This position is fully in-person (not remote or
hybrid).
GENERAL STATEMENT OF JOB
Reporting to the Director of The Smith Institute, the Assistant
Director is a key operational and outcomes leader responsible for
translating the Institute’s strategic priorities into disciplined
execution, measurable student engagement, high-quality employer
connections, and reliable data. The position supports The Smith
Institute’s evolution from a traditional career-services model into
an integrated hub for career success and career-connected learning
that connects students to career readiness, experiential learning,
employer and alumni networks, internships, employment, graduate and
professional pathways, and documented postgraduate outcomes.
The Assistant Director provides direct leadership for the
Institute’s employer-facing and career-readiness operations, with
primary responsibility for Workforce Wednesdays, Resume Thursdays,
Handshake administration and optimization, employer and talent
pipeline development, student/employer engagement data, and routine
performance reporting. The Assistant Director develops repeatable
systems that move students from awareness and preparation to
meaningful connections, opportunities, interviews, internships,
employment, and other postgraduate pathways.
The position works closely with the Director, Career Coach and
Career Pathways Coordinator, Administrative Assistant II, faculty,
Institutional Research/Institutional Effectiveness, student-success
units, alumni, employers, graduate and professional schools, and
other campus partners. The Assistant Director is expected to
maintain accurate systems of record, monitor key performance
indicators, identify gaps in participation and outcomes, and use
data to improve execution. This position is accountable for
results, follow-through, data integrity, and the quality of the
student and employer experience.
GRANT-FUNDED POSITION
This position is supported by Title III grant funds and is
contingent upon the availability and continuation of grant funding.
The Assistant Director is responsible for maintaining appropriate
program documentation, participation and outcome data, and other
evidence necessary to support grant and institutional
accountability. Duties may include assistance with Title III
activity reporting, assessment, documentation, and sustainability
planning consistent with University and applicable grant
requirements.
SPECIFIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES ESSENTIAL JOB
FUNCTIONS
Career Readiness Programming and Student Engagement
- Provides operational leadership for recurring career-readiness
programming, including but not limited to Workforce Wednesdays and
Résumé Thursdays, ensuring consistent scheduling, high-quality
content, employer and campus-partner participation, student
promotion, attendance capture, assessment, follow-up, and
documented outcomes.
Develops and maintains an annual programming calendar that
intentionally sequences career exploration, résumé development,
interviewing, networking, job and internship search strategies,
workplace professionalism, employer engagement, and postgraduate
transition.
Uses student-level participation data to identify students who
have and have not engaged with career-readiness opportunities and
coordinates targeted outreach with the Director, Career Coach and
Career Pathways Coordinator, and appropriate campus partners.
Provides career education, presentations, group workshops, and
limited individual coaching as needed while coordinating with the
Career Coach and Career Pathways Coordinator to avoid duplication
and ensure appropriate referral and follow-up.
Supports the coordination of the Career & Leadership Expo
and other signature Institute initiatives, with particular
responsibility for employer participation, student readiness,
Handshake workflows, attendance/data capture, and post-event
conversion and follow-up.
Handshake Administration, Technology, and Data
Management
- Serves as the primary operational administrator and
subject-matter resource for Handshake, maintaining accurate
student, employer, job, internship, event, appointment, and
engagement records in accordance with University policies and
approved recruiting standards.
- Develops and executes strategies to increase student Handshake
activation, profile completion, platform engagement, and use of
jobs, internships, events, appointments, and employer connections;
monitors progress against annual Institute targets.
- Reviews and manages employer accounts, job and internship
postings, event registrations, recruiting activity, and related
platform workflows; identifies questionable or incomplete
submissions and escalates concerns consistent with University
policy.
- Establishes routine data-quality audits and reconciliation
processes to ensure student participation, employer activity,
opportunities, placements, and outcomes are captured accurately and
consistently across Institute systems.
- Develops recurring dashboards and reports for the Director
summarizing Handshake engagement, student participation, program
utilization, employer activity, talent-pipeline development,
opportunity volume, placements, and other approved KPIs.
- Uses Excel, Handshake analytics, Qualtrics, and other
University-approved platforms to analyze trends, identify gaps,
prepare data visualizations, and translate findings into
recommendations for improvement.
