Dean of Experiential Learning, Career Development and Employer Partnerships

Merrimack College; Massachusetts; On-site; USD 140,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Merrimack College, a select private institution near Boston, seeks a Dean of Experiential Learning, Career Development and Employer Relations to lead an integrated strategy for experiential learning, career development, and employer engagement. This role drives One Year Ahead and oversees two centers, shaping student outcomes and external partnerships.

Ideal candidates bring advanced experience in experiential learning, strong leadership, and a passion for scaling programs that connect academics

Qualifications

• Master’s degree in a relevant field.
• Significant progressive experience in experiential learning, early-career talent strategies, campus recruiting, or employer relations.
• Demonstrated success building relationships with employers and senior external partners.
• Experience leading teams and managing complex initiatives with multiple stakeholders.
• Evidence of launching or scaling programs or organizations.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, presentation, and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to operate at strategic and operational levels.
• Data-driven decision making and awareness of workforce trends.

Responsibilities

• Lead institution-wide strategy for experiential learning, career development, and employer engagement.
• Provide leadership for the O’Brien Center and Scammon Center and align priorities.
• Develop a unified vision and operating model across centers.
• Establish measures of success and use data to evaluate outcomes.
• Expand employer relationships in Greater Boston, New England, and beyond.
• Integrate career development with experiential learning and partnerships.
• Lead and develop a high-performing team and scale programs.
• Measure, report, and communicate impact to stakeholders.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Relationship building

Data-driven decision making

Communication skills

Team leadership

Education

Master's degree in a relevant field

Job description

Merrimack College is a selective, private college in a beautiful,residential setting — just minutes from Boston,Massachusetts.

The Opportunity

Merrimack Collegeinvites applications for a Dean of Experiential Learning, CareerDevelopment and Employer Relations to lead the College’s integratedstrategy for experiential learning, career development, andemployer engagement.

This is a significant leadership opportunity at a moment ofinstitutional growth and innovation. Merrimack is making a majorinvestment in ensuring that students graduate not only with astrong academic foundation, but also with meaningful professionalexperience, relationships, skills, confidence, and preparation for an evolving world of work.

The Dean will provide strategic and operational leadership for theO’Brien Center for Career & Professional Development and theJames E. & Cynthia E. Scammon Center for Experiential Learning, with the staff of both centers reporting to this position.

The Dean will work closely with academic leaders, faculty, alumni,employers, and other campus partners to advance Merrimack’sinstitution-wide approach to career readiness and experientiallearning.

This is not a traditional career-services role. Merrimack seeks anentrepreneurial, externally oriented leader who can buildpartnerships, lead teams, develop systems, translate employer needsinto student opportunities, and scale an ambitious institutionalvision.

The strongest candidates may come from higher education, industry,early-career talent development, campus recruiting, workforcedevelopment, employer relations, or a combination of theseareas.

One Year Ahead

The Dean will play a central leadershiprole in advancing Merrimack’s One Year Ahead Initiative, theCollege’s signature initiative connecting academic learning,experiential education, professional development, and careerpreparation.

One Year Ahead reflects Merrimack’s commitment to preparingstudents for a rapidly changing economy by creating meaningfulopportunities for professional experience, skill development,mentorship, employer engagement, and career exploration throughoutthe undergraduate experience.

The Dean will be responsible for translating that institutionalcommitment into measurable student outcomes and a distinctivecompetitive advantage for Merrimack.

Key Responsibilities

Provide Strategic Leadership

• Lead Merrimack’s institution-wide strategy for experientiallearning, career development, employer engagement, and careerreadiness.
• Provide leadership, direction, and accountability for theO’Brien Center for Career & Professional Development and theScammon Center for Experiential Learning.
• Develop a unified vision, operating model, and set ofpriorities across the two centers.
• Establish clear measures of success and use data to evaluatestudent participation, employer engagement, program effectiveness, and post-graduate outcomes.
• Advise senior leadership on workforce trends, employerexpectations, and emerging opportunities affecting Merrimackstudents and graduates.
• Build a culture of innovation, collaboration, accountability,and exceptional service to students.

