Careers at RFCUNYJob Openings

Guided by CUNY’s seven-year strategic plan, CUNY Lifting NY, the CUNY Office of Careers & Industry Partnerships (OCIP) develops and implements partnerships, investments, strategies, and policies that are designed to increase the career success of degree and nondegree students alike.

Among the top priorities mentioned in the strategic plan is the alignment and integration of career aspirations into academic programming. Currently, only 25 percent of CUNY students visit a career services office, and only 10% of students participate in a paid internship. Yet, 100% of students interact with their professors. Though 94% of CUNY faculty respondents said that they see preparing students for careers as part of their job, the majority lack the tools and training to do so. More must be done to integrate careers into the place where students inherently find themselves – the classroom and degree pathways.

CUNY is seeking an assistant director to support and enhance the University’s efforts to integrate career aspirations into academic programs across CUNY. Reporting to the Director for Academic and Career Integration, this individual will work with a team within OCIP as well as partners across CUNY’s 19 undergraduate colleges to ensure that students across every degree path can:

1) Identify and explore careers aligned with their interests early in their academic pathway;

2) Understand what it takes to successfully pursue those careers;

3) Acquire the necessary technical and professional skills needed to secure them;

4) Demonstrate proficiency through applied learning; and

5) Connect to first jobs or be promoted through proactive employer engagement.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Assistant Director, Academic and Career Integration is a newly created role. This position will be a combination of:

Project Management

• Managing numerous complex and interconnected workstreams and ensuring on-time task completion. Examples of projects may include (but are not limited to): career exploration events, orientations, and courses; prior learning assessments; student advisement; and career-informed student services.
• Contributing to the development of plans and execution of initiatives.
• Partnering with the Director to design and refine processes, procedures, policies, and resources.
• Analyzing and documenting best practices and suggesting ways to share learnings.
• Designing, organizing, implementing, and improving projects both as a lead and support.
• Leading project planning and execution for multiple complex workstreams, coordinating timelines, deliverables, and collaborative workflows across teams.
• Contributing to communication and change management strategies that build understanding, buy-in, and alignment with systemwide academic and career integration goals.
• Centering diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at all stages of projects design and execution.
• Demonstrating strong professional judgement and ownership of projects from concept through completion, ensuring alignment with strategic goals and appropriate communication channels.
• Supporting financial management if needed.

Leadership

• Providing strategic input on the development, refinement, and implementation of initiatives, ensuring alignment with university-wide goals.
• Identifying emerging needs, patterns, and opportunities across campuses and proposing proactive and informed solutions.
• Leading complex projects, working groups, and workstreams advancing academic and career integration priorities with minimal supervision,
• Exercising sound judgement to determine when to elevate key decisions and risks to senior leadership.

Project Management Data Collection and Monitoring

• Collaborating closely with teams to ensure that data is collected, clean, and consistent.
• Creating tools and processes to monitor quality and progress toward goals.
• Assisting in the development of data dashboards.
• Collecting and analyzing data to inform work.
• Organizing qualitative data collection processes.
• Synthesize insights across campus projects to identify trends, opportunities, and promising practices that inform systemwide
• Operate with a high degree of professional autonomy, demonstrating initiative, follow-through, and the ability to balance independent execution with collaborative decision-making.

Collaboration and Relationship Development

• Collaborating with stakeholders throughout CUNY to diagnose challenges, co-develop strategic solutions, and support implementation across diverse campus environments.
• Building, facilitating, and supporting communities of practice. Serving as a liaison between the Central Office and 19 undergraduate colleges.
• Organizing and supporting workshops, meetings, and events that will develop strategies, exchange information, and improve program quality.
• Playing a leadership role in guiding university-wide conversations on academic and career development by facilitating discussions, synthesizing insights, and supporting partners in advancing shared goals.
• Soliciting feedback and using that information to modify plans, processes, and programs.
• Proactively building relationships and trust with internal and external stakeholders.
• Providing strategic guidance, coaching, technical assistance, and feedback to partners, proactively identifying areas for improvement and independently managing follow-up actions to maintain project momentum.