Placements Executive/Officer

Middlesex University Dubai; Dubai Emirate; On-site; AED 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Middlesex University Dubai is seeking a proactive Career and Employability Engagement professional to lead partnerships with academic departments and industry. You will craft annual employability plans and build sector networks across the UAE to create internships, placements and graduate opportunities.

Translate employer needs into eligibility criteria, guide students on readiness, and work with faculty to exchange insights on skills gaps and curriculum.

Qualifications

• Required: Relevant post-secondary degree.
• Desirable: Postgraduate qualification or recognised careers development.
• Minimum 3 years in employer engagement, business development, partnerships or sector-facing roles.
• Desirable: 2-3 years in university careers departments.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary CCE contact for assigned departments and build trusted relationships with academic leaders and programme teams.
• Agree an annual employability and industry-engagement plan compliant with KPIs and regulatory requirements.
• Develop sector-specific employer networks and opportunities (internships, graduate roles, mentoring, live projects).
• Translate employer requirements into eligibility criteria and targeted promotion plans for programmes.
• Provide career guidance and readiness support to students and support referrals to employers.
• Monitor sector trends and provide evidence-based insights to faculty and leadership.

Skills

Relationship-building

Influencing

Presentation skills

Planning

Leads generation

UAE labour market knowledge

CRM systems

Team collaboration

Initiative

Education

Relevant post-secondary degree

Postgraduate qualification or recognised careers development

Tools

CRM systems

Career Management System

Job description

Responsibilities and Accountability

A. Faculty partnership and portfolio planning

• Serve as the principal CCE contact for the assigned academic departments or programme clusters and build trusted working relationships with academic leaders, programme teams and relevant professional services.
• Agree an annual employability and industry-engagement plan for the portfolio, informed by student profile, programme outcomes, employability demand as well as to comply with KPIs for regulatory compliance, accreditation requirements and OBEF priorities.
• Attend relevant programme, faculty and planning meetings and provide concise updates on opportunities, engagement, risks, outcomes and required actions.
• Work with faculty to identify priority student groups, curriculum touchpoints and suitable formats for employer participation, including guest teaching, assessment briefs, live projects and sector panels.

B. Employer and industry development

• Build and maintain a sector-specific employer and alumni network aligned to the academic portfolio, with a focus on UAE and regional employability opportunities.
• Develop new opportunities including internships, work placements, graduate roles, flexible roles, projects, mentoring, job shadowing, site/field visits and employer-led learning.
• Understand employer workforce needs and advise on effective, inclusive and realistic engagement with students and graduates.
• Steward employer relationships from initial contact through delivery, feedback and renewal.
• Maintain accurate relationship and opportunity records through the Career Management System and other approved University systems.

C. Opportunity matching and student engagement

• Translate employer requirements into clear eligibility criteria and targeted promotion plans for relevant programmes and student groups.
• Provide career guidance and readiness support to students within the assigned academic portfolio, ensuring they are appropriately prepared before being referred to relevant employers and opportunities.
• Support targeted talent identification and matching within agreed fair-access and data-protection principles.
• Contribute to sector-specific briefings, workshops, employer events and application support where this adds value to opportunity conversion.

D. Environment scanning, market intelligence and curriculum insight

• Monitor sector trends, emerging occupations, recruitment cycles, skills requirements, professional credentials and barriers affecting assigned student groups.
• Provide faculty and CCE leadership with evidence-based insight on skills gaps, employer expectations and future opportunities.
• Support relevant academic leads on opportunities for industry co-development or co-delivery of courses and experiential learning, referring curriculum decisions to the relevant academic authority.

E. Outcomes, quality and continuous improvement

• Set and monitor portfolio targets for employer growth, opportunity volume and relevance, work-placement participation, job offers, student engagement and employer satisfaction.
• Collect timely employer and student feedback and ensure required evidence is captured in approved systems.
• Work with the relevant data teams to validate portfolio outcomes, interpret trends and implement improvement actions.
• Contribute to OBEF, accreditation, annual monitoring, Senate and management reporting as required.

F. General responsibilities

• Comply with University policies, professional standards, safeguarding requirements, information-security controls and applicable UAE legislation; maintain confidentiality and sound judgment when handling student, graduate, employer and institutional information.
• Promote equality, inclusion, accessibility and fair access to opportunities, and contribute to major CCE activities such as orientation, career fairs, employer events and cross-campus initiatives as reasonably required.
• Undertake other duties consistent with the scope and level of the role following discussion with the line manager.

Requirements

Education and Qualifications

• Required: Relevant post-secondary degree qualification
• Desirable: Postgraduate qualification or recognised careers development.

Previous experience

• Required: minimum 3 years professional experience in employer engagement, business development, partnerships, client relationship management or a sector-facing role.
• Desirable: 2-3 year experience university careers departments.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Excellent relationship-building, influencing, presentation and written communication skills.
• Strong planning, leads generation, follow-through, judgement and ability to work across organisational boundaries
• Advanced knowledge of graduate recruitment workflows and the UAE/regional labour-market context
• Strong digital literacy and ability to use CRM or career-management systems.
• High attention to detail, reliability and ability to manage competing operational priorities.
• Ability to balance user experience with governance and evidence requirements
• Ability to work as a good team member with commitment to achieving excellence
• Ability to take initiative, with minimum supervision
• Good understanding of the youth mentality, inclusion and cultural diversity issues

The intent of this job description is to provide representation of the types of duties and responsibilities that will be required of positions given this title and shall not be construed as a declaration of the total of the specific duties and responsibilities of any particular position. As a rapidly growing institution, Middlesex employees may be required to perform job-related tasks other than those specifically presented in this description.