Director of Career Services

At the heart of our work is a simple belief: We are passionate about education and student success. We’re hiring to help bring that belief to life through thoughtful execution, partnership, and a strong commitment to the people we serve.

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

Partner with HR to coach and counsel employees as needed

Provide professional development and growth opportunities for employees

Manage and enforce timekeeping policies to ensure accuracy and timely processing of employee timecards

Conduct timely, accurate, and fair performance reviews, free from bias

Ensure a safe, secure, and ethical work environment

Adhere to CIAT’s compliance requirements to ensure all Federal, State, accreditation, and institutional policies and procedures are being met

Promote communication guidelines to ensure high levels of customer satisfaction and professionalism

Embody 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

Job 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

Possess 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 familiar with the IT industry.

Able to handle sensitive information with a high degree of confidentiality

Possess high ethical standards, being an example of pr