Director of Career Exploration

Leads efforts in providing a comprehensive and contemporary career center, serving students throughout their undergraduate, graduate, and postgraduate years by developing career and life trajectories aligned with their strengths and sense of purpose.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead, mentor, and support the professional growth of the Assistant Director and Student Success Coordinator, fostering innovation, collaboration, and adaptability. Encourage ownership of projects, implement new strategies and technologies, and align team efforts with PLACE's evolving goals. Provide opportunities for training, leadership development, and continuous improvement to enhance individual and team performance.
• Provide creative and strategic vision and leadership for a broad and dynamic range of inclusive curricular and co-curricular career and life planning programs and services for diverse student and alumni populations. These include, but are not limited to: career advising, experiential learning opportunities, individual career counseling, internships, student employment, partnerships on academic course offerings, and the development of career and life planning learning outcomes and assessments. Ensure all programs and services are designed to address the unique needs of underrepresented, first-generation, international, and other marginalized students, fostering equitable access to career resources and opportunities.
• In collaboration with the Director of Strategic Partnerships for Student Success and the Director of New Student Orientation and Transitions, cultivate strategic partnerships across campus including, faculty, staff, students, academic departments, student affairs departments, alumni engagement and development offices, alumni, parents, and community partners and employers to facilitate and support a robust career and life planning program. Incorporate ways for students to align their strengths, interests, beliefs, and values with vocational paths.
• Forge partnerships across campus with faculty, admissions, student success, and academic departments to integrate career exploration into the student lifecycle, from recruitment to post-graduation.
• Lead ongoing evaluation and enhancement of PLACE programs and practices, leveraging performance metrics and outcomes, including the NACE First Destination Survey. Identify opportunities for growth and innovation that addresses evolving workforce trends, technological advancements, and the unique strengths of liberal arts graduates; assess the effectiveness of tools such as technologies, databases, and social media; and implement data-driven recommendations to align with PLACE's evolving objectives. Proactively integrate emerging best practices to ensure sustained impact and relevance.
• Promote services, programs, and resources to internal and external stakeholders including students, faculty, staff, employers, alumni prospective students and families, through the use of marketing, including networking, brand management, social media, technology, professional presentations and print collateral.
• Administer PLACE budget and ensure funding for existing and future programs and initiatives.
• Engage as a member of the college community, serving on campus committees and task forces, participating in and contributing to major college activities and events, and engaging in professional associations to promote the objectives of PLACE and the College.
• Other related duties as assigned.

Education, Experience, Skills, and Abilities:

• Master's degree in human resources, counseling, student personnel, marketing or other related field
• Progressively responsible experience in support of career and professional development
• Demonstrated ability to be innovative, entrepreneurial, and able to conceive of and implement an exciting vision, in collaboration with others
• Comprehensive and contemporary knowledge of career and vocation services, trends and best practices, and employment trends and markets
• Experience in delivering frameworks like CliftonStrengths or similar tools to guide students in identifying, articulating, and applying their unique strengths in career and life planning
• Experience and demonstrated ability in leading and managing staff
• Effective oral and written communication, interpersonal, leadership, and collaboration skills
• Understanding of the academic environment and knowledge of student learning and student development
• Ability to help students translate, articulate, and leverage an exceptional educational experience
• Ability to build relationships and partnerships with a wide variety of stakeholders
• Cultural sensitivity and competency around multiple dimensions of diversity and access
• Ability to promote an inclusive and equitable working and learning environment for all students, employees, alumni, employers and other constituencies
• Exceptional organizational, analytical, presentation, and public speaking skills
• Decisive, collegial, and data-informed objective decision-making that moves processes forward

Roanoke College is a place where every student who works hard has the opportunity to succeed. We champion potential, providing essential learning and leadership through innovative academic programs and transformative educational experiences, giving students the mettle, mindset, and empathy to pursue lives of purpose, build meaningful careers, and meet society's most pressing needs. Located in scenic Salem, Virginia, Roanoke College is an intimate, welcoming community that has served the local region and beyond for nearly 200 years. Now, we're building on momentum and offering a Roanoke experience for today's students and a legacy that belongs to every Maroon.

Roanoke College is a nationally ranked residential liberal arts college affiliated with the Lutheran Church (ELCA), located in the beautiful Roanoke Valley of Virginia. A Phi Beta Kappa institution, Roanoke College is an equal opportunity employer and actively seeks diversity among its faculty, staff, and students; women and members of under-represented groups are especially encouraged to apply.