Director of Career Development

Maryland Institute College of Art; Baltimore (MD); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) seeks a Director of Career Development to lead the Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Career Development and advance career and professional development, experiential learning, and post-graduation success. The Director will guide a collaborative team serving undergraduate, graduate students, and alumni.

The role emphasizes integrating career development with the student learning experience, expanding internships, mentorships, and employer engagement, and

Qualifications

• Master’s degree required or equivalent with demonstrated experience in career services, student affairs, or arts administration
• Proven ability to build partnerships among faculty, employers, and alumni
• Experience leading a student-centered, service-oriented team
• Experience with data collection and analysis to inform program priorities
• Commitment to equity and inclusive engagement across diverse student populations

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership for the Center and supervise a collaborative team
• Plan, implement, and assess career development programs for students and alumni
• Integrate career development with the student learning experience across majors and minors
• Develop experiential learning opportunities that connect academics with professional practice
• Expand employer and industry partnerships and manage relationships with external partners
• Lead assessments like the First Destination Survey and respond to reporting requirements
• Represent Career Development in regional and national conversations
• Oversee budget, resources, and grant reporting in partnership with college offices

Skills

Career development

Student development

Experiential learning

Partnership building

Data-informed decisions

Leadership

Education

Master’s degree in related field

Job description

The Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) seeks a Director of Career Development to lead the Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Career Development and advance the College’s work in career and professional development, experiential learning, employer and alumni engagement, and post-graduation success.

Reporting to the Associate Provost for Faculty and Student Affairs, the Director leads a collaborative team serving undergraduate students, graduate students, and alumni. The Director will help shape an approach to career development that is integrated with the student learning experience and responsive to the ways artists, designers, educators, entrepreneurs, and other creative professionals build their careers.

At MICA, career development extends beyond preparing students to find their first job. Students pursue careers across a wide range of creative, entrepreneurial, nonprofit, educational, and commercial settings, often moving among employment, freelance and contract work, entrepreneurship, and independent creative practice. The Director will help students connect their academic and creative development with professional identity, applied experience, and sustainable pathways after graduation.

A significant focus of the position will be experiential learning. Working with faculty, academic leaders, alumni, employers, industry partners, and community organizations, the Director will help expand opportunities that connect academic learning with professional practice. These may include internships, project-based experiences, mentorship, employer and alumni engagement, portfolio reviews, professional exposure, and other forms of applied learning.

The Director will also serve as an important institutional partner in strengthening MICA’s relationships with the creative economy of Baltimore and beyond.

Responsibilities

The Director will:

• Provide strategic leadership for the Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Career Development and supervise a collaborative team responsible for career advising, employer relations, internships, programming, and student-facing services.
• Lead the planning, development, implementation, and assessment of career and professional development programs serving undergraduate students, graduate students, and alumni.
• Work with faculty, academic leaders, and the Design + Innovation Hub and Center for Creative Impact to integrate career and professional development more fully into the student experience across MICA’s majors, co-majors, programs, and concentrations.
• Provide leadership, in partnership with faculty and academic leaders, for the development and expansion of experiential learning opportunities that connect academic learning with professional practice and external partnerships.
• Develop relationships with employers, alumni, industry partners, parents, and community organizations that generate internships, mentorship, project-based experiences, portfolio reviews, professional exposure, employment, freelance opportunities, and other pathways into professional practice.
• Serve as Career Development’s primary liaison and strategic partner to the Ratcliffe Center for Creative Entrepreneurship (RCCE), strengthening connections among career development, entrepreneurship, and creative practice.
• Collaborate with the School of Creative and Professional Studies (SCPS) on workforce development, continuing education, employer partnerships, certificate opportunities, and lifelong career engagements.
• Oversee MICA’s internship-for-credit program and ensure compliance with applicable institutional, state, and federal requirements.
• Engage employers across art, design, creative, nonprofit, entrepreneurial, educational, and related industries and expand opportunities available to MICA students and graduates.
• Lead the First Destination Survey and work with Institutional Research to assess career outcomes, program utilization, graduate success, and the effectiveness of Career Development programs.
• Collaborate with Institutional Research and campus partners on Maryland Higher Education Commission reporting, federal Student Tuition and Transparency System (STATS) and Earnings Accountability requirements, and other reporting expectations related to graduate and career outcomes.
• Monitor economic, workforce, policy, immigration, and industry trends affecting the professional opportunities available to MICA students and graduates and help the College respond to changes in the employment environment.
• Represent MICA in regional and national conversations related to career development, creative industries, experiential learning, and workforce development.
• Manage the Center’s budget and resources and participate in grant reporting and donor stewardship in collaboration with Advancement and Finance.
• Maintain strong partnerships across Academic Affairs, Alumni and Parent Relations, Advancement, Admissions, and other areas of the College.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

