students, alumni, employers, and campuses are
located.
- Create a workforce intelligence function that monitors talent
trends, employer priorities, skills gaps, technology, etc. and
translates those into ongoing lifelong career value.
Activate the Career Futures Network
Northeastern's global network creates a distinctive opportunity to
connect alumni and parents not only within industries, but across
markets-creating pathways for mentorship, learning,
entrepreneurship, and professional opportunity that transcend
geography.
- Connect alumni and adjacent audiences with the people,
industries, and opportunities shaping the future of work, while
activating Northeastern's global alumni and parent network as a
source of mentorship, career intelligence, and pre- and
post-graduate professional opportunity.
- Engage alumni and parents as coaches and cohort leaders, and
offer credentialing programs aligned with industry needs, providing
both vertical depth within sectors and horizontal skills across
industries, with particular attention to supporting alumni founders
and entrepreneurs.
- Build this network as a two-way relationship, where alumni and
parents gain access to Northeastern's workforce intelligence and
opportunities while contributing the insight and mentorship that
make the network valuable in the first place.
- Prioritize sectors where Northeastern alumni and parents are
most concentrated and where workforce disruption creates the
greatest opportunity, launching with industries offering strong
existing C-suite alumni and parent relationships and expanding from
there, positioning Northeastern as industry's strategic partner in
talent development, with an eye on global labor markets.
Advance Northeastern's Voice
- Position Northeastern as a trusted voice on workforce
transformation, lifelong learning, and career mobility through
content, partnerships, and engagement that Northeastern is uniquely
able to deliver.
- Offer candid, substantive perspective on where the field is
headed, reaching senior alumni and parent audiences and cultivating
high-value relationships and future collaboration.
Position Type
Advancement
Additional Information
Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work
experience, education and skills when extending an offer.
Northeastern has a comprehensive benefits package for benefit
eligible employees. This includes medical, vision, dental, paid
time off, tuition assistance, wellness & life, retirement- as
well as commuting & transportation. Visit
https://hr.northeastern.edu/benefits/ for
more information.
All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive
consideration for employment without regard to race, religion,
color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability
status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable
law.
Compensation Grade/Pay Type:
114S
Expected Hiring Range:
$130,945.00 - $189,868.75
With the pay range(s) shown above, the starting salary will depend
on several factors, which may include your education, experience,
location, knowledge and expertise, and skills as well as a pay
comparison to similarly-situated employees already in the role.
Salary ranges are reviewed regularly and are subject to
change.
To apply, visit https://northeastern.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/careers/job/Boston-MA-Main-Campus/Executive-Director---Career-Futures_R141744
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