Associate Director, Doctoral Career Services

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Associate Director, Doctoral Career Services

Core Job Summary

Associate Director, Doctoral Career Services serves as a key career educator and advisor for doctoral students, postdocs and alumni, providing tailored career development guidance across the full spectrum of doctoral career pathways. This role is designed to meet the unique professional development needs of PhD students, with a focus on those pursuing industry, government, nonprofit, entrepreneurial, and non-academic career trajectories.

The Associate Director develops deep expertise in doctoral-level career development, creating and delivering programming, resources, and advising experiences relevant to PhD training, research-intensive careers, and advanced professional roles. This position collaborates closely with academic departments, graduate and professional schools, faculty, postdoctoral affairs, and external partners to embed career development throughout the doctoral experience.

All career staff contribute to the Career Center’s broader mission through creative program design, experiential learning initiatives, and scalable, on-demand resources that support doctoral students. 

Core Job Functions

Advising and Coaching

• Provide 1:1 and group career advising and coaching for doctoral students, postdocs and PhD alumni, in person and virtually.

• Advise on doctoral-specific career topics including: 

• • Career exploration beyond academia

• • Translating research skills to non-academic roles

• • Industry, government, and nonprofit job searches

• • Grant-funded, fellowship-based, and project-based roles

• • Professional identity development for PhD trainees
  • Academic job searches (faculty, postdoc, research staff)

• Support doctoral students navigating career decision-making at various stages of the PhD lifecycle.
• Manage advising notes and track appointments in career services platforms.
• Participate in drop-in advising embedded/on-location advising within academic units, and center-wide doctoral career programming.

Educational Content & Resources

• Create, edit, and disseminate high-quality written, video, and digital content tailored to doctoral-level career readiness.
• Develop and manage curated resources for doctoral students, addressing: 

• • Academic and non-academic career pathways

• • Research-to-industry transitions

• • Professional skills and experience development opportunities

• • Organizations recruiting doctoral-level talent 

• Curate current, credible content from internal and external sources to support doctoral students, alumni, and campus partners.
• Integrate and optimize career technologies (e.g., Handshake, Interstride, Big Interview, uConnect) to support efficient, scalable doctoral student engagement.

Programming & Major Events

• Plan, implement, and assess doctoral-focused programs and events that support career exploration, skill development, and professional readiness.
• Develop initiatives aligned with key doctoral milestones (early-stage exploration, candidacy, completion, post-PhD transitions).
• Build and sustain partnerships across University of Miami (graduate programs, The Graduate School, faculty, graduate student organizations, postdoctoral services) and externally with employers, research organizations, and alumni.
• Collaborate with internal marketing and events teams to ensure effective outreach to PhD students and partners.
• Collaborate with on the design, implementation and evaluation of A2i+ programming.

Teaching & Training

• Design and deliver workshops, short courses, and trainings tailored to graduate students, emphasizing experiential and adult-learning best practices.
• Teach topics including professional skill development, research communication, career strategy, and job search preparation for PhDs.
• Deliver programming through multiple modalities (in-person, hybrid, and digital).

Alumni & Employer Relations

• In collaboration with employer engagement team, maintain and strengthen relationships with PhD alumni and doctoral-level employers willing to engage through mentoring, recruiting, and experiential learning.
• In collaboration with Employer Engagement team, identify and cultivate new employer partnerships aligned with advanced-degree hiring and research-driven career pathways.
• Support alumni engagement initiatives that enhance career readiness for current graduate students.

Operations and Assessment

• Develop and implement assessment strategies to evaluate doctoral programs, initiatives, and learning outcomes.
• Analyze engagement and outcomes data specific to doctoral populations.
• Prepare reports and contribute to continuous improvement efforts.
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The intent of this job description is to provide a representative outline of the type of responsibilities that will be required of positions given this title and shall not be construed as all-encompassing or as a declaration of all specific duties and responsibilities of this position. Employees may be directed to perform job-related tasks other than those specifically presented in this description.

Qualifications, Skills, and Competencies

Required Minimum Qualifications: 

• Minimum Education

·         Work requires communications, analytical and organizational skills acquired through a completion of a master’s degree.

• Minimum Experience

·         Minimum 4 years of relevant experience required, preferably in advising. Knowledge of and experience with professional development, assessment, and learning styles is preferred. Preferred candidate has experience working with graduate and professional students.

Or an equivalent combination of relevant education and/or experience

Strongly Preferred Experiences:

• Doctoral-level training and/or experience working with or advising doctoral or PhD-level students, postdocs, or early-career researchers.
• PhD or equivalent preferred
• Knowledge of doctoral career pathways including academic, industry, government, and research-intensive roles.
• Ability to stay current on industry trends, emerging technologies, and PhD-relevant labor markets.
• Familiarity with technical and research-focused interviewing and hiring processes.

Preferred Skills and Competencies:

• Advanced communication skills to clearly and effectively communicate information to internal and external audiences including student and business correspondence as well as the ability to use current communication tools such as blogs, video and social media to deliver Career Center content.
• Demonstrated experience or ability to conduct and facilitate trainings with small to large groups
• Strong advising and teaching abilities effective across a diverse and global population particularly in the realms of professional development; career exploration; decision making; and job/internship searches.
• Capacity to balance multiple and varied tasks, meet deadlines, and use well-developed time management and organizational skills.
• Demonstrated commitment to supporting doctoral students from diverse backgrounds, identities, cultures, and lived experiences.
• Strong relationship-building skills with faculty, graduate program staff, alumni, employers, and campus partners.
• Experience with career services and recruiting platforms (e.g., Handshake, Big Interview, uConnect, Interstride).
• High level of discretion in handling confidential student and academic information.
• Willingness to work occasional evenings/weekends and travel for conferences, academic meetings, and employer engagement.

The University of Miami is recognized as one of the nation’s premier research institutions and academic health systems and is among the largest employers in South Florida.

With more than 20,000 faculty and staff, the University is committed to excellence and guided by a mission to positively impact the lives of students, patients, and communities locally and globally.

We are dedicated to fostering a culture where every individual feels valued and empowered to contribute meaningfully. United by shared values, the University community works together to build an environment defined by purpose, collaboration, and service.

The University of Miami is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Applicants and employees are protected from discrimination based on certain categories protected by Federal law. Click here for additional information.

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