Assistant​/Associate VP and Career Design

Assistant/Associate VP for Life and Career Design

Position Title:

Assistant/Associate VP for Life and Career Design

FLSA:
Exempt

Job Type: Full-Time

Staff Term: 12 Months

Staff Work Schedule (hours/dates): M-F, 8:30-4:30

Position Type:
Staff

Job Summary/Basic Function:

The AVP will guide the Life and Career Design Institute to develop programs and services for students by incorporating internships, service learning, alumni and professional mentoring, and life design principles as a part of the student’s Experiential Learning Plan ( ELP ). The end goal is that all Wheaton students graduate with experiences that enhance career goals, a skill set, and a life plan they can use to make great choices throughout their lives.

Reporting to the Vice President for Student Affairs, the AVP will be responsible for articulating the vision and mission of the Institute, leading a robust team of talented professionals, and overseeing a broad, year-by-year student developmental model. The position will be highly collaborative, working with partners that include college leadership, faculty, alumni, parents, college advancement and other on-campus stakeholders, as well as the external business and not-for-profit communities, in order to provide exceptional opportunities for the Wheaton students.

• Ensure effective and measurable career advising, career education and outreach programming, and life and career exploration within a holistic model that emphasizes internships and experiential educational opportunities.
• Provide entrepreneurial insight and innovation, utilizing formal and informal methods of life and career design.
• Provide oversight of the student employment program in collaboration with Student Financial Services.
• Lead the Institute in accordance with the College’s framework of inclusive excellence.
• Strengthen and cultivate partnerships with employer representatives in business and industry, not for profit and education sectors and work collaboratively with area colleges. Streamline the process for posting new opportunities.
• Work closely with colleagues in advancement and alumni relations, and annual giving, to develop and implement mentoring, networking, internships, and/or position shadowing opportunities by alumni for students.
• Supervision of the staff in the Life and Career Design Institute to provide sustained support for experiential learning and program operations.
• Develop a team that communicates critical information with measurable results and cultivates relationships across campus to champion and advocate for the student’s career and life experiences.
• Oversee and occasionally teach experiential learning labs for students.
• Provide fiscal management of the office budget, grants, and funds that support internships.
• Collaborate with academic and student affairs in cultivating partnerships that offer experiential learning through curricular and co-curricular opportunities.
• Plan and implement innovative strategies to market the Life and Career Design Institute to the various constituencies both within the Wheaton College campus community and externally.
• Expand and promote usage of technology and other resources for students such as Handshake, etc.
• Serve as a member of the student affairs leadership team.
• Work with Advancement to describe programs and effectiveness to potential donors.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Master’s degree required, with 8-10 years of progressively responsible experience in higher education, business, or nonprofit settings.
• Demonstrated ability to build, operationalize, and scale career readiness, life design, advising, or experiential learning programs—someone who strengthens and grows an existing framework rather than starting from a blank page.
• Fluency in the interconnected…