The Successful Candidate

We are particularly interested in candidates who see career development as part of the educational experience and who are interested in building internal and external connections among academic learning, creative practice, professional development, and experiential learning.

The successful candidate will bring:

• Strong knowledge of career development, student development, experiential and applied learning, and career readiness practices.
• An understanding of the professional environment facing artists, designers, educators, entrepreneurs, and other creative professionals.
• Experience developing partnerships among faculty, employers, alumni, industry, and community organizations.
• The ability to develop experiential opportunities that extend student learning beyond the classroom.
• Experience leading a student-centered and service-oriented team.
• Strong supervisory, coaching, and staff development skills.
• Experience with employer engagement, internship programs, career advising, professional development, or related work.
• Strong program development, project management, assessment, and organizational skills.
• The ability to use data to assess programs, understand student and graduate outcomes, and inform priorities.
• An entrepreneurial and collaborative approach to developing programs and partnerships.
• Strong written, verbal, presentation, and interpersonal communication skills.
• The ability to work effectively with students, alumni, faculty, staff, employers, donors, parents, community partners, and institutional leadership.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master’s degree in a related field, e.g. Student Affairs, Arts Administration, Art Education, Art or Design
• Progressive professional experience in career services, teaching, advising, student affairs, or arts administration enterprises
• An active commitment to equity in all forms, including the ability to create and maintain positive working relationships with people of diverse backgrounds and perspectives
• Knowledge of the professional environment and competencies for fine and commercial artists/designers and related fields
• Demonstrated ability to conduct strategic planning for a complex operation with an educational environment
• Ability to communicate effectively with both external and internal constituencies, including the ability to conceive and present complex information to trustees, parents, donors, and the MICA community
• Collaborative, entrepreneurial, proactive style, with excellent human relations skills
• Demonstrated ability to forge relationships and orchestrate connections on and off campus
• Demonstrated ability to supervise and manage a team

Preferred Qualifications:

• Understanding of the needs and challenges facing artists, designers, and educators in their career search
• Experience in higher education, art and design education, creative industries, entrepreneurship, or experiential learning.
• Experience managing internship programs or employer engagement initiatives.
• Experience with first-destination data, graduate outcomes reporting, or institutional assessment.
• Familiarity with FLSA considerations related to internships and experiential learning.

Reporting to this position:

Assistant Directors of Career Advising, Assistant Director for Employer Relations, Assistant Director for Internships, Administrative Coordinator.

Conditions of Employment:

• Satisfactory background check

Physical demands and work environment:

• Physical Demands: While performing the duties of job, the employee is occasionally required to stand, walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls; reach with hands and arms; balance; stoop; talk or hear. The employee must occasionally lift up to 30 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by the job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus. (may be adjusted depending on position)
• Work environment: While performing the duties of the job, the employee is exposed to weather conditions prevalent at the time. The noise level in the work environment is usually (minimal, moderate, or high).
• Required training: Handbook orientation, Anti-Harassment, Hazard Communication, Emergency Plans & Fire Prevention, Personal Protection Equipment. (additional training may be added, SEE: EHS Manager training schedule)

About the Role

This position offers an opportunity to help MICA continue to develop a broader approach to career and professional development—one that begins during the student experience, draws upon the expertise of faculty and alumni, builds stronger relationships with employers and industry, and creates meaningful opportunities for students to learn through professional practice.

The Director will be an important partner in ensuring that MICA students leave the College not only with a strong creative education, but with the experiences, relationships, knowledge, and confidence needed to build a life of creative and professional practice.