Assistant/Associate VP for Life and Career Design

Wheaton College of Massachusetts; Norton (MA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 155,000; Full time

Job summary

Wheaton College in Norton, MA seeks an Assistant/Associate VP for Life and Career Design to guide the Life and Career Design Institute. You will lead a team, collaborate with college leadership, faculty, alumni and external partners to provide experiential learning opportunities that align with students’ career and life goals.

The role reports to the Vice President for Student Affairs and will involve overseeing a broad, year-by-year developmental model and managing the office budget and grants.

Qualifications

• Master’s degree required with 8–10 years of senior experience in higher education, business, or nonprofit settings.
• Ability to build and scale career readiness, life design, advising, or experiential learning programs.
• Ability to partner across academic affairs, student affairs, and advancement.

Responsibilities

• Guide the Life and Career Design Institute to develop programs and services for students incorporating internships, service learning, alumni mentoring, and life design principles.
• Provide entrepreneurial insight and innovation in life and career design.
• Oversee the student employment program in collaboration with Student Financial Services.
• Lead the Institute in alignment with Wheaton’s inclusive excellence framework.
• Cultivate partnerships with employer representatives in business, industry, not-for-profit and education sectors.
• Work with advancement to describe programs and effectiveness to potential donors.
• Supervise staff and develop a team to communicate measurable results across campus.

Skills

Design thinking

Relationship-building

Leadership

Strategic planning

Stakeholder collaboration

Mentorship

Education

Master’s degree

Job description

Wheaton is a leading private, coeducational, liberal arts college of 1800 students located in Norton, MA and within easy commuting distance of Boston and Providence.

Posting Details

Posting Number: 0601325

Position Title: Assistant/Associate VP for Life and Career Design

FLSA: Exempt

Job Type: Full-Time

Staff Term: 12 Months

Staff Work Schedule (hours/dates): M-F, 8:30-4:30

Academic Year Schedule (dates):

Faculty Term:

Position Type: Staff

Department: Student Affairs

The AVP will guide the Life and Career Design Institute to develop programs and services for students by incorporating internships, service learning, alumni and professional mentoring, and life design principles as a part of the student’s Experiential Learning Plan ( ELP ). The end goal is that all Wheaton students graduate with experiences that enhance career goals, a skill set, and a life plan they can use to make great choices throughout their lives. Reporting to the Vice President for Student Affairs, the AVP will be responsible for articulating the vision and mission of the Institute, leading a robust team of talented professionals, and overseeing a broad, year-by-year student developmental model. The position will be highly collaborative, working with partners that include college leadership, faculty, alumni, parents, college advancement and other on-campus stakeholders, as well as the external business and not-for-profit communities, in order to provide exceptional opportunities for the Wheaton students.

Specific Duties

• Ensure effective and measurable career advising, career educationand outreach programming, and life and career exploration within aholistic model that emphasizes internships and experientialeducational opportunities.
• Provide entrepreneurial insight and innovation, utilizing formaland informal methods of life and career design.
• Provide oversight of the student employment program incollaboration with Student Financial Services.
• Lead the Institute in accordance with the College’s framework ofinclusive excellence.
• Strengthen and cultivate partnerships with employerrepresentatives in business and industry, not for profit andeducation sectors and work collaboratively with area colleges.Streamline the process for posting new opportunities.
• Work closely with colleagues in advancement and alumni relations,and annual giving, to develop and implement mentoring, networking,internships, and/or position shadowing opportunities by alumni forstudents.
• Supervision of the staff in the Life and Career Design Instituteto provide sustained support for experiential learning and programoperations.
• Develop a team that communicates critical information withmeasurable results and cultivates relationships across campus tochampion and advocate for the student’s career and lifeexperiences.
• Oversee and occasionally teach experiential learning labs forstudents.
• Provide fiscal management of the office budget, grants, and fundsthat support internships.
• Collaborate with academic and student affairs in cultivatingpartnerships that offer experiential learning through curricularand co-curricular opportunities.
• Plan and implement innovative strategies to market the Life andCareer Design Institute to the various constituencies both withinthe Wheaton College campus community and externally.
• Expand and promote usage of technology and other resources for students such as Handshake, etc.
• Serve as a member of the student affairs leadership team.
• Work with Advancement to describe programs and effectiveness topotential donors.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master’s degree required, with 8-10 years of progressively responsible experience in higher education, business, or nonprofit settings.
• Demonstrated ability to build, operationalize, and scale career readiness, life design, advising, or experiential learning programs—someone who strengthens and grows an existing framework rather than starting from a blank page.
• Fluency in the interconnected structure of higher education, with the ability to build credibility and partnership across academic affairs, student affairs, and advancement.
• Practitioner-level experience with design thinking or comparable human-centered methodologies, applied to real student or client outcomes rather than theory alone.
• Strong systems-thinking orientation, with the ability to translate institutional goals into disciplined execution, sustainable operations, and measurable outcomes.
• Exceptional relationship-building skills, with genuine ease engaging faculty, students, alumni, parents, and employers—an connector, not a traditional fundraiser.
• Proven people leadership, including the ability to build and retain a multi-generational team and manage personnel dynamics with maturity.
• Entrepreneurial judgment exercised within an institutional culture—comfortable navigating ambiguity and driving change while staying aligned to Wheaton’s mission and values.
• Demonstrated passion for and commitment to mentorship and the holistic development of young adults navigating career and life choices.
• Genuine appreciation for the value and distinct mission of a liberal arts education.

Compensation and Benefits

To attract and retain the most talented individuals, WheatonCollege maintains a flexible and competitive staff compensation and benefits program.

When determining and establishing hiring rates or recruitment ranges for a position, the College considers a number of factors including the budget for the position, the range of the grade, the external market for the position or similar positions, level and scope of responsibilities, required education, skills and relevant experience as well as internal equity. All salary offers must have the prior approval of the Office of Human Resources.

The anticipated hiring or recruitment range for this position is $140-155K. The actual salary offered will be commensurate with the qualifications, education and experience of the candidate hired.

Physical Demands

Individuals must possess these knowledges, skills and abilities or be able to explain and demonstrate that the individual can perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation, using some other combination of skills and abilities.

ADA Statement

Individuals must possess these knowledges, skills and abilities or be able to explain and demonstrate that the individual can perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation, using some other combination of skills and abilities.

Eeo Statement

Wheaton College is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and does not discriminate against any individual or group on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, race, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, genetic information, or disability. In a continuing effort to maintain and enrich an intellectually diverse learning environment, the Department and the College actively encourages applications from women and members of underrepresented groups.

Wheaton’s core belief is that valuing diversity is pivotal to personal development, intellectual expansion, and societal equity. Our community is united by a shared dedication to equity and access that is essential to providing a transformative education in the Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Posting Date

09/08/2026

Closing Date

Open Until Filled

Yes

Contact(s)

Office of Human Resources

Contact Phone/Extension

508-286-8206

Contact Email

[e-mail]