Expand Employer and Industry Partnerships

• Develop and execute an ambitious strategy to expand Merrimack’srelationships with employers in Greater Boston, New England, andselected national markets.
• Personally cultivate relationships with senior leaders incorporations, nonprofit organizations, government agencies,healthcare organizations, research institutions, entrepreneurialventures, and other organizations.
• Position Merrimack as a valued source of early-career talentand a strategic partner to employers.
• Increase the number, quality, and range of internships, co-ops,employer-sponsored projects, research experiences, mentorshipopportunities, and other professionally relevant experiencesavailable to students.
• Create partnerships that extend beyond transactional recruitingto include talent development, mentoring, classroom engagement,experiential projects, and other forms of institutionalcollaboration.
• Represent Merrimack externally with employers, industryorganizations, workforce-development groups, and otherpartners.

Integrate Career Development and Experiential Learning

• Create strong alignment between career development andexperiential learning so that students experience them as part of acoherent journey rather than separate services.
• Partner with deans, faculty, and academic departments tostrengthen connections among curriculum, experiential learning,career exploration, and employment outcomes.
• Expand opportunities for students across all majors toparticipate in meaningful, field-relevant experiences.
• Strengthen connections among students, alumni, employers,faculty, and mentors.
• Help students recognize, articulate, and demonstrate the skillsand competencies they develop through academic and experientiallearning.
• Ensure that emerging workforce competencies, including AIreadiness and digital fluency, are reflected in career-developmentprogramming.

Lead and Develop a High-Performing Team

• Lead the professional staff of the O’Brien Center and ScammonCenter.
• Establish shared goals, clear responsibilities, and effectivecollaboration across the two organizations.
• Recruit, develop, coach, and retain a talented team.
• Build staff capacity in employer engagement, student coaching,experiential-learning design, career programming, data, andrelationship management.
• Align resources and staffing with institutional priorities andareas of greatest student impact.
• Identify opportunities to use technology and redesignedprocesses to increase both scale and personalization.

Measure and Communicate Impact

• Establish and monitor key performance indicators related toexperiential learning, career readiness, employer engagement,student participation, and post-graduate outcomes.
• Strengthen the College’s ability to understand and communicatethe career outcomes of Merrimack graduates.
• Use student, employer, and alumni feedback to continuallyimprove programs and services.
• Provide regular reporting to senior leadership and otherinstitutional stakeholders.
• Help communicate Merrimack’s distinctive approach toexperiential learning and career development to prospectivestudents, families, employers, alumni, and external partners.

Priorities for the Dean of Experiential Learning, CareerDevelopment, and Employer Partnerships

During the first several years, the Dean will be expected to:

• Successfully integrate the work of the O’Brien and ScammonCenters around a shared institutional strategy.
• Expand Merrimack’s network of employers and strategic talentpartners.
• Significantly increase access to high-quality experientialopportunities for students across all academic disciplines.
• Deepen collaboration with faculty and academic leadership.
• Establish clear performance measures and accountability forstudent and employer outcomes.
• Build the organizational capacity required to scale Merrimack’sexperiential-learning and career-development strategy.
• Strengthen Merrimack’s reputation as an institution thatprepares graduates exceptionally well for meaningful careers andcontinued professional growth.

The Candidate

Merrimack seeks a leader who combinesstrategic vision, entrepreneurial energy, strong externalinstincts, and the ability to build and operate at scale.

The successful candidate will understand that meaningful careerpreparation depends on an ecosystem of relationships amongstudents, employers, faculty, alumni, and institutionalpartners—and will have demonstrated success building thoserelationships.