- Maintains clear data definitions, documentation standards,
standard operating procedures, trackers, and reporting calendars
that strengthen continuity, institutional memory, and audit
readiness.
Employer Engagement and Talent Pipeline Development
- Develops, manages, and advances a disciplined employer and
talent-development pipeline aligned with JCSU academic programs,
student interests, workforce demand, and the Institute’s
career-success priorities.
- Conducts proactive employer outreach to cultivate internships,
entry-level employment, project-based learning, job shadowing,
mentoring, networking, information sessions, and other
career-connected opportunities.
- Maintains an employer relationship-management process
documenting prospect stage, relationship owner, engagement history,
student opportunities, next actions, recruiting outcomes, and
partnership value.
- Serves as a primary operational contact for employers engaging
with The Smith Institute and provides responsive support related to
recruiting, Handshake, campus engagement, student connections, and
talent needs.
- Partners with the Director to move employer relationships
beyond transactional recruiting toward sustained talent pipelines
and year-round engagement and identifies promising relationships
for strategic partnership, sponsorship, alumni engagement, or
institutional advancement conversations.
- Uses employer and labor-market feedback to identify skills,
industries, occupations, and recruiting trends that should inform
student programming, career coaching, and talent-development
strategies.
- Tracks conversion from employer engagement to tangible student
opportunities and outcomes, including postings, applications,
interviews, internships, offers, hires, and other documented
connections when data are available.
Student Employment and Federal Work-Study
- Works collaboratively with Human Resources and Financial Aid to
support the effective administration and continuous improvement of
the University's Federal Work-Study program, with particular
emphasis on student employment readiness, position development,
employer/supervisor engagement, student placement, and
career-connected learning.
- Partners with Human Resources, Financial Aid, and campus
supervisors to develop and promote meaningful Work-Study
opportunities that allow students to build transferable skills,
career competencies, and relevant professional experience.
- Supports Work-Study talent-matching and placement efforts by
connecting eligible students with appropriate campus employment
opportunities and promoting available positions through Handshake
and other University-approved platforms.
- Develops career-readiness resources and programming for
Work-Study students, including résumé development, workplace
professionalism, supervisor expectations, communication,
interviewing, and translation of student-employment experiences
into marketable career competencies.
- Collaborates with Human Resources and Financial Aid to monitor
Work-Study participation, placement, engagement, and other
agreed-upon indicators while maintaining appropriate distinctions
among financial-aid eligibility, employment administration, and
career-development responsibilities.
- Uses Work-Study participation and outcome data to identify
placement gaps, strengthen student and supervisor engagement, and
inform strategies for integrating campus employment into the
University's broader career-readiness and talent-development
ecosystem.
Assessment, Outcomes, and Continuous Improvement
- Owns the routine collection, validation, organization, and
reporting of Institute operational data and ensures programs are
assessed for both participation and impact.
- Develops pre/post assessments, satisfaction measures, employer
feedback tools, participation records, and other evaluation methods
appropriate to Workforce Wednesdays, Resume Thursdays, employer
engagements, and assigned initiatives.
- Monitors performance by student classification, academic
program, and other institutionally approved categories to identify
engagement and opportunity gaps and support equitable access to
career-connected learning.
- Assists the Director with annual unit assessment, Title III
reporting, accreditation or institutional reporting, executive
dashboards, and other evidence of Institute effectiveness.
- Oversees First Destination Outcomes and Senior Exit Survey
collection and follow-up as assigned, including outreach, data
validation, employer/outcome verification, and reporting.
- Prepares concise monthly and quarterly performance summaries
identifying accomplishments, trends, unresolved issues, corrective
actions, and priorities for the next reporting period.
Career-Connected Learning and Campus Collaboration
- Collaborates with the Career Coach and Career Pathways
Coordinator to connect students to internships, experiential
learning, undergraduate research, leadership experiences,
graduate/professional pathways, and employment opportunities.
- Partners with faculty, academic leaders, CSSAE, TRIO/McNair,
Honors, Athletics, Student Leadership & Engagement, Alumni
Relations, Admissions, Institutional Advancement, and other campus
units to extend career readiness and employer engagement into the
broader student experience.
