Director, Career Services

Wayne State University; Detroit (MI); On-site; USD 90,000 - 108,000; Full time

Job summary

Wayne State University seeks an experienced Director of Career Services on its Detroit campus. The role leads University Career Services to provide student-centered career development, advising, and experiential opportunities across disciplines, aligning with institutional priorities and workforce needs.

The director will collaborate across the university and with external partners to strengthen employer engagement, expand pathways from education to career, and implement scalable, data-informed

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree preferred.
• 7+ years of professional experience in career services, higher education, or related area.
• Experience leading a university or college career services operation or equivalent.
• Experience developing partnerships with employers, alumni, and external organizations.
• Knowledge of career management platforms, career technologies, labor-market tools, and data-informed assessment.
• Strong leadership, communication, and collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Strategic leadership and administration to align with university priorities and drive Career Services performance.
• Lead comprehensive career development services including advising, workshops, and programs.
• Build and maintain partnerships with schools, colleges, employers, alumni, and external partners.
• Oversee employer engagement, career fairs, and student employment initiatives.
• Guide technology, data collection, and assessment to improve outcomes and program effectiveness.
• Develop outreach strategies to increase awareness and utilization of Career Services.

Skills

Leadership

Career development

Student success

Employer partnerships

Technology & data

Communication

Collaboration

Planning & organization

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree preferred

Job description

Director, Career Services

Wayne State University is searching for an experienced Director,Career Services at its Detroit campus location.

Wayne State is a premier, public, urban research university locatedin the heart of Detroit, Michigan where students from allbackgrounds are offered a rich, high-quality education. Ourdeep-rooted commitment to excellence, collaboration, integrity,diversity and inclusion creates exceptional educationalopportunities which prepare students for success in a globalsociety.

Essential functions (job duties):

Job Purpose

Provide strategic leadership and direction for University Career Services at Wayne State University. Lead a comprehensive,student-centered approach to career development that helps studentsexplore career pathways, develop career-ready skills, gainmeaningful career-engaged experiences, and successfully transitionfrom college to career.

Collaborate across the university and with external partners tostrengthen career development, employer engagement, and connectionsbetween education and career pathways. Build partnerships withschools and colleges, student success and engagement units,enrollment and outreach programs, employers, alumni, and communitypartners to extend the reach and impact of career development.Serve as a key partner in advancing Wayne State's College to Career(C2C) initiative and other institutional priorities related tostudent success, career readiness, and workforce development

Essential Functions

(Essential functions are the primary duties/major jobresponsibilities that an employee must be able to perform, with orwithout reasonable accommodation. The essential functions arelisted in order of importance.)

Strategic Leadership and Administration - 25%

Provide strategic leadership for University Career Services.Establish priorities, goals, programs, and practices aligned withuniversity and student success priorities. Lead, supervise,develop, and evaluate staff and foster a collaborative,student-centered, high-performing team. Oversee departmentaloperations, budgets, resources, policies, assessment, andcontinuous improvement. Identify and incorporate emerging trendsand best practices in career development, employer engagement,higher education, and workforce development to strengthen CareerServices strategy and operations.

Career Development and Student Engagement - 20%

Lead the delivery of comprehensive career development services,including career advising and coaching, career exploration, careerpreparation, workshops, programs, and resources that supportstudents throughout their academic journey and transition toemployment or continued education. Develop strategies to increasestudent awareness, engagement, and utilization of career servicesand career-engaged learning opportunities. Advance scalableapproaches to career development through technology, digitalresources, peer-to-peer models, programming, and embeddedpartnerships. Promote equitable access to career developmentresources and opportunities for students across disciplines,backgrounds, and stages of their academic experience.

University Partnerships and Career Integration - 15%

Build collaborative partnerships with schools and colleges,faculty, academic advisors, student success and engagement units,enrollment and outreach programs, and other university partners tointegrate career development and career awareness throughout thestudent experience. Provide consultation, resources, tools, andscalable infrastructure that support schools and colleges and othercampus partners in strengthening career development and connectingstudents with career opportunities.

Collaborate with university partners on K–12 outreach, recruitment,career exploration, and pathway initiatives that help prospectiveand current students understand connections among academicprograms, career interests, and future opportunities. Partneracross the university to advance institutional priorities relatedto career readiness and career-engaged learning, includinginternships and other experiences that connect academic learningwith career goals.

Employer, Alumni, and External Engagement - 15%

Provide strategic leadership and oversight for employer engagement,recruiting activities, career fairs, student employmentinitiatives, and other programs that connect students withemployment and career opportunities. Develop and strengthenrelationships with employers and other external partners to expandinternships, employment opportunities, career exploration,mentoring, networking, and other career-engaged experiences.

