Director, Internships - Education

Director, Internships and Work-Based Education Join our community and experience Emerson College!

The Director, Internships and Work-Based Education provides institution-wide strategic leadership for internships and work-based learning at Emerson College. Reporting to the Assistant Vice President, Career Development, the Director leads the development and implementation of a cohesive, high-quality ecosystem of experiential learning opportunities - both credit-bearing and non-credit - that is aligned with academic priorities, responsive to industry trends, and accessible to all students.

Working in close partnership with faculty, academic leadership, and industry relations, the Director sets strategy and provides institutional leadership for the infrastructure, policies, systems, and practices that support internships and work-based learning. The Director advances consistency, compliance, quality, and student success across programs while respecting the central role of faculty and academic leadership in shaping curriculum, academic content, and learning outcomes.

As the College's senior strategic lead for internships and work-based education, the Director convenes and influences stakeholders across academic and administrative units, translates institutional priorities into scalable practices, and advances innovation in experiential learning. The Director co-leads relevant governance structures, identifies emerging opportunities and risks, and ensures that students have access to meaningful, well-supported experiences that contribute to their academic and professional development.

• Provide institution-wide strategic leadership for internshipsand work-based education, establishing shared vision, priorities,strategy, and guiding practices in collaboration with academic and institutional partners.
• Lead the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of a comprehensive institutional framework for internships and work-based learning.
• Ensure internship and work-based education strategy is aligned with institutional priorities related to student success, access,academic quality, and post-graduate outcomes.
• Partner with the Director, Industry Relations to align employerpipelines and internship opportunities with institutional,academic, operational, and policy priorities.
• Serve as the institutional strategic lead for internship policyand shared practices. Lead the development, communication, and implementation of guidance related to academic credit and learning outcomes, compensation and labor compliance (e.g., FLSAconsiderations), risk management and liability, and internationalinternships and regulatory considerations. Ensure clear, accessibleguidance for students, faculty, staff, and employers.
• Co-chair the cross-college internship committee, settingagendas and priorities and bringing together stakeholders fromacademic departments, academic affairs, legal, risk management,career services, and other relevant areas to advance institutionalstrategy and resolve cross-functional issues.
• Lead cross-functional coordination to ensure internship programs and practices align with legal, ethical, institutional,and accreditation standards.
• Partner with faculty and academic units to advance and expandhigh-impact embedded work-based learning opportunities, including credit-bearing internships, capstone and project-based courses, and industry-sponsored courses or studios.
• Provide strategic consultation and resources to faculty and academic units related to learning outcomes, assessment frameworks,and reflective components for experiential learning.
• Lead the development, piloting, evaluation, and scaling of newwork-based learning models in partnership with faculty, academic leaders, and external partners.
• Expand access to experiences through micro-internships andshort-term projects, on-campus and campus-affiliated experientialroles, and alumni and industry-sponsored projects.
• Ensure institutional work-based learning models reflect the realities of freelance, gig-based, entrepreneurial, and portfolio-driven careers common in arts and media industries.
• Set priorities and lead initiatives that address barriers to participation, including funding, location constraints, and unpaidwork.
• Advance broad access to high-quality internships and work-based learning by identifying systemic barriers and leading cross-institutional strategies to reduce them.
• Partner with institutional and industry stakeholders to expandpaid internship opportunities,…