Director of Career Services

Description Job Title: Director of Career Services Status: Exempt Location: WFH flexible, candidate must reside in California to be considered. Reports to: VP, Compliance Employment Type: Full-time Summary Under the general direction of the Vice President of Compliance (VPC), the Director of Career Services (DCS) is responsible for planning, directing, and evaluating a comprehensive program that delivers a wide range of career planning and placement services to students, alumni, community, and employers. The DCS will make management decisions, which can be comprehensive, difficult, and complex and will be required to formulate operational policies at the campus-wide level, subject to the VPC approval in matters related to broad policy considerations, campus-wide coordination, and long-range planning. The DCS exercises full responsibility of meeting Completion and Placement numbers in accordance with ACCET. The DCS oversees Career Counseling, Career Services, and Job Fairs. In addition, the DCS provides significant assistance to the academic programs and assumes ultimate responsibility for the delivery of career and employment services to CIAT students (Current and Graduates). The DCS will oversee all daily operations of the Career Services Department including new hire recruitment, team coaching, policy and procedure creation, systems integration and automation, student escalations, event participation, and student records management to successfully reach growth-centered goals each term. Management Hires, trains, supervises, and evaluates Career Services staff; maintains a high-performing student-focused team. Oversees daily Career Services operations and ensures adequate staffing coverage and service delivery. Establishes, monitors, and reports on Career Services KPIs related to student engagement, retention, completion, graduate outcomes, and placement reporting. Maintains working knowledge of institutional systems and technologies including Dynamics, Microsoft 365, Teams, Canvas, Handshake, CIAT job boards, and other student success platforms. Develops and manages departmental budgets and resources. Provides leadership and oversight to Career Services Advisors and Placement Specialists. Partners with HR to coach and counsel employees as needed. Provides professional development and growth opportunities for employees. Manages and enforces timekeeping policies to ensure accuracy and timely processing of employee timecards. Conducts timely, accurate, and fair performance reviews, free from bias. Ensures a safe, secure, and ethical work environment. Adheres to CIAT’s compliance requirements to ensure all Federal, State, accreditation, and institutional policies and procedures are being met. Promotes communication guidelines to ensure high levels of customer satisfaction and professionalism. Embodies CIAT’s mission, vision, purpose, and values. Student Success, Placement & Compliance Maintains primary responsibility for collection, verification, tracking, and reporting of all completion and placement outcomes. Oversees the collection and maintenance of employment verification documentation, graduate records, and employer verification records. Ensures accurate preparation and submission of ACCET Annual Reports, including completion and placement reporting under Document 28.1. Ensures compliance with all accreditation, state, federal, and institutional reporting requirements related to student outcomes. Collects, analyzes, and reports graduate and employer survey results. Develops strategies to improve student retention, completion, graduate outcomes, and placement rates. Works collaboratively with Education, Industry and Employer Partnerships, Student Services, and Compliance to support student success initiatives. Career Readiness & Student Development Oversees career preparation services for students and graduates, including: - Resume development - Interview preparation - LinkedIn optimization - Career coaching - Job search strategies - Government and private-sector application support Develops and delivers workshops, webinars, and career-readiness programming. Oversees Federal Work-Study activities and student employment initiatives. Ensures assessment of workshops and career-related activities to continuously improve services. Strategic Planning & Reporting Develops annual departmental goals, objectives, and strategic initiatives aligned with institutional priorities. Analyzes completion, placement, retention, and employment data to identify trends and opportunities for improvement. Provides regular reports and outcome metrics to executive leadership. Collaborates with the Director of Employer & Industry Partnerships to align employer hiring needs with student and graduate career opportunities. Collaboration & Outreach Serves as the institutional lead for student career development and graduate success initiatives. Participates in Orientation, Commencement, student success events, and other institutional activities. Works closely with the Director of Employer & Industry Partnerships to ensure employer opportunities are effectively communicated to students and graduates. Represents Career Services at institutional meetings and accreditation activities. Requirements - Bachelor’s degree or combination of education and management experience preferred. - 4 plus years of management experience in higher education or high-volume customer service is preferred. - Minimum 2 years of previous experience leading teams in higher education environments. - Minimum 2 years of experience using enterprise CRM systems such as Salesforce, HubSpot, Microsoft Dynamics, or equivalent SIS. - Experience supporting students through enrollment, retention, or career decision-making. - An in-depth understanding of the technology industry including education and career requirements, technology vendors, certification, and/or credentials requirements. - Highly proficient in data analysis, reporting, and Microsoft Excel skills to present forecasting models, benchmark performance metrics, and goal setting. - Expert in writing resumes, using career pages like LinkedIn, Indeed, ZipRecruiter, etc. - A computer-savvy and technical mindset willing to learn new systems that are deployed and build automated processes to streamline manual activities. - Strong presentation, public speaking, and writing skills. - Possesses a sincere interest in helping others achieve life goals. - Takes a customer-service-oriented approach to recruiting and retaining students and collaborating with internal departments. - Self-motivated, goal-oriented, assertive, results-driven, high-energy, and highly ethical. - Team player with a positive, can-do attitude. - Strong organizational skills with the proven ability to prioritize. - Demonstrated ability to anticipate needs and exercise independent judgment. - Excellent analytical skills, problem resolution skills, and general business acumen. - Proficient skills in MS Office software products, including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and MS Project, and ability to learn additional software products. - Exhibits a high degree of flexibility in adapting to a rapidly changing environment. - Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues, academic departments, and administration to support student success, achieve institutional goals, and contribute to a positive and inclusive culture. - Flexible to work longer hours to meet deadlines, if needed. - Reliable transportation to go on campus, attend seminars/training, if required. - Maintains relationships with IT employers or familiarity with the IT industry. - Able to handle sensitive information with a high degree of confidentiality. - Possesses high ethical standards, being an example of professionalism to others. - Must be able to embody CIAT’s mission, vision, purpose, and values. Values Values such as integrity, excellence, customer service, teamwork, and mutual respect are some of those that remain constant, regardless of changes in our company. When identifying company values, it is important that those values are being demonstrated consistently.