Associate Director, Center for Professional Development - Private Practice

Seattle University; Seattle (WA); Hybrid; USD 75,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Seattle University is seeking an Associate Director for the Career Development program within CPD. The role focuses on supporting students and alumni pursuing careers in private practice, Big Law, and in-house counsel paths, and oversees TILE Institute activities.

You will counsel students, edit application materials, and coordinate CPD communications and programming. As a CPD team member, you will work with external firms and organizations, manage interview programs, and organize networking

Responsibilities

• Counsel law students and alumni on career options and job search strategies.
• Review and edit resumes, cover letters, and personal statements with CPD colleagues.
• Meet one-on-one with students to develop tailored career plans, up to 6–8 meetings per day during peak times.
• Manage high volume professional correspondence and document meeting notes in Symplicity.
• Create content for CPD communications, newsletters, targeted emails, and the CPD website.
• Oversee CPD interview programs and Summer Associate networking events.
• Collaborate with external organizations and law firms to advance CPD initiatives and opportunities.

Job description

Months Per Year:

12

Work Model:

Hybrid Work Eligible

Seattle University will be one of the most innovative and progressive Jesuit and Catholic universities in the world, educating with excellence at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels. We embrace an intersectional framework for defining diversity in its broadest sense, including differences in gender, gender identity, race, ethnicity, generational history, culture, socioeconomic class, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, citizenship status, political perspectives, geographic origin and physical ability. Seattle University strives to be a welcome, open and safe campus climate for all who learn, live and work at Seattle University.

Seattle University's Core Competencies

• Effective Team Collaboration: Works harmoniously with others towards a common goal, leveraging individual strengths to achieve shared objectives.
• Emotionally Intelligent Communication: Engages in a skillful exchange of information, thoughts, and feelings, verbally and non-verbally.
• Ethics and Integrity: Demonstrates an unwavering commitment to honesty, professionalism, and alignment with our Jesuit mission in all actions and decisions.
• Flexibility and Innovation: Embraces change, approaching problems with curiosity adaptability, and is committed to making a positive impact.
• Mindful Inclusion: Fosters mindful inclusion by consciously creating a workplace that celebrates differences, embraces cultural humility, and empowers uniqueness.
• Outcomes-Driven Orientation: Sets clear objectives, pursues excellence, and delivers measurable outcomes while upholding Jesuit Catholic values.

Position Description:

Supporting students and alumni in their professional development endeavors (60%)

The Associate Director will focus on supporting students and alumni interested in establishing a career in private practice with law firms of all sizes. The Associate Director may also assist in supporting students and alumni pursuing positions in JD Advantage roles.

The Associate Director will serve as the Department's main contact for students interested in pursuing opportunities at large corporate law firms (Big Law). The Associate Director will also serve as the main contact for students interested in learning more about in-house counsel career paths.

The Associate Director will serves the Department's main contact for the law school's TILE (Technology, Innovation Law, and Ethics) Institute. The Associate Director will work with students interested in and qualified to pursue intellectual property career paths.

The Associate Director counsels law students and alumni on career options, preparation of application materials, job search skills, and professional development/networking opportunities.

As a CPD team member, the Associate Director will utilize their writing skills to review, edit, and identify areas of improvement on job application materials, including resumes, cover letters, and personal statements. Document review in CPD requires the ability to manage a high volume of professional correspondence and edit hundreds of resumes, cover letters, personal statements, and other materials.

The Associate Director will meet one-on-one with students to develop personalized career support strategies. During busy times of the academic year, each CPD team member may meet with up to 6 to 8 students/graduates per day. The Associate Director will document their student/alumni meetings with substantive counseling notes in Symplicity, CPD's Career Management System.

The Associate Director assists with the development of CPD's electronic communications with students and graduates; in particular, the Associate Director will create content for a bi-weekly CPD newsletter for a specific class level, targeted emails, and content updates for the CPD website.

Other duties as requested.

Creating substantive programming and collaborating with external organizations (25%)

The Associate Director will serve as CPD's primary point of contact for private law firms in the city, region, state, and across the country. The Associate Director will also serve as a CPD point of contact for a number internal/external organizations and collaborative programs. These organizations and programs include, but are not limited to:

• Seattle Area Legal Recruiting Administrators (SALRA)
• The National Association for Law Placement (NALP)
• The Legal Mentor Network
• The Joint Minority Mentorship Program (JMMP)

The Associate Director will be responsible, with the support of CPD's Program Coordinator, for managing and overseeing all of CPD's interview programs that are held throughout the calendar year (summer/fall/spring) and created for our recent graduate population.

The Associate Director will organize and oversee CPD's annual Summer Associate networking event held every fall with local/regional law firms.

The Associate Director will collaborate with CPD colleagues, SBA student organizations, School of Law departmen