Director of Career and Professional Achievement

Director of Career and Professional Achievement

Salary

$67,000.00 - $74,000.00 Annually

Location

Central Campus, Jackson, MI

Job Type

Administrator

Department

Corporate & Continuing Education

Opening Date

09/24/2026

Closing Date

10/22/2026 11:59 PM Eastern

• Description
• Benefits
• Questions

Description

SUMMARY

The Director of Career and Professional Achievement provides institution-wide leadership for Jackson College's career and professional achievement strategy. The position is expected to move career development from an optional, transactional service to an integrated, high-touch learning experience embedded from recruitment and onboarding through completion, transfer, employment, and career advancement. The Director leads the Jets Career Achievement Center and ensures that every student can connect a Jackson College education to a meaningful next step.

A central responsibility is to lead, in partnership with the provost, faculty, deans, curriculum committees, navigators, and other College leaders, the design, approval, launch, scaling, and continuous improvement of a required one-credit Career Essentials course for all degree- and certificate-seeking students. The course will address career and labor-market exploration; a career and education plan; résumé, cover-letter, and portfolio development; interview and job-search preparation; professional communication and workplace expectations; a responsible professional social-media and digital presence; networking and mentorship; internships, externships, job shadows, apprenticeships, and other work-based learning; responsible use of artificial intelligence and technology; and strategies for securing, onboarding into, retaining, and advancing in employment.

The Career Essentials course and the Center's services must serve transfer and workforce students equally. For transfer-intending students, the course will connect intended major, transfer institution, experiential learning, and long-term career direction. The Director will work with academic leadership and transfer partners to embed the course within program maps without adding avoidable credits, delaying completion, or weakening transfer pathways.

The Director also provides strategic oversight for career coaching, employer engagement, internships and externships, work-based learning, apprenticeships, career technology, alumni career support, and post-completion outcomes. The position builds durable partnerships with employers, workforce agencies, community organizations, faculty, academic leadership, student achievement teams, alumni, and transfer institutions; supervises assigned staff; manages resources; and establishes measurable goals and continuous-improvement processes aligned with Jackson College's Student Achievement Imperative.

For Highest Consideration, Apply by 10/09/2026

Essential Functions

ESSENTIIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Enterprise Career Achievement and Center Leadership

• Develop and execute a comprehensive, multi-year career and professional achievement strategy aligned with Jackson College's mission, Student Achievement Imperative, academic master planning, enrollment strategy, workforce development priorities, and regional economic needs.
• Lead the Jets Career Achievement Center as both a visible central hub and a distributed, college-wide network in which faculty, navigators, staff, employers, alumni, and transfer partners share responsibility for career development.
• Ensure consistent access to career preparation for transfer students, career and technical students, apprentices, adult learners, dual-enrolled students, online students, students at all College locations, Corrections Education Program students, alumni, and other populations served by the College.
• Develop, implement, and evaluate career exploration, coaching, readiness, professional-development, job-search, networking, employment, and career-advancement services.
• Establish annual priorities, service standards, staffing plans, technology needs, operating procedures, budgets, and performance measures for the Center.
• Create and convene a Career and Employer Advisory Council that includes employers, alumni, faculty, students, workforce partners, and transfer representatives and that complements existing program advisory committees.
• Monitor national, federal, and Michigan policy and practice developments affecting career readiness, employment outcomes, Workforce Pell, apprenticeships, work-based learning, skills-based hiring, artificial intelligence, and post-secondary value; translate relevant changes into institutional action.
• Represent Jackson College at business, industry, workforce, economic-development, community, transfer, and professional events.

