Director of Career Exploration and Special Population Engagement

Career and Professional Development at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) is seeking candidates for a director position. Duties include providing leadership and strategic direction to the Career Exploration and Special Populations Engagement team – including supervision of team members, establishing expectations for student engagement, team training and upskilling, program assessment, budget management, and internal and external relationship building.

The Career Exploration and Special Populations Engagement team curates and conceptualizes programs, resources, services, and tools for students in their first two years at Virginia Tech, students exploring career options without a clear sense of which career cluster is the best fit, and graduate students exploring the options afforded to them by their advanced degrees. This also includes serving as our career development generalists and overseeing initiatives such as our Career Champions program. The team also connects targeted special populations to CPD –conceptualizing and executing programs, resources, services, and tools for students in these groups to increase their sense of belonging and access to opportunity. This team will also provide training and upskilling for all CPD staff on best practices for serving special populations. Special populations include first-generation college students, transfer students, graduate students, ethnic/racial minorities, rural students, veterans and military connected students, students with disabilities, and LGBTQIA+ students.

This team provides training and upskilling for all CPD staff on best practices for serving exploratory students and students from identified special populations. This team is also responsible for connecting and maintaining relationships with the departments and student groups that are connected to exploratory students and students from designated special populations – making them aware of resources, programs, and opportunities for their students. Collaborates with academic departments and student organizations.

The Director of Career Exploration and Special Population Engagement is also responsible for collaborating with the Director for Career Pathways and College Relations and the Director of Professional Development and Experiential Initiatives to establish a cohesive suite of student-facing programs, services, courses and resources to advance students’ progression along their career trajectory and their effective transition into the workforce.

As a member of Career and Professional Development’s leadership team, the director may also lead special projects and represent CPD and/or Virginia Tech on committees and workgroups (internal or external).