The Associate Director provides leadership and advanced support in the design, delivery, assessment, and continuous improvement of career education, programming, and technology tools that advance student career readiness across Mercy University locations and online. This role collaborates closely with the Career & Professional Development team and campus partners to develop high-impact career education initiatives, provide career coaching to students and alumni, lead proactive student engagement strategies, and support career education through classroom visits, workshops, events, and targeted communications. The Associate Director also plays a leadership role in managing and optimizing the department's technology ecosystem by overseeing select platforms, maintaining documentation, partnering with vendors and IT on implementation and troubleshooting, and using data to improve student engagement and career outcomes. As a member of the broader Experiential Education and Career Development team, this position contributes to departmental strategy, cross-campus operations, assessment efforts, staff support, and project leadership that enhance student engagement, career readiness, experiential learning, and post-graduation outcomes. Key Responsibilities Career Programming & Student Engagement Lead and support the design, delivery, and assessment of career programming, including workshops, classroom presentations, career fairs, and networking events, focused on career readiness and job/internship search skills. Provide career coaching to students and alumni in one-on-one and group settings to support career exploration, internship attainment, graduate school planning, job search strategy, and post-graduation success. Develop and implement outreach strategies to increase student participation in career programming, technology tools, and experiential learning opportunities. Develop and deliver targeted communications, such as newsletters, blogs, web content, and campaigns, aligned with student majors, career interests, identity-based needs, and industry trends. Collaboration & Partnership Build and maintain strong knowledge of academic programs, career pathways, employer expectations, labor market trends, and industry developments to better support students' career development and institutional goals. Collaborate with faculty, staff, academic departments, student support offices, and the Employer Relations team to connect students with relevant opportunities, industry insights, experiential learning resources, and career readiness support. Serve as a key liaison to assigned academic programs, departments, or campus partners to strengthen integration of career education into the student experience. Partner across campuses and departments to advance student career preparation, engagement, retention, and post-graduation success. Support Admissions and Marketing events to promote the department to prospective and incoming students. Technology, Systems & Assessment Manage and update departmental website and web content, including UConnect, to ensure accuracy, accessibility, relevance, and timely communication. Lead or support the implementation, management, and continuous improvement of career technology platforms, including documentation, tool evaluation, and user guidance for staff and students. Partner with vendors and IT to support platform setup, integrations, troubleshooting, upgrades, and training. Evaluate, promote, and increase adoption of technology tools, including AI, that strengthen student engagement, career readiness, and career education outcomes. Use data and assessment findings to monitor student engagement, evaluate program and technology effectiveness, and contribute to reports, dashboards, and recommendations for continuous improvement. Other Duties Supervise student or professional staff, as assigned, including workload management, training, coaching, feedback, and performance support. Provide leadership and administrative support for departmental operations, programs, technology initiatives, cross-campus coordination, and special projects. Perform additional projects and responsibilities as assigned by the Senior Director and Vice Provost. Required Qualifications Bachelor's degree required. Minimum of 3-6 years of relevant professional experience required; experience in career development, higher education, technology, counseling, student success, or related fields preferred. Strong interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills. Commitment to providing excellent, inclusive customer service. Demonstrated ability to work both independently and collaboratively. Highly organized, self-motivated, and detail-oriented. Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic environment. High level of proficiency in Microsoft Office, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and Zoom. Super-user or admin experience with career services platforms and related technologies, such as Banner, Handshake, uConnect, Big Interview, Focus 2, or NACElink. Comfort learning, navigating, and supporting new technologies. Ability to effectively engage with a diverse student population and collaborate with faculty, staff, administrators, and external partners. Ability to work occasional evenings and weekends and travel between campuses as needed. Preferred Qualifications Master's degree in Business, Psychology, Counseling, Human Resources, Higher Education Administration, or a related field. Experience in career development, higher education, or human resources. Experience working with college students. Experience with coaching, counseling, mentoring, recruiting, or hiring. Experience developing student-facing communications, newsletters, blogs, web content, or marketing materials. Experience supporting first-generation, non-traditional, and/or diverse student populations. Experience with AI use in Career development and launching / implementing a new technology platform. Bilingual in English/Spanish a plus.