Assistant Director, Career Advancement

Department

ESA Deputy Director STEM Programs - Direct Reports

About the Department

Career Advancement serves a student population of approximately 7,000 arts and sciences undergraduate students, in addition to alumni who have graduated within the last five years. Career Advancement plays a vital role in ensuring our students’ success after graduation. Career Advancement offers innovative and comprehensive career development services with a focus on pre-professional preparation, experiential education, and opportunities. Through career advising, programs, and comprehensive resources, Career Advancement supports undergraduate students and alumni as they develop the skills necessary to manage their career development, while working with alumni and employers to provide students with meaningful opportunities. For more information, please visit the Career Advancement website at careeradvancement.uchicago.edu.

Job Summary

The Assistant Director, Career Advancement will lead initiatives to prepare and connect undergraduate students at the College to impactful careers in artificial intelligence across industries. This role will design and drive strategic initiatives that expand students’ awareness of and access to AI career pathways in business, technology, healthcare, climate science, government, public policy, and beyond. Responsibilities will include creating and facilitating a series of professional development workshops focused on the most in-demand AI competencies. These sessions will provide students with opportunities to learn and practice skills including prompt engineering, building AI models with proprietary data, and AI safety and quality assurance.

The Assistant Director will also cultivate partnerships to generate internships, research collaborations, networking events, and other immersive experiences that give students hands-on exposure to the evolving AI landscape. This role will have a significant focus on developing new employer partnerships across industries creating pipelines for career opportunities for College students. This role will also advise students individually and in groups providing guidance on AI career exploration and recruiting support.

In addition, the Assistant Director will lead communications and data-tracking efforts that amplify the University’s role in preparing the next generation of AI talent. This includes producing reports, presentations, newsletters, and outreach materials that showcase student successes and highlight emerging trends in AI. The ideal candidate will have a strong understanding of AI technologies and their applications in professional setting and is highly adaptable and thrives in a fast-paced environment.

Responsibilities

• Creates and leads professional development workshops and skill trainings to educate students about industry applications of AI and prepare students to apply these technologies in their careers.
• Builds and manages strong relationships with employers to create new internship and job opportunities for students across in industries.
• Provides individualized career advising to College students.
• Reviews student resumes and cover letters.
• Creates internship opportunities for cohort members in collaboration with employers.
• Organizes networking opportunities for students, including Career Trek visits to employers in cities throughout the U.S. and around the world.
• Tracks data on programming participants, quantifies student engagement, and reports on student outcomes.
• Provides regular status updates to departmental leadership team and other key stakeholders.
• Develops original content for Career Advancement communications, including memos, agendas, newsletters, web content, presentations, flyers, and general email outreach.
• Provides support for Career Advancement signature events.
• Provides best-in-class customer service to students, employers, faculty, alumni, and campus partners.
• Analyzes markets and trends as they relate to job searches. Assesses student feedback and evaluations and collaborates with other career services staff members, student organizations, or other staff to determine program offerings and innovations.
• Researches organizations that are hiring and partners with a wide variety of employers to ensure recruitment strategies meet their needs. Maintains contact with a portfolio of employers to serve as their dedicated Career Advancement liaison.
• Performs other related tasks as needed.

Minimum Qualifications

Education:

Minimum requirements include a college or university degree in related field.

Work Experience:

Minimum requirements include knowledge and skills developed through 5-7 years of work experience in a related job discipline.

Certifications:

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Preferred Qualifications

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in economics, business, finance or STEM field.

Experience:

• Background in program design and delivery; partnership management; project management, customer relations, program administration, etc.
• Demonstrated AI literacy and knowledge of relevant industries.
• Candidates with STEM degree or STEM industry experience strongly preferred.

Technical Skills or Knowledge:

• Proficiency in Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Learn new software and computer systems, including Salesforce.
• Proficient in Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and other digital platforms for meetings and events.
• Accomplished in using graphic design tools is a plus.

Preferred Competencies

• Exemplary organization skills and attention to detail.
• Strong project management skills, and prioritize and meet deadlines.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills.
• Work successfully in a fast-paced environment.
• Develop creative solutions in ambiguous situations and maintain an outcomes-driven and action-oriented attitude.
• Translate general ideas and directives into specific action plans.
• Highly flexible, adaptable, and comfortable shifting priorities on short notice.
• Work independently and collaboratively.
• Influence and bring together team members of varying levels of seniority.  
• Demonstrated success in maintaining collaborative relationships with stakeholders.
• High degree of professionalism when interacting with internal and external constituents.  
• Deep commitment to customer service.
• Communicate to large groups as well as one-on-one with students, senior management, faculty, donors, and alumni.
• Problem-solving and reasoning, critical thinking and decision-making skills.
• Handle sensitive matters with tact and discretion and maintain confidentiality.

Working Conditions

• Work evening hours and weekends on an occasional basis.
• Travel as needed.

Application Documents

• Resume/CV (required)
• Cover Letter/Statement of Interest (required)
• Professional References Contact Information (3)(required)

Job Family

Student Affairs & Services

Role Impact

Individual Contributor

Scheduled Weekly Hours

37.5

Drug Test Required

No

Health Screen Required

No

Motor Vehicle Record Inquiry Required

No

Pay Rate Type

Salary

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FLSA Status

Exempt

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Pay Range

$90,000.00 - $115,000.00

The included pay rate or range represents the University’s good faith estimate of the possible compensation offer for this role at the time of posting.

Benefits Eligible

Yes

The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off. Information about the benefit offerings can be found in the Benefits Guidebook.

Posting Statement

The University of Chicago is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or expression, national or ethnic origin, shared ancestry, age, status as an individual with a disability, military or veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information please see the University's Notice of Nondiscrimination.

 

Job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773-702-5800 or submit a request via Applicant Inquiry Form.

 

All offers of employment are contingent upon a background check that includes a review of conviction history.  A conviction does not automatically preclude University employment.  Rather, the University considers conviction information on a case-by-case basis and assesses the nature of the offense, the circumstances surrounding it, the proximity in time of the conviction, and its relevance to the position.

 

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