Assistant Dean of Career Development

Pay Range: Commensurate based on education and experience

Benefits Eligible: Yes

Work Schedule: Monday – Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (may include some weekends)

Travel: May be required

Reports to: Dean of the College of Law

Appointment: Full‑time, 12‑month, exempt administrative position

Supervises: Career Development staff, student workers, and other career development personnel as assigned

The Assistant Dean of Career Development is the College of Law’s senior leader for student and alumni career development, employer relations, professional identity formation, and employment outcomes. The Assistant Dean designs and executes a comprehensive, data‑informed career strategy that prepares OU Law students and graduates for meaningful legal and law related employment.

The Assistant Dean leads the Career Development Office, advises the Dean and senior leadership on legal employment trends and outcomes, supervises career development staff, builds strong employer and alumni relationships, and serves as a principal ambassador to the bench, bar, judiciary, government, public interest organizations, corporate legal departments, and law firms of all sizes.

The ideal candidate will combine substantial knowledge of the legal profession with strong student advising skills, employer development experience, sound judgment, comfort with data and technology, and the operational discipline necessary to improve employment outcomes, strengthen professional pathways, and support student success.

• Develop and implement an annual and multi‑year career development strategy for JD students, recent graduates, and alumni.
• Advise the Dean and senior leadership on legal market trends, employment outcomes, recruiting practices, employer needs, student career interests, and opportunities to improve placement.
• Set and monitor annual goals for student engagement, employment outcomes, employer participation, judicial clerkships, public service placements, private sector placements, government placements, JD Advantage roles, and alumni career support.
• Use data and market intelligence to identify employment gaps, underemployment risks, and targeted interventions for students and recent graduates.
• Prepare regular dashboards and reports for the Dean, senior leadership, faculty committees, and other stakeholders. Serve as a senior administrative voice on issues affecting professional development, employment outcomes, employer relations, and the student to lawyer transition.

• Oversee individualized career counseling for students and alumni across a wide range of legal and law related career paths.
• Ensure that students receive early, sustained, and developmentally appropriate career advising beginning in the first year of law school.
• Provide or supervise counseling on resumes, cover letters, writing samples, interviewing, networking, professionalism, job search strategy, offer evaluation, clerkship applications, lateral markets, and long‑term career planning.
• Develop targeted advising structures for 1
  
  Ls, 2
  
  Ls, 3
  
  Ls, transfer students, first generation students, nontraditional students, students pursuing public service careers, students pursuing private practice, students seeking clerkships, and graduates still seeking employment.
• Support alumni seeking career transitions, relocation, reentry, lateral moves, government or public service opportunities, and alternative legal careers.
• Ensure career advising is practical, accurate, student‑centered, candid, and aligned with the realities of the legal employment market.

• Design and lead a sequenced professional development program that helps students understand the legal profession, build professional identity, develop workplace judgment, and prepare for meaningful employment.
• Collaborate with faculty and administrators to integrate career education, professionalism, networking, leadership, financial literacy, wellness, ethics, and professional identity into orientation, first year programming, upper‑level programming, experiential learning, and…