Career Essentials Course and Curricular Integration

• Lead, in partnership with faculty and academic leadership, the curriculum design, approval, implementation, assessment, and continuous improvement of a required one-credit Career Essentials course for all degree- and certificate-seeking students.
• Recommend placement of the course early in the student journey, normally within the first 15 earned credits, and develop later milestone activities before internship, transfer, and completion so career preparation is not a one-time event.
• Establish common learning outcomes aligned with nationally recognized career-readiness competencies and Jackson College's expectations for communication, critical thinking, professionalism, teamwork, leadership, technology, and career self-management.
• Develop program-specific and transfer-specific sections, examples, employer content, and assignments while maintaining common College-wide outcomes and quality standards.
• Work with deans, faculty, curriculum committees, advising, Financial Aid, the Registrar, and transfer partners to place the course within degree maps, preserve transferability, meet accreditation or licensure needs, and avoid excess credits or unnecessary cost.
• Require practical student deliverables, including a documented career and education plan, résumé, professional profile or digital portfolio, mock interview, networking plan, work-based-learning plan, and next-step employment or transfer action plan.
• Develop consistent syllabi, rubrics, assessment tools, learning-management-system content, and instructor resources; ensure content is accessible and available through strong in-person and synchronous options supported by digital resources.
• Recruit, train, coordinate, and evaluate faculty, staff, adjunct instructors, career coaches, employer guests, and other contributors who deliver or support the course.
• Use pre- and post-assessment, student work products, employer feedback, completion data, and later employment or transfer outcomes to improve the course.
• Track registration and successful completion; work with navigators and academic leaders to intervene when students have not enrolled, completed required deliverables, or demonstrated expected competencies.

Career Coaching, Student Development, and Alumni Engagement

• Provide leadership for career exploration, career coaching, career readiness, résumé and portfolio development, interview preparation, professional communication, job-search strategy, professional branding, and employment preparation.
• Use current labor-market, wage, benefit, demand, education, transfer, and credential information to help students make informed program and career decisions.
• Help students establish and responsibly manage a professional social-media presence, digital identity, online reputation, networking profile, and portfolio while protecting personal information and maintaining authenticity.
• Prepare students for contemporary hiring practices, including online applications, virtual and recorded interviews, skills-based hiring, assessment tools, applicant-tracking systems, and responsible use of artificial intelligence in the job search.
• Expand preparation beyond obtaining a job to include workplace onboarding, attendance and reliability, communication with supervisors, teamwork, conflict management, receiving feedback, understanding compensation and benefits, job retention, advancement, and lifelong career management.
• Develop mentoring, alumni, professional-association, and networking opportunities that increase students' access to people who can help them enter and advance in a field.
• Coordinate career fairs, employer recruitment events, job fairs, student showcases, networking events, mock interviews, career treks, and other career-related activities.
• Partner with Human Resources and campus supervisors to make student employment a structured career-learning experience with clear competencies, coaching, and feedback.
• Collaborate with four-year transfer partners and their career centers so transfer students have an intentional bridge from Jackson College to major-specific experiences, internships, and employment preparation.
• Provide appropriate career support for alumni, including job transition, advancement, professional development, networking, and lifelong learning.
• Coordinate with navigators and community partners to connect students with transportation, clothing, technology, childcare, mental-health, reentry, and other supports that can affect participation in work-based learning or employment.

Employer and Industry Partnerships

• Serve as a primary institutional leader and representative for career services, employer engagement, work-based learning, internships, externships, apprenticeships, and employment partnerships.
• Build, cultivate, and manage a segmented employer partnership pipeline that creates sustainable pathways from education to employment and career advancement.
• Lead employer recruitment, onboarding, relationship management, communication, and stewardship; maintain clear partnership agreements, service expectations, and points of contact.
• Increase the number, quality, and variety of employment, internship, externship, apprenticeship, co-op, job-shadow, project-based, and other experiential opportunities available to students.
• Create an opt-in résumé and talent-portfolio repository and employer talent-matching process that helps qualified students and alumni become visible to regional employers.
• Help employers use skills-based hiring by translating Jackson College learning, credentials, projects, and work experiences into clearly demonstrated competencies.
• Develop employer feedback loops regarding workforce needs, student performance, career readiness, curriculum alignment, job quality, hiring results, and opportunities for continued partnership.
• Work with faculty and academic leadership to bring employers and industry professionals into classrooms, advisory activities, program review, demonstrations, mentoring, career conversations, and student projects.
• Establish employer service and satisfaction standards, measure employer experience, and develop strategies that increase repeat recruiting, internship conversion, hiring, and long-term engagement.
• Coordinate with Michigan Works!, workforce boards, economic-development organizations, chambers, professional associations, transfer institutions, and community partners to extend the College's reach and avoid duplication.

