Associate Director, Graduate Student Career Development

About the Role

The Associate Director, Graduate Student Career Development focuses on advising and programming for all aspects of graduate student career planning and development for careers inside and outside academia. Reporting to the Senior Associate Director for Graduate Student Career Development, this role serves as a key relationship builder with major stakeholders across campus. The Associate Director creates and implements engagement and outreach initiatives to capture and respond to evolving graduate student career interests and needs, while collaborating broadly within the Career Development team.

This position advises graduate students using a student-centered career advising philosophy, emphasizing self-exploration and lifelong career management. The role is in-person at the Center for Career Development office.

Responsibilities

• Graduate Student Career Advising & Programming
  • Provide personalized career advising for graduate students via one-on-one in-person and virtual (Zoom) appointments on career-related concerns inside and outside academia.
  • Meet individually or in groups with graduate students to provide coaching and advising that helps them clarify values, interests, skills, and strengths.
  • Educate graduate students on significant employment trends within and beyond academia.
  • Assist graduate students with developing action plans and follow-up strategies.
  • Collaborate with the Employer Engagement team to develop and implement programs and resources connecting graduate students with employers, such as the Undercover Bosses networking program and the Beyond Academia Job Search Series.
  • Collaborate with the Alumni Engagement and Experiential Learning team to create programs and resources connecting alumni with graduate students, such as Grad Treks and the Academic Job Search Bootcamp series.
  • Create and implement engaging, informative, and actionable programs on topics ranging from exploring careers to preparing for the academic job search, interviewing, and negotiating job offers.
  • Actively collaborate with graduate academic departments and student organizations to identify career needs and design tailored career education and skill-building programs.
• Campus Outreach & Collaborative Relationship Building
  • Serve as a primary liaison to a group of graduate academic departments and student organizations.
  • Develop, maintain, and enhance relationships with graduate faculty, departmental staff, graduate program administrators, directors of graduate studies, job placement officers, and student department representatives.
  • Build and cultivate relationships across campus with graduate student groups and centers serving graduate students.
  • Connect with underserved graduate student populations through outreach initiatives.
  • Help develop a prioritized list of campus outreach targets and implement strategies to ensure all Princeton graduate students have access to meaningful career exploration and opportunities.
• Data and Assessment
  • Use data to assess outreach and program impact and identify areas for continuous improvement.
  • Participate in assessment projects, such as conducting surveys or hosting focus groups to understand graduate students’ career development experiences.

Qualifications

• Required
  • Master’s Degree.
  • Minimum of three years of professional experience in career counseling/advising and program development in a higher education setting.
  • Ability to implement a developmental, goal-oriented, and student-centered approach to advising graduate students.
  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to deliver effective career presentations and build internal and external relationships.
  • A proven record of building and sustaining a culture of inclusion, belonging, collaboration, and mutual respect.
  • Proven track record in cultivating connections, program planning and execution, and group facilitation with a strategic mindset.
  • Demonstrated passion or experience in creating innovative programming reflecting the changing needs of graduate students and the world of work inside and outside academia.
  • Experience gathering and analyzing data to inform decisions.
  • Ability to solve problems and make decisions in a timely and effective manner.
• Preferred
  • Doctoral Degree.
  • Two or more years of experience in graduate student advising.
  • Broader familiarity with career assessments (e.g., CliftonStrengths).

Pay

Salary range: $83,000 to $96,000.

Schedule

Standard weekly hours: 36.25. This is a full-time, benefits-eligible position with a probationary period of 180 days.

Benefits

The University offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees. More information.