Associate Director, Career Readiness

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Western Washington University, with over 15,000 students in seven colleges and the graduate school, is nationally recognized for its educational programs, students and faculty. The campus is located in Bellingham, Washington, a coastal community of 90,000 overlooking Bellingham Bay, the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades Mountain range. The city lies 90 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia.

Western has additional sites in Anacortes, Bremerton, Everett, Port Angeles, and Poulsbo. Western is recognized nationally for its successes, such as being named one of the top public master's-granting institutions in the Pacific Northwest for 25 years in a row by U.S. News & World Report.

Western Washington University is committed to achieving excellence through advancing inclusive success, increasing our Washington impact, and focusing on transformational education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and based on innovative scholarship, research, and creative activity. Western's greatest strength is the outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae who make up its community. Western supports an inclusive governance structure for all and provides a learning and working environment in which everyone can thrive.

In pursuit of this excellence, individual employees are expected to establish and maintain productive and effective inclusive working relationships amongst diverse populations including staff, faculty, administration, student, and external constitu­ents. Further, individual employees are expected to have the ability to operationalize sustainability concepts (economic, societal, environmental) into all aspects of performing their job duties.

Academic Advising and Career Readiness supports Western's mission , which states that together with our students, staff, and faculty, we are committed to making a positive impact in the state and the world with a shared focus on academic excellence and inclusive achievement. All are encouraged to apply, including women, people of color, people with disabilities, veterans, and other candidates from underrepresented backgrounds and with diverse experiences interested in this opportunity.

Academic Advising and Career Readiness (AACR) provides a comprehensive range of services that support students' academic advising and career development while fostering campus partnerships and connecting students with key institutional resources. The AACR team, comprised of professional and student staff who support students in defining their educational and career goals and prepare for success after graduation.

The Associate Director provides leadership for the development, implementation, and assessment of career education initiatives that support student and alumni career readiness. This position leads the design of career learning experiences, educational resources, and scalable programs that help students develop the knowledge, skills, and confidence needed to navigate career exploration, experiential learning, job and internship searches, and lifelong career management.

Partnering with the Executive Director of Academic Advising & Career Readiness and other team members, collaboratively works with faculty, advisors, student affairs professionals, and campus partners, in advancing a distributed career services model by integrating career readiness throughout the student experience. This role collaborates with academic partners in developing industry relations strategy to expand internship and employment opportunities. The position oversees career education curriculum, digital learning resources, workshops, outreach initiatives, and employer engagement while helping ensure equitable access to career development opportunities across campus.

In partnership with the Executive Director, Alumni and University Advancement, this role works with industry and corporate leaders in collaborations that benefit and support student retention and post‑graduation success.

This position reports to the Executive Director of Academic Advising & Career Readiness.

• Lead the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of the department’s career education strategy.
• Design, implement, and assess career education curriculum and programming aligned with…