Leadership Development & Education Associate Director

Columbia University in the City of New York; New York (NY); On-site; USD 82,000 - 92,000; Full time

Job summary

Columbia University in the City of New York is seeking an Associate Director for Leadership Development & Education within University Life's Engagement & Education Department (E&E). This role leads student leadership development, educational programs, and onboarding initiatives for first-year students across Columbia.

The position reports to the Director of Student Engagement & Education and focuses on applying curricular frameworks and assessment to deliver high-quality learning experiences,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and 4-6 years of progressively responsible experience in higher education, student affairs, student leadership development, education and training, student engagement, orientation, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience designing, implementing, facilitating, and evaluating educational or student development programs.
• Experience developing learning experiences and curricula for diverse student populations, including in-person and virtual formats.
• Strong facilitation, presentation, writing, interpersonal communication, and relationship-building skills.
• Demonstrated ability to independently manage complex projects, coordinate multiple stakeholders, establish priorities, and meet deadlines.
• Experience supervising, mentoring, or providing significant project leadership to professional staff, graduate assistants, student employees, or other team members.
• Strong organizational, analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills, with sound judgment and attention to detail.

Responsibilities

• Prepare program proposals and coordinate program calendars in support of departmental priorities across the Education & Training portfolio, for review and approval by the Director.
• Manage the day-to-day operations of the portfolio, ensuring that projects and programs are well-coordinated and delivered effectively.
• Supervise assigned professional staff and/or graduate assistants, providing direction, delegating responsibilities, and supporting their professional development in alignment with department expectations for a collaborative, inclusive, accountable, and high-performing team.
• Independently manage complex initiatives such as the Community Citizenship Initiative and the Pre-Orientation Tutorial, working closely with multiple Columbia schools, central offices, students, and external vendors and/or partners.
• Serve as a thought partner to the Director by bringing forward emerging student, team and partner needs, as well as implementation considerations, assessment findings, operational challenges, and recommendations for program improvement.
• Coordinate with other E&E teams to support consistent implementation of department priorities and effective cross-team collaboration.
• Build, adapt, and deliver workshops, leadership programs, multi-session learning experiences, facilitator resources, and other educational offerings in support of E&E learning goals and department priorities.
• Manage and maintain effective systems for responding to student and school inquiries and resolving issues related to University-wide trainings for first-year students
• Collaborate with Columbia's schools, student populations, and campus partners to identify training gaps, emerging needs, and opportunities to strengthen connections across pre-orientation and orientation, leadership development, student engagement, and community-building initiatives.
• Facilitate learning sessions on complex, challenging, and sensitive topics that require thoughtful discussion and specialized facilitation. Develop facilitator resources and support staff and graduate assistants through training, coaching, observation, and feedback to ensure established offerings are delivered consistently and effectively.
• Maintain the department’s workshop catalogue, reusable curricula, educational resources, content review cycles, accessibility requirements, and quality standards. Adapt the workshops for school-specific audiences while preserving intended learning outcomes and educational quality. Incorporate learning technologies, online resources, external expertise, and varied instructional methods when they strengthen student learning, accessibility, reach, or program effectiveness.

Skills

Facilitation

Presentation

Writing

Interpersonal skills

Relationship-building

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree preferred

Tools

Project management

Job description

Columbia University in the City of New York is seeking an Associate Director for Leadership Development & Education within University Life's Engagement & Education Department (E&E). This role leads student leadership development, educational programs, and onboarding initiatives for first-year students across Columbia.

The position reports to the Director of Student Engagement & Education and focuses on applying curricular frameworks and assessment to deliver high-quality learning experiences,