Candidates should bring many of the following experiences andcapabilities:Z

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree in a relevant field.
• Significant progressive experience in one or more relevantareas, including experiential learning, early-career oremerging-talent strategy, campus recruiting, talent acquisition,workforce development, career development, employer relations,cooperative education, internship programs, or university-industrypartnerships.
• Demonstrated success building and sustaining relationships withemployers and senior external partners.
• Experience leading teams and managing complex initiativesinvolving multiple stakeholders.
• Evidence of having built, launched, scaled, or substantiallytransformed programs or organizations.
• Excellent interpersonal, communication, presentation, andrelationship-building skills.
• Ability to operate effectively at both the strategic andoperational levels.
• Demonstrated ability to use data and metrics to assessperformance and guide decision-making.
• Strong understanding of contemporary workforce trends andemployer expectations for emerging talent.
• Commitment to serving students from a wide range of academicdisciplines, backgrounds, experiences, and career aspirations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Eight or more years of progressively responsible experience ina relevant field.
• Experience working across both higher education and theemployer or talent-development sectors.
• Experience developing early-career talent programs, campusrecruiting strategies, internship or co-op programs, or university-industry partnerships.
• Experience creating employer relationships that generatemeaningful student experiences and full-time employmentopportunities.
• Knowledge of the Greater Boston and New England employerlandscape.
• Experience in a high-growth, entrepreneurial, or organizationaltransformation environment.
• Understanding of how artificial intelligence and other emergingtechnologies are reshaping early-career work and talentdevelopment.

Leadership Characteristics

The successful candidate will be

A builder.

Someone energized by creating, scaling, andimproving programs, partnerships, and organizations.

Externally oriented.

A leader who enjoys developingrelationships with employers and other partners and who can opendoors for students and the institution.

Employer fluent.

Someone who understands howorganizations identify, recruit, develop, and retain emergingtalent and can position Merrimack as a valuable partner in thatwork.

Student centered.

A leader who keeps student learning,opportunity, and long-term success at the center of institutionalstrategy.

Highly collaborative.

Someone capable of buildingstrong partnerships with faculty, academic leaders, alumni, staff,employers, and senior leadership.

Results oriented.

A leader who defines success,measures progress, and takes accountability for outcomes.

Future focused.

Someone attentive to changes intechnology, AI, industries, and the nature of work—and able totranslate those changes into new opportunities for students.

Why Merrimack

Merrimack College is a private CatholicAugustinian institution in North Andover, Massachusetts, with astrong record of growth, innovation, and investment in studentsuccess.

The College is making experiential learning and career developmentan increasingly central part of the Merrimack student experience.The Executive Director will have the opportunity to lead talentedteams, build significant employer and industry partnerships, workdirectly with academic and institutional leaders, and shape anemerging model for connecting higher education with the world ofwork.

For an entrepreneurial leader with experience in talent, education,employer engagement, or workforce development, this role offers theopportunity to build something with both immediate student impactand broader institutional significance.

Application Materials Should Include:

• Resume
• Cover letter stating motivation and interest in the position,citing experience relevant to the qualifications and includingexperience with, and commitment to, our Catholic Augustinianmission and our values.

This position is subject to the successful completion of a criminal background check.

Statement on Our Mission

Merrimack College is aCatholic Augustinian institution of higher education committed tobuilding an accepting and respectful community. Our mission is toenlighten minds, engage hearts and empower lives and is inspired byour Catholic faith and the Augustinian tradition of seeking truththrough inquiry and dialogue.

Merrimack College seeks candidates who understand, respect, and cancontribute to Merrimack’s Catholic and Augustinian mission. Allcandidates should describe in their application how they willfoster a culture that supports our mission.

About Merrimack College

The only Catholic, Augustinianinstitution of higher education in New England, Merrimack Collegeis a private, independent, coeducational institution with more than4,100 undergraduate, 2,500 graduate students and 50 doctoralstudents from 48 states and 63 countries. The College features morethan 160 career-focused undergraduate, professional and graduateprograms, all taught by exceptional faculty who are passionateabout their subject and student success. The College has sixschools: arts and sciences, engineering and computational sciences,nursing and health sciences, education and social policy, theGirard school of business and the graduate school of counseling andsocial work. The College’s suburban 220-acre campus is just northof Boston in North Andover, Massachusetts. Merrimack is a Master’sColleges and Universities/Larger Programs (M1) institution in theCarnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.Merrimack is one of the fastest growing educational institutions inthe country and has steadily climbed up in the U.S. News &World Report’s ranking of Best Colleges, ranking 38th in theRegional Universities North category in 2026. Merrimack is a NCAADivision I athletic institution.

Merrimack College is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Salary Range

$140,000

- $170,000