A cover letter must be included with your application to be considered for this position.

The Associate Director of Commodore Career Connections is part of the Career Center at Vanderbilt University and is a key individual leader responsible for the proactive and strategic management of the Career Center’s Alumni and Parent engagement program. Though reporting directly to the Director of External Partner Engagement of the Career Center, the Associate Director of Commodore Career Connections will be deeply aligned and collaborate regularly with Development and Alumni Relations (DAR). Additionally, the role will consider a proactive strategy for engaging friends of the University who have an interest in support career development for students. Their primary role is to manage career center focused alum, parent, and friends’ programs, coordinate and track alumni and parent engagement with the Career Center, collaborate with DAR colleagues, and to support the data and reporting associated with the before mentioned activities. This role is key to increasing the volume, caliber, and diversity of engagement opportunities for Vanderbilt alumni, parents, and friends that support current students.

The Associate Director of Commodore Career Connections manages the aligned team that is responsible for developing and managing a comprehensive plan to engage parents, alumni, and friends in career advancement activities that opens doors for Vanderbilt students. The Commodore Career Connections strategy will facilitate relationships with stakeholders that yield employment opportunities, networking and mentorship connections, and program facilitation. The strategy will ease the path to engagement for willing and committed parents and alumni and deepen the Vanderbilt presence within their respective organizations and/or professional networks.

ABOUT THE WORK UNIT:

Launched in fall 2021 under the leadership of the new Vice Provost for Career Advancement and Engagement & Executive Director of the Evans Family Career Center, the Office of Career Advancement and Engagement (CAE),centrally supported within the Provost’s Office,drives radical campus-wide collaboration by integrating career advancement activities into the broader VU student experience.

The new CAE division comprises three key areas:

• Career Center - serves undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral scholars while continuing to support career and professional coaching of recent graduates (0-2 years) after graduation
• Corporate Partnerships – fosters enhanced employer and alumni engagement and facilitates high-impact corporate partnerships
• VU Network – oversees a network of regional hubs that promote activity and engagement with Vanderbilt’s growing community of students, alumni, parents, faculty, and partnership corporations

The new CAE office offers enhanced career advancement services to connect the wide variety of academic programs and experiences to student career development. In addition, the office reimagines the link between corporate relations and corporate partnerships to generate greater career opportunities and outcomes for students and alumni. Further, the CAE office is currently laying the groundwork for the VU Network Hub, a national engagement program that identifies and stands- up regional hubs to facilitate activity and community interaction for Vanderbilt students, alumni, parents, faculty, and partnership corporations.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Design and Manage a Best-in-Class Career Connection Program:

• Establish, manage, and build a successful alumni,parent, and friends’ relations program within the Vanderbilt Career Center to provide meaningful connections for students on a local, regional, and national level.
• Collaborate with the Director of External Partner engagement to execute the strategic process designed to increase access to valuable opportunities for Vanderbilt students.
• In partnership with DAR, lead the implementation of a mentoring platform that connects alumni with students.
• Lead the creation and management of Vandy In Advisory Councils that inform and support 8 unique Vandy In communities.
• Create and communicate pathways for alumni,parents, and friends to engage in student-facing programs beyond the traditional recruitment offerings.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive long-term strategic plan for the Alumni & Parents engagement program.
• Drive collaboration and accountability of the Alumni& Parents Engagement team’s alignment with the CAE overall goals of corporate partnerships.

Coordinate and Track Alumni & Parent Career Center Engagement:

• Ensure that parents and alumni are connected to Career Center Employer Relations team members for distribution of internship and full-time opportunities
• Create pathways for collaboration with Career Center Student & Scholar Engagement team to plug-in alumni, parents, and friends for career readiness preparation, career exploration programming, etc.
• Collaborate with Career Center Innovation team for alumni and parent incorporation into treks, immersive experiences, regional hub events, etc.
• As requested by DAR, connect leads to CAE Leadership for Career Advancement and Engagement conversations and planning.
• Collaborate regularly with VU Regional Hubs team on in-market engagement activities.

Collaborate with Development and Alumni Relations:

• Partner with DAR appointed point of contacts to support CAE alumni, parents,and friends’ engagement strategy and monitor progress and impact.
• Maximize CAE involvement in key DAR events and engagements including reunion, parent & family weekend, etc.
• Provide CAE content and expertise to support alumni learning initiatives.
• Coordinate alumni and parent engagement meetings for DAR/CAE.

Relationship Building & Management:

• Determine a portfolio management approach for Commodore Career Connections team to develop key relationships.
• Increase the recognition of alumni, parents,and friends who engage with the Career Center.
• Execute a tiered system of engagement, developed by the Director of External Partner Engagement in collaboration with DAR, which identifies engagement opportunities for new alumni, parents, and friends to provide support to Vanderbilt students via Career Center programming.

Marketing Strategy for Alumni and Parent Engagement Initiatives:

• Consult and partner with the Marketing and Communication Coordinator to develop and implement printed and digital collateral materials, identifying methods of engagement.
• Benchmark with peers to provide career center and alumni engagement best practices and resources.

Reporting & Data:

• Maintain ongoing statistics and generate regular reports for DAR and CAE to analyze the metrics and determine impact of alumni and parent engagement.
• Ensure proper and effective usage of SALESFORCE by CAE team for tracking and usage of DAR to manage alumni and parent relationships.
• Develop surveys and other measurement tools to monitor customer satisfaction with all aspects of alumni and parent relations.

Develop & Strengthen University Relationships:

• Work with DAR colleagues as a primary collaborator for all alumni and parent engagement.
• Partner with key University offices, including but not limited to, the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion; the Athletics program;Development and Alumni Relations; as well as the academic departments, to strengthen alumni engagement opportunities for all students.
• Represent the department on committees and initiatives as delegated by leadership.

Manage the Assistant Director for Commodore Career Connections:

• Develop and implement a comprehensive long-term strategic plan for Commodore Career Connections.
• Supervise and provide coaching and support to the Career Connections team including setting expectations and key strategic initiatives and performance measures.
• Provide feedback, complete performance reviews, identify appropriate recognition and rewards, and perform corrective actions as needed.
• Hire and train new staff.
• Delegate and implement special projects and/or perform related duties as assigned.

Supervisory Relationship:

This position does have supervisory responsibility (including hiring) over the Assistant Director for the Alumni & Parents Engagement team. This position reports administratively and functionally to the Director of External Partner Engagement of the Career Center. Occasional weekend and evening hours may be required.

Education and Certifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in business, communications, human resources, or a related area is required
• MBA or master’s degree is preferred.
• Minimum 3-5 years of experience successfully leading an alumni development program or leading a college or university-based recruiting is preferred.

Experience and Skills:

• Significant national employer connections.
• Knowledge of and proficiency with career- and recruitment-management software(preferably Handshake) as well as MS Office, Excel, and database management software.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills (including the ability to deliver creative and persuasive presentations), strong project management abilities, and experience with building relationships and providing effective customer service with diverse stakeholders.
• Ability to conceptualize and implement a sales/marketing/business development plan at both a strategic and tactical level.
• Demonstrated initiative to take on special projects.
• Ability to travel to attend relevant conferences, and corporate events and meet with key partners.
• An appreciation and understanding of the different means of providing employment and internship opportunities for students from a wide variety of majors.
• High degree of ethical and professional standards and strict confidentiality in sensitive matters related to hiring decisions.