Placements Executive/Officer

MDX Dubai and Dhabi Contracting LLC; United Arab Emirates; On-site; AED 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Middlesex University Dubai's Centre for Careers and Employability seeks a Placements Executive/Officer to translate programme needs into internships, work placements, graduate roles and live projects. You will build strong relationships with academic departments, employers and alumni to create high-quality career opportunities and strengthen graduate outcomes.

The role focuses on employer engagement in the UAE and region, developing new opportunities, advising students on readiness, and

Qualifications

• Postgraduate qualification or recognised careers development.
• Minimum 3 years professional experience in employer engagement or related area.
• Desirable: 2–3 years experience university careers departments.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the principal CCE contact for the assigned academic departments and build trusted relationships.
• Agree an annual employability and industry-engagement plan aligned to KPIs and accreditation.
• Attend programme and planning meetings and provide concise opportunity updates.
• Develop sector networks and employer opportunities including internships and graduate roles.
• Translate employer requirements into eligibility criteria and targeted promotion plans.
• Provide career guidance and readiness support to students within the portfolio.
• Monitor sector trends and provide evidence-based workforce insights.
• Set and monitor portfolio targets for employer growth and engagement.
• Comply with policies, safeguarding, information-security, and data-protection standards.

Skills

Relationship building

Planning

Graduate recruitment

Digital literacy

Attention to detail

Governance

Team player

Initiative

Cultural diversity

Education

Postgraduate qualification

Tools

CRM systems

Career-management systems

Job description

This position is the Centre for Careers and Employability (CCE)’s central resource for connecting assigned academic departments, their faculty staff, students, graduates & alumni with relevant sector employers and industry partners to create relevant, high-quality career opportunities and strengthen graduate outcomes. The postholder will translate programme needs and labour-market intelligence into a targeted portfolio of internships, work placements, graduate roles, live work projects, mentoring, industry learning and employer engagement. The key responsibility of the Placements Executive/Officer is to provide excellent service to relevant stakeholders of the University and to contribute towards an enriching employability experience.

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 judgement 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

• Desirable: Postgraduate qualification or recognised careers development.
  
• 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.