Work-Based Learning, Internships, Externships, and Apprenticeships

• Provide strategic oversight for internships, externships, co-ops, job shadows, apprenticeships, service learning, project-based learning, undergraduate research, student employment, and other forms of work-based and experiential learning.
• Establish goals and processes that substantially increase student participation, with a preference for paid experiences whenever feasible.
• Develop and maintain quality standards, learning agreements, employer expectations, student-readiness requirements, supervisor orientation, reflection activities, evaluations, documentation, and risk-management procedures.
• Collaborate with academic departments to integrate work-based learning into program maps and align experiences with learning outcomes, employer expectations, and the student's academic and career pathway.
• Develop employer and student feedback processes and use the results to improve the quality, accessibility, and value of work-based learning.
• Identify and address barriers that prevent students from participating, including scheduling, transportation, technology, clothing, background requirements, and unpaid opportunity costs.
• Provide strategic leadership for the development, management, compliance, and growth of Jackson College's registered apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship portfolio.
• Strengthen Jackson College's role as an apprenticeship intermediary and support the award and articulation of college credit for rigorous on-the-job learning where appropriate.
• Support the development and continued eligibility of high-quality short-term programs, including Workforce Pell programs, by coordinating employer validation, work-based learning, completion, placement, earnings, and student-transition processes with the appropriate College offices.
• Track participation, completion, conversion to employment, related employment, wages, retention, advancement, and employer outcomes for internships, apprenticeships, and other work-based learning.

Institutional Outcomes, Data, and Continuous Improvement

• Develop annual goals and a transparent performance dashboard for the Career Essentials course, career coaching, employer engagement, work-based learning, apprenticeships, transfer preparation, employment, and alumni engagement.
• Measure course enrollment and completion, completion of required career artifacts, demonstrated career-readiness competencies, use of coaching, and student satisfaction.
• Lead a first-destination process consistent with nationally recognized standards, including a strong knowledge rate and outcomes reported within six months of completion.
• Track and report employment status, related employment, continuing education or transfer, starting compensation when available, job retention, career advancement, employer satisfaction, and other meaningful post-completion outcomes.
• Partner with Institutional Research and Effectiveness, Financial Aid, the Registrar, Academic Affairs, and external agencies to use College data, state wage records, labor-market data, College Scorecard data, and employer information responsibly and accurately.
• Support College compliance and improvement related to program-level completion, placement, earnings, value, Workforce Pell, WIOA, Perkins, apprenticeship, grant, accreditation, and other applicable federal or state measures.
• Analyze outcomes by program, credential, location, modality, and student population; identify areas of lower participation or performance and lead practical corrective action.
• Examine the relationship between career-course participation, coaching, work-based learning, retention, completion, transfer, employment, and earnings; use findings to improve institutional practice.
• Provide regular reports and recommendations to College leadership, faculty, the Board as requested, and other stakeholders; support clear public communication of career and post-completion outcomes.
• Maintain appropriate confidentiality, data governance, and FERPA compliance in all student, employer, wage, and outcome records.

Staff Leadership, Operations, Resources, and Compliance

• Directly supervise assigned Career Center personnel, including the Work-Based Learning Services Coordinator, and provide direction to part-time instructors, student employees, interns, temporary employees, contractors, and other contributors as assigned.
• Set clear goals, provide coaching and professional development, evaluate performance, and hold staff accountable for service quality and measurable outcomes.
• Lead a distributed delivery model by coordinating faculty, navigators, staff, employer volunteers, and adjunct instructors who contribute to the Career Essentials course and career programming.
• Develop and administer the Center's operating budget; manage contracts, technology, events, and resources; and pursue grants, employer sponsorships, philanthropic support, and braided funding aligned with College priorities.
• Select, implement, and continuously improve career technology, customer-relationship management, job and internship platforms, assessment tools, résumé and portfolio systems, labor-market tools, and learning-management-system resources.
• Maintain standard operating procedures, service standards, records, agreements, audit documentation, and compliance processes for career services, work-based learning, apprenticeships, and employer engagement.
• Ensure services, course materials, technology, events, and employer practices are accessible and consistent with College policy and applicable law, including FERPA, the Americans with Disabilities Act, employment law, grant requirements, and student-record requirements.
• Responsible for understanding, supporting, and actively demonstrating the College's beliefs, values, mission, and vision and being in agreement to be evaluated by the same.
• Perform other duties of a similar nature or level as assigned.