- Supports the University’s experiential-learning and outcomes
infrastructure by ensuring employer-generated internships and
career-connected opportunities are appropriately documented and
routed into established tracking processes.
- Assists with targeted career-readiness campaigns and talent
pipelines for priority student populations and academic programs as
identified by the Director.
- Represents The Smith Institute at employer meetings, campus
programs, professional events, and community engagements as
assigned.
Operational Leadership and Accountability
- Translates the Director’s strategic priorities into operational
work plans, timelines, deliverables, ownership assignments, and
measurable results.
- Maintains weekly and monthly operating rhythms for assigned
portfolios, including KPI review, pipeline review, program
readiness, data-quality checks, follow-up, and issue
escalation.
- Develops and maintains written standard operating procedures
for Workforce Wednesdays, Résumé Thursdays, Handshake
administration, employer engagement, talent-pipeline management,
attendance/data capture, and assigned reporting processes.
- Coordinates with the Administrative Assistant II on scheduling,
communications, event logistics, records, purchasing, and
documentation while retaining professional accountability for
program quality, data integrity, employer relationships, and
outcomes.
- May supervise student employees, interns, peer career coaches,
or other personnel assigned to support the Assistant Director’s
portfolio and provides training, work direction, feedback, and
performance accountability.
- Exercises sound judgment, confidentiality, professionalism, and
timely follow-through in matters involving students, employers,
data, recruiting activity, and University partners.
CORE COMPETENCIES/SKILLS
- Strong operational leadership and demonstrated ability to
convert strategy into consistent execution, measurable
deliverables, and documented outcomes.
- Knowledge of university career services, employer relations,
recruiting, workforce development, career readiness, talent
acquisition, or related fields.
- Demonstrated proficiency with career-management technology;
experience administering Handshake or a comparable career-services
platform strongly preferred.
- Strong data-management and analytical skills, including
maintaining accurate records, analyzing trends, developing
dashboards/reports, and using evidence for decision-making.
- Demonstrated ability to build employer relationships and
convert outreach into internships, employment, recruiting activity,
and other student opportunities.
- Strong knowledge of résumé development, interviewing,
networking, job/internship search strategies, professional
branding, and contemporary recruiting practices.
- Excellent project management, organization, prioritization,
follow-through, written and oral communication, presentation,
facilitation, and interpersonal skills.
- Ability to work effectively across academic and administrative
units and with students from varied backgrounds and levels of
career readiness.
- Ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise sound judgment
when handling student, employer, and institutional data.
- Strong technology skills, including Microsoft Excel, Word,
PowerPoint, Teams, and related data, survey, presentation, and
reporting tools.
- Commitment to a student-centered, outcomes-oriented culture of
accountability, equity, service, continuous improvement, and
professional excellence.
ADDITIONAL JOB FUNCTIONS
- Maintains current knowledge of recruiting and hiring practices,
employer needs, labor-market trends, career-services technology,
NACE-aligned career readiness practices, and emerging approaches to
university career development.
- Participates in staff meetings, assessment activities,
professional development, University committees, and designated
professional conferences or employer events.
- Assists with grant-supported activities, reports,
documentation, and special initiatives assigned to The Smith
Institute.
- Works occasional evenings and weekends and travels locally or
regionally when required for employer engagement, recruiting
events, student programs, or University activities.
- Performs related duties and special projects as assigned by the
Director.
MINIMUM TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE
A master’s degree from an accredited institution in higher
education, student affairs, counseling, business administration,
human resources, organizational leadership, workforce development,
career development, or a related field is required.
A minimum of three years of progressively responsible professional
experience in university career services, employer relations,
recruiting/talent acquisition, workforce development, student
success, business development, human resources, or a closely
related area is required.
Demonstrated experience in employer outreach and relationship
management, career-readiness programming, data collection and
reporting, and technology-enabled program or workflow management is
required.
Experience administering Handshake or a comparable
career-management platform, developing employer or talent
pipelines, using data and analytics to assess program
effectiveness, and supporting student employment or Federal
Work-Study programs is strongly preferred.
Demonstrated ability to collaborate across functional areas,
including Human Resources, Financial Aid, academic units,
student-success operations, employers, and external partners, is
required
