Career & Life Design Specialist, Undergraduate

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The Career & Life Design Specialist, Undergraduate reports to the Associate Director, Career & Life Design, partnering with undergraduate students through transformational coaching practices and life design frameworks to support exploration, decision-making, and the development of meaningful career pathways.

The Career & Life Design Specialist serves as a generalist for undergraduate students, providing accessible, high-impact coaching through 1:1 and group formats. Coaches are aligned with one or more Career Communities (e.g., Arts & Creative Industries, Business & Entrepreneurship, Public Impact, STEM & Innovation), developing deeper industry awareness and building relationships with faculty, alumni, and employer partners within those areas.

In partnership with faculty, the Career & Life Design Specialist contributes to the integration of life design and career development concepts into courses, helping students connect academic work with future pathways in ways that are relevant, reflective, and actionable. This ensures broad student access to coaching while fostering community-based expertise, academic connection, and industry alignment.

ESSENTIAL JOB DUTIES

• Provide high-impact 1:1 and small-group coaching on topics including career exploration and identity development, job search strategy, application material development, interview preparation, and navigating early-career challenges