KEY RESULTS AND PERFORMANCE MEASURES

Specific annual targets will be established through the College's planning and performance-management processes. The Director will be evaluated in part on progress in the following areas:

• Successful design, approval, launch, scaling, and continuous improvement of the required one-credit Career Essentials course.
• High and improving course completion and completion of required career plans, résumés, professional profiles or portfolios, mock interviews, and work-based-learning plans.
• Increased participation in internships, externships, apprenticeships, job shadows, student employment, mentoring, and other work-based learning, including growth in paid experiences.
• A strong first-destination knowledge rate and improving career outcomes within six months of completion.
• Improving related-employment, earnings, job-retention, transfer-with-purpose, and career-advancement outcomes, interpreted appropriately by program and student goal.
• Growth in active employer partners, quality opportunities, repeat recruiting, internship-to-hire conversion, and employer satisfaction.
• Reliable program-level data and timely support for federal, state, accreditation, grant, Workforce Pell, apprenticeship, and institutional reporting.
• Positive student, alumni, faculty, navigator, employer, and transfer-partner experience with the Jets Career Achievement Center.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Directly supervises assigned Career Center personnel, including the Work-Based Learning Services Coordinator. May provide direction and oversight to career coaches, part-time instructors, student employees, interns, temporary employees, contractors, employer volunteers, and other personnel as assigned.

CONTACTS AND PURPOSE OF CONTACTS:

Internal: Frequent contact with staff at levels in various campus departments in an information gathering, collaboration, and problem-solving capacity.

External: Contact with students, community leaders, and members of professional organizations as a representative of Jackson College.

Minimum Qualifications

QUALIFICATIONS:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required for the position. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and/or Experience

Required:

• Bachelor's degree in career development, education, business, human resources, counseling, workforce development, student affairs, organizational leadership, or a related field.
• At least five years of progressively responsible professional experience in higher-education career services, workforce development, employer engagement, talent acquisition, academic program leadership, work-based learning, or a closely related field, including at least two years of staff, program, or cross-functional leadership.
• Demonstrated experience designing, implementing, and evaluating career-readiness programming, curriculum, a credit-bearing course, or another scalable student-learning initiative.
• Demonstrated success developing employer partnerships and expanding internships, apprenticeships, work-based learning, recruitment, or employment opportunities.
• Experience establishing measurable goals, managing multiple priorities, using data for improvement, and presenting results to varied audiences.
• Experience with career technology, student-success platforms, learning-management systems, customer-relationship management, data systems, or related digital tools.
• Strong strategic, supervisory, project-management, communication, presentation, relationship-building, and change-leadership skills.
• Ability to work occasional evenings and weekends and to travel locally to employer, partner, and College locations.

Preferred:

• Master's degree in a relevant field.
• Experience in a community college or other broad-access institution serving transfer, career and technical, adult, dual-enrolled, online, apprenticeship, and justice-involved learners.
• Experience scaling a required career-readiness, college-success, or professional-development course across multiple academic programs.
• Working knowledge of nationally recognized career-readiness competencies and first-destination standards.
• Knowledge of Workforce Pell, federal earnings and value accountability, WIOA, Perkins, registered apprenticeships, Michigan workforce initiatives, and state or federal grant requirements.
• Experience using labor-market information, wage records, employer data, and outcomes dashboards to improve programs and communicate value.
• Experience managing budgets, grants, contracts, employer sponsorships, or philanthropic support.
• A recognized career-development, coaching, workforce, human-resources, or project-management credential.
• Experience incorporating responsible artificial intelligence, digital identity, skills-based hiring, and emerging technology into career preparation.

