Lead, Career Connections & Employer Engagement

Montana State University; Bozeman (MT); Hybrid; USD 31,000 - 44,000; Full time

Job summary

Montana State University in Bozeman is seeking an Assistant Director of Career Connections to lead university-wide systems, services, and initiatives that connect students with career opportunities and experiences.

The position advances Career Services’ role by coordinating employer engagement, workforce alignment, and career-connected infrastructure, partnering with students, faculty, and industry to expand internships and employment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Professional experience leading projects, programs, initiatives, or partnerships involving multiple stakeholders.
• Experience with technology platforms, databases, and data analytics to support implementation and decision making.
• Ability to build collaborative relationships and manage competing priorities across diverse groups.

Responsibilities

• Lead Career Connections Systems, Operations & Infrastructure initiatives and platforms.
• Coordinate university-wide employer engagement and talent-pipeline development.
• Provide leadership and supervision for staff and student employees; drive planning and assessment.

Skills

Project leadership

Data analytics

Stakeholder collaboration

Communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business, public administration, organizational leadership, workforce development, social sciences, or a related field

Job description

Please see Special Instructions for more details.

This position is not eligible for new sponsorship.

Position Information

Announcement Number

Announcement Number STAFF - VA - 27109

For questions regarding this position, please contact:

Classification Title

Classification Title Program Mgr

Working Title

Working Title Assistant Director, Career Connections

Brief Position Overview

The Assistant Director of Career Connections leads university-wide systems, services, and initiatives that connect students with career-connected opportunities and experiences. The position advances Career Services’ role as a coordinating, facilitating, and enabling resource by strengthening connections among students, employers, academic units, and workforce partners while managing the infrastructure, operations, and engagement activities that support career pathways.

Position Number

Position Number 4M0401

Department

Division

Division Division of Student Success

Appointment Type

Appointment Type Classified

Contract Term

Contract Term Fiscal Year

Semester

If other, specify From date

If other, specify End date

FLSA

FLSA Non-Exempt

Union Affiliation

Union Affiliation FOCUS-MFPE

FTE

FTE 1.0

Benefits Eligible

Salary $27.00 per hour, commensurate with experience, education, and qualifications

Contract Type

If other, please specify

Recruitment Type

Recruitment Type Open

General Statement

From Orientation to Graduation and Beyond, Career Services empowers students to explore possibilities, build purpose, and launch their futures. As part of the Career Services leadership team, the Assistant Director of Career Connections works collaboratively with the Assistant Director of Career Education & Development to support student success and career outcomes. While the Career Education & Development portfolio focuses on career readiness, coaching, and student development, the Career Connections portfolio focuses on connecting students to opportunities through technology, employer engagement, workforce alignment, and career-connected infrastructure. The position serves as a key liaison among students, employers, academic units, workforce organizations, and campus partners to strengthen access to internships, employment, research, mentoring, and other career-connected experiences.

Duties and Responsibilities

Career Connections Systems, Operations & Infrastructure (40%)

• Provides leadership for career-connected technology platforms, systems, services, and operational processes that support student access to career-connected opportunities.
• Leads implementation, assessment, reporting, continuous improvement, and adoption efforts while developing workflows, resources, and infrastructure that strengthen participation, access, and student outcomes.

Career Connections, Employer Engagement & Opportunity Development (35%)

• Coordinates university-wide initiatives that connect students with career-connected opportunities, experiences, and workforce pathways.
• Facilitates collaboration among employers, workforce organizations, academic units, alumni, and campus partners; manages employer engagement activities and contracted career fair services; and supports development of talent pipelines aligned with student interests, workforce needs, and institutional priorities.

Leadership, Planning & Supervision (25%)

• Provides leadership and supervision for assigned staff and student employees supporting career connections, engagement, technology platforms, outreach, and operational initiatives.
• Leads planning, assessment, reporting, resource coordination, and continuous improvement efforts while contributing to departmental leadership, goal setting, and implementation as a member of the Career Services leadership team.

Required Qualifications – Experience, Education, Knowledge & Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in business, public administration, organizational leadership, workforce development, social sciences, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of relevant education and experience.
• Professional experience leading projects, programs, initiatives, or partnerships involving multiple stakeholders and complex organizational processes.
• Demonstrated experience utilizing technology platforms, enterprise systems, databases, and data analytics to support implementation, assessment, reporting, and decision making.
• Demonstrated ability to build collaborative relationships, manage competing priorities, communicate effectively, and independently lead initiatives across diverse stakeholder groups.

Preferred Qualifications – Experience, Education, Knowledge & Skills

• Master’s degree in a related field.
• Experience in workforce development, employer engagement, talent development, career services, higher education, or a related field.
• Experience working with labor market information, workforce trends, career outcomes data, assessment, or related analytics.
• Experience leading operational improvements, process development, or organizational change initiatives.
• Experience collaborating with diverse stakeholder groups across multiple departments, organizations, or sectors.

The Successful Candidate Will

Ability to:

• Build collaborative relationships and work effectively with a range of stakeholders.
• Communicate effectively through written, verbal, and presentation formats.
• Manage multiple priorities and lead projects in a complex organizational environment.
• Analyze information, identify opportunities, and support data-informed decision-making.
• Exercise sound judgment, initiative, and discretion while advancing cross-functional initiatives.

Position Special Requirements/Additional Information

This job description should not be construed as an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities or requirements, but a general description of the job. Nothing contained herein restricts Montana State University’s rights to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time.

Physical Demands

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily with or without reasonable accommodations. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

This position has supervisory duties?

This position has supervisory duties? Yes

Number of Vacancies

Number of Vacancies 1

Desired Start Date

Desired Start Date Upon completion of a successful search.

Position End Date (if temporary)

Open Date

Close Date

Applications will be:

Screening of applications will begin on October 6th 2026; however, applications will continue to be accepted until an adequate applicant pool has been established.

Special Instructions

This position is not eligible for new sponsorship.

EEO Statement

Montana State University is an equal opportunity employer. MSU does not discriminate against any applicant on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, political ideas, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, national origin, physical or mental disability, or any other protected class status in violation of any applicable law.

In compliance with the Montana Veteran’s Employment Preference Act, MSU provides preference in employment to veterans, disabled veterans, and certain eligible relatives of veterans. To claim veteran’s preference, please complete the veteran’s preference information located in the Demographics section of your profile.

Required Documents

Resume

Cover Letter

Optional Documents

Supplemental Questions

Required fields are indicated with an asterisk (*).