Director of External Engagement

Job Description

Mendoza College of Business

Vision: The Mendoza College of Business will be a premier global business school, widely recognized for innovative research, rigorous educational programs, and formative student experiences, all informed by our Catholic character. Mendoza will be the business school of choice for talented students, faculty, and staff who are called to serve and have a desire to advance civilization using business as a force for good.

Mission: As a leading business school guided by the University’s Catholic identity, we seek to grow the good in business in order to improve the human condition in an ever-changing society. Through impactful research and educational programs, we contribute to the formation of ethical business leaders who integrate the mind and the heart and have the competence to see and courage to act.

Career Success and External Engagement

The Career Success and External Engagement team consists of the professionals dedicated to experiential and global learning, career coaching, and employer and alumni engagement for Mendoza’s graduate degree programs.

The Career Success And External Engagement Team Is Dedicated To Equipping Mendoza Graduate Students With The Tools, Connections, And Confidence To Thrive In An Ever-changing Business Landscape. Mendoza Graduate Students Are Invited To Join Many Of The World’s Top Employers Because

• the Experiential and Global Learning team offers project-based learning that allows students to apply their academic knowledge to real-world challenges with real-world organizations;
• the Career Coaching team empowers students to develop the skills and mindset required to navigate the marketplace and build a purposeful lifelong career;
• the External Engagement team builds and maintains corporate and alumni relationships; and
• the University’s alumni ensure the Notre Dame brand is known and respected.
  
  

Purpose

The Director of External Engagement is a critical new role within the Mendoza College of Business. The Director is charged with building a best in class employer and alumni engagement operation focused on helping graduate students 1) secure their best first job upon graduation and 2) build meaningful lifelong connections with alumni and employers who will sustain them throughout their career.

The Director will have the opportunity to build a team of five full-time employees and will be responsible for setting the strategy for how the team will successfully develop and maintain mutually beneficial relationships with employers, recruiters, alumni, and friends of the Mendoza College of Business and the University of Notre Dame. The Director will need to recruit and hire top talent, serve as the primary relationship manager for Mendoza’s top employers and Corporate Advisory Board, and provide the College with market intelligence related to hiring trends and the skills graduates must possess to be competitive in the marketplace.

The Director of External Engagement reports to the Senior Director of Career Success and External Engagement, serves as a member of the Career Success and External Engagement Leadership Team, and works alongside the College’s academic and functional leaders to align the work of their teams with the goals and objectives of the College.

Duties And Responsibilities

Strategy and Cross-Functional Leadership

• Cast a vision for employer and alumni engagement that clearly communicates the benefits of building, maintaining, and deepening relationships with Mendoza.
• Serve as the primary relationship manager for Mendoza’s top employers.
• Provide strategic leadership to the Corporate Advisory Board and align their efforts to the needs of the College.
• Strategically develop, implement, and evaluate employer and alumni engagement initiatives for Mendoza’s graduate business programs.
• Partner with key stakeholders within Mendoza and across the University to cultivate employment opportunities for Mendoza graduate students, particularly students in the MBA and Specialized Masters programs.
• Collaborate with Mendoza Academic Directors, Department Chairs, and Functional Leaders (e.g., Admissions, Career Development, Experiential and Global Learning, Graduate Student Life, Marketing) to share market insights, identify the characteristics of highly employable students in order to help refine prospective student marketing efforts and graduate admissions’ criteria, and support students through the whole of their career discernment and active job search processes.
• Represent Mendoza and its Functional Leadership Team at College, University, and community events and through membership on College, University, and higher education committees, task forces, or working groups.
  
  

Staff Supervision and Coaching

• Build a high-functioning and high-performing team of employer and alumni engagement managers.
• Create and implement a staffing plan and organizational structure that aligns with the strategic direction of the College.
• Supervise and coach five full-time employees – three dedicated to MBA employer engagement, one dedicated to Specialized Masters employer engagement, and one dedicated to graduate alumni engagement.
• Collaborate with Mendoza HR and Functional Directors to expand the capacity of the External Engagement team by leveraging existing Mendoza talent who have bandwidth and/or interest in opportunities for professional exploration and growth.
  
  

Data and Systems Management

• Identify, test, and deploy a CRM tool for the management of External Engagement company and individual contacts.
• Build, distribute, and analyze employer and alumni surveys to assess the effectiveness of external engagement efforts and gather market intelligence.
• Create an External Engagement dashboard that tracks the business development process, analyzes trends, and makes visible opportunities to improve relationship management and engagement.
  
  

Financial Planning and Management

• Plan and manage the External Engagement departmental budget.
• Identify and pursue new revenue streams and funding sources to make External Engagement sustainable and potentially self-sustaining over time.
• Partner with Mendoza Development and Finance teams to secure philanthropic gifts and steward donors.
  
  

What makes Mendoza College of Business special?

At the Mendoza College of Business, diversity, equity and inclusion are foundational to our imperative to Grow the Good in Business™: to educate business leaders who focus on contributing to everyone in society, cooperating in solidarity, and creating a culture where we succeed and grow together. In addition, we embrace the University’s core values of Accountability, Integrity, Teamwork, Leadership in Excellence & Leadership in Mission.

Mendoza College of Business Commitments to a Diverse and Inclusive Culture

To treat every person with dignity and respect

• To value our cultural differences
• To harness the strength of our diversity
• To commit ourselves to the mission of equality for all
• To be diligent in our efforts to listen, learn, and grow with one another
  
  

The statements included in this description are intended to reflect the general nature and level of work assigned to this classification and should not be interpreted as all-inclusive.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master’s Degree ( MBA , Higher Education) or advanced certification beyond a Bachelor’s Degree and a minimum of 10 years of relevant experience.
• Must demonstrate proven ability to build and lead high-functioning and high-performing teams.
• Must possess excellent communication, networking, and relationship management skills.
• Must have the ability to work effectively with a diverse array of stakeholders including employers, recruiters, corporate leaders, alumni, faculty, students, and administrators.
• Team-oriented, proactive, flexible, and customer-service focused in nature.
• Ability to respond quickly to changing business needs and priorities.
• Excellent analytical skills, reasoning, and resourcefulness in an environment of constrained resources.
• Strong strategic planning skills and the leadership capabilities necessary to set goals, monitor progress, develop workflows and operational timelines, and measure success.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills are essential. Strong public speaking skills are necessary; ability to present strong and persuasive oral and written communications and to effectively work with internal and external stakeholders.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Previous experience leading or working within an employer engagement function at a Top 25 MBA program.
• Previous experience leading or working within a corporate recruiting or university relations function at a Fortune 500 company that consistently hires MBA talent.
• Deep understanding of the MBA employment landscape.
  
  

Special Instructions to Applicants

Department MGP Career Development (34065)

Department Website http://mendoza.nd.edu/programs/mba-programs/

Family / Sub-Family Student Svcs / Career Services - Post Undergraduate

Career Stream/Level M 2 Manager

FLSA Status S1 - FT Exempt