Knowledge Skills and Abilities

Required:

Career-development practice, career coaching, instructional design, assessment, and student-learning outcomes.

• Employer engagement, talent pipelines, skills-based hiring, work-based learning, internships, externships, apprenticeships, and job-quality considerations.
• Transfer pathways and the relationship among program choice, major selection, further education, and career goals.
• Labor-market and wage information; data interpretation; performance measurement; and clear presentation of outcomes.
• Contemporary job-search practices, professional social media and digital identity, applicant-tracking systems, virtual interviewing, and responsible use of artificial intelligence.
• Cross-functional leadership, change management, staff development, project management, budgeting, grant development, and continuous improvement.
• Clear written, oral, interpersonal, and public-presentation skills with students, faculty, staff, employers, community leaders, and governing bodies.

Language Skills

Ability to read, analyze, and interpret common scientific and technical journals, financial reports, and legal documents. Must have the ability to respond to common inquiries or complaints from employees, regulatory agencies, or members of the community. The position requires the ability to effectively present information to top management, public groups, and/or boards of directors.

Mathematical Skills

Must have the ability to work with mathematical concepts such as probability and statistical inference and the ability to apply concepts such as fractions, percentages, ratios, and proportions to practical situations.

Reasoning Ability

Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. The position requires the ability to interpret an extensive variety of technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form and deal with several abstract and concrete variables.

Physical Demands

The position regularly performs work in office, classroom, event, virtual, and employer-site settings; operates a computer and other standard office technology; communicates in person and electronically; and moves throughout College and partner locations. The employee may occasionally move materials weighing up to 25 pounds. Local travel and occasional evening or weekend work are required. The work environment is generally moderate in noise, with occasional exposure to higher noise levels at employer or training sites. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

"This description is intended to indicate the kinds of tasks and levels of work difficulty that will be required and shall not be construed as declaring the specific duties and responsibilities. It is not intended to limit or in any way modify the right of any supervisor to assign, direct, and control the work of employees under his or her supervision. The use of a particular expression or illustration describing duties shall not be held to exclude other duties not mentioned that are of similar kind or level of difficulty."

Supplemental Information

Jackson College only accepts on-line applications though this system. For assistance with this, please call 517-796-8468.

Please use your legal first and last names on your application. If you are hired you will have the opportunity to identify and utilize your preferred name.

The Jackson College Nepotism policy prohibits hiring of a relative or someone with a familial relationship to work in the same instructional department, office or administrative unit of the College including spouse, child, stepchild, parent, stepparent or sibling of the employee or spouse, aunt, uncle, niece/nephew, grandparent, grandchild, and members of the same household including domestic partner.

It is important that your application show all the relevant education and experience you possess (even if you are repeating it from your resume or cover letter). For instance, do not say, "See Resume or C/V." Your resume, cover letter that includes your salary requirements and an unofficial transcript for the degree required must be attached to your application. Applications will be rejected if incomplete. When you apply for the position, you will get to the document upload area where you will be given an opportunity to attach your documents such as your resume/vita, transcripts, etc. Instructions will also be found there.

The College reserves the right to request proof of degree or certification at a later date, if these documents are required as part of the qualifications for the position.

Final candidates will be subject to a criminal background as part of the employment process.

If selected you will be required to complete the US Citizenship and Immigration Services, Employment Eligibility Verification form I-9 and provide documentation verifying identity and eligibility to work in the United States. Jackson College is NOT able to support Visa applications for employment at the college. Applicants must already be eligible to work in the United States to be considered.

Applicants with disabilities may request accommodation to complete the application and interview process. Please notify Human Resources at least three (3) working days prior to the date of need.

A copy of Jackson Colleges Annual Security Report and Annual Fire Safety Report is available on the JC Campus Safety & Security website. The security report contains crime statistics for the previous three years for all of our campus locations and the annual fire safety report, which contains statistics for any reported fires in campus housing units and fire safety systems in these buildings. Additionally, the report contains policies, available resources and information concerning personal safety, fire safety and reporting procedures for both crimes and fires.

Applicants have rights under Federal employment laws. Jackson College is an Equal Opportunity Employer that actively supports workforce diversity.