Oversee Career Services' student employment programs andinitiatives and collaborate with campus employers to connectstudents with meaningful on-campus employment opportunities.Collaborate with schools and colleges, advancement, alumnirelations, and other university partners to leverage alumni andprofessional networks in support of student career development.Represent Wayne State University with employers, professionalorganizations, community partners, and other externalstakeholders.

Technology, Data, and Assessment - 10%

Provide strategic leadership and oversight for the university'scareer management platform and other career technologies anddigital resources to support student engagement, employerrecruiting, career services delivery, data collection, andoperational efficiency.

Establish goals and metrics to assess student engagement, employerengagement, service utilization, post-graduation career outcomes,and program effectiveness. Use data, labor-market information, andstakeholder feedback to inform priorities and continuousimprovement. Collaborate with university partners to strengthencareer-related data collection, analysis, and reporting.

Communication and Outreach - 10%

Develop and oversee communication and outreach strategies thatincrease awareness and utilization of Career Services, careerresources, programs, and opportunities among students anduniversity stakeholders. Collaborate with university partners tocommunicate career opportunities, student experiences, employerpartnerships, and career outcomes and to extend the reach of careerdevelopment resources across the university. Serve as a visiblecampus advocate for career development and career readiness.

WORK CONTEXT (Position Scope)

Job Reports to: Vice President/AVP/Dean

Leadership Accountability: Develops strategic plans and interpretspolicy

Supervisory Accountability: Supervises professionals andnon-managers

Organizational Accountability: Manages department

Financial Accountability: Manages operating budget

Customer Accountability: Interfaces with officials andexecutives

Freedom to Act: Sets broad policies and objectives

Qualifications:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

Bachelor's degree

Preferably a Master's degree from an accredited college oruniversity in higher education, counseling, student affairs,business, organizational leadership, human resources, education, ora related field.

Experience:

Intermediate (3 to 4 years job-relatedexperience)

Minimum of seven years of progressively responsible professionalexperience in career services, higher education, student success,employer relations, workforce development, talent development, or arelated area.

Demonstrated leadership and supervisory experience, includingresponsibility for staff, programs, operations, and organizationalpriorities.

Experience developing collaborative relationships with academicunits, employers, and other internal and external partners.

Experience leading a university or college career servicesoperation or comparable student success, talent development, orworkforce-focused unit.

Experience developing partnerships with academic units, employers,alumni, and external organizations.

Experience with career management platforms, career technologies,labor-market tools, student employment, and data-informed programassessment.

Experience developing scalable approaches to career developmentand integrating career readiness into the broader studentexperience.

An equivalent combination of education and experience may beaccepted.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

Leadership:

Demonstrated ability to provide strategic andoperational leadership, establish priorities, lead and developteams, manage change, and foster a collaborative andhigh-performing work environment.

Career Development:

Comprehensive knowledge of contemporarycareer development practices, career readiness, experiential andcareer-engaged learning, employer recruiting practices, andworkforce trends.

Student Success:

Knowledge of strategies for engaging andsupporting a diverse student population and increasing access tocareer development resources and opportunities.

Employer and Partnership Development:

Demonstrated abilityto establish and maintain productive relationships across academicand administrative units and with employers, alumni, communityorganizations, and other external partners.

Technology and Data:

Ability to leverage career technology,data, assessment, and labor-market information to improve programs,increase efficiency, measure outcomes, and informdecision-making.

Communication:

Excellent written, verbal, presentation, andinterpersonal communication skills. Ability to communicateeffectively with students, faculty, administrators, employers,alumni, and community partners.

Collaboration:

Demonstrated ability to work effectivelywithin a complex, decentralized university environment and developcollaborative approaches across multiple units andstakeholders.

Planning and Organization:

Strong organizational, projectmanagement, analytical, and problem-solving skills. Ability to manage multiple priorities and initiatives effectively.

School/College/Division:

Generic Division

Primary department:

H9203 - Placement Services (H9203)

Employment type:

• Regular Employee
• Job type: Full Time
• Job category: Executive

Funding/salary information:

• Compensation type: Annual Salary
• Hourly rate:
• Salary minimum:
• Salary hire maximum: 107,592

Working conditions:

Working Conditions Normal office environment with regularinteraction with students, faculty, staff, employers, alumni, andexternal partners. Some evening and weekend work is required tosupport career fairs, employer events, student programs, anduniversity activities. Occasional local, regional, and nationaltravel may be required.

Job openings:

• Number of openings: 1
• Reposted position: No
• Reposted reason: None (New Requisition)
• Prior posting/requisition number:

Background check requirements:

University policy requires certain persons who are offeredemployment to undergo a background check, including a criminalhistory check, before starting work. If you are offered employment,the university will inform you if a background check isrequired.