Jackson College provides a generous benefit package to full-time administrative employees that includes: medical, dental, vision, employee life/AD&D, optional life for employee and family, long and short-term disability,and travel insurances; personal illness, personal, bereavement and vacation leaves; tuition reimbursement and waivers; 16 paid holidays; and retirement plans. Details are available on the Jackson College website.

01

This position is located in Jackson, MI at our central campus. Do you live within a commutable distance, or are you willing to relocate prior to starting work?

• Yes
• No

02

Which of the following best describes your highest completed degree?

• Doctoral Degree
• Masters Degree
• Bachelors Degree
• Associated Degree
• High School Diploma/ GED/ Certifications

03

This is an in-person position requiring regular on-campus attendance during assigned work hours. Limited remote flexibility may be available at the department's discretion on Fridays only and is not guaranteed. Are you able to meet the on-campus requirement?

• Yes
• No

04

Which statement best describes your professional experience in higher education career services, workforce development, employer engagement, talent acquisition, academic program leadership, work-based learning, or a closely related field?

• have 5 or more years of progressively responsible professional experience in one or more of these areas.
• I have 3-4 years of progressively responsible professional experience in one or more of these areas.
• I have 1-2 years of professional experience in one or more of these areas.
• I have less than 1 year of professional experience in these areas.

05

Which statement best describes your experience providing staff, program, or cross-functional leadership?

• I have 2 or more years of staff, program, or cross-functional leadership experience.
• I have more than 1 year, but less than 2 years of staff, program, or cross-functional leadership experience.
• I have less than 1 year of leadership experience.
• I have experience working on teams but have not provided staff, program, or cross-functional leadership.

06

Which statement best describes your experience designing, implementing, and evaluating career-readiness programming, curriculum, a credit-bearing course, or another scalable student-learning initiative?

• I have independently designed, implemented, and evaluated a career-readiness program, curriculum, course, or scalable student-learning initiative.
• I have substantially contributed to the design, implementation, or evaluation of one or more such initiatives, but have not led the full process.
• I have delivered or supported an existing program or curriculum but have not designed or evaluated it.
• I do not have experience with career-readiness programming, curriculum, courses, or scalable student-learning initiatives.

07

Which statement best describes your experience developing employer partnerships and expanding opportunities such as internships, apprenticeships, work-based learning, recruitment, or employment?

• I have independently developed and maintained employer partnerships that resulted in expanded internship, apprenticeship, work-based learning, recruitment, or employment opportunities.
• I have directly supported employer partnerships or work-based learning opportunities but have not independently developed them.
• I have worked with employers but have not developed partnerships or employment-related opportunities.
• I do not have experience developing employer partnerships or related opportunities.

08

Which statement best describes your experience establishing measurable goals, managing multiple priorities, using data to improve programs or services, and presenting results to different audiences?

• I have independently established measurable goals, used data to evaluate or improve programs/services, managed multiple priorities, and presented results to varied audiences.
• I have used data and measurable goals to support programs/services and have presented results, but have not independently led this work.
• I have experience managing multiple priorities but limited experience using data for program improvement or presenting results.
• I do not have professional experience with these activities.

09

Which statement best describes your professional experience using technology to support career services, student success, learning, employer engagement, data management, or related programs?

• I have professional experience using career technology, student-success platforms, learning-management systems, CRM systems, data systems, or similar digital tools as part of my work
• I have professional experience using digital systems, but not specifically in the areas described above.
• I have limited professional experience using these types of systems.
• I do not have professional experience using these types of systems.

10

Which statement best describes your availability to meet the positions work-location and scheduling requirements?

• I am able to work occasional evenings and weekends and travel locally to employer, partner, and College locations as required by the position
• I am able to travel locally but have limitations regarding occasional evenings or weekends.
• I have limitations regarding local travel and/or occasional evenings and weekends.
• I am unable to meet these scheduling and travel requirements.

11

Are you authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship?

• Yes
• No

Required Question

Employer Jackson College

Address 2111 Emmons Road

Jackson, Michigan, 49201

Phone 517-787-0800

517-796-8468

Website http://www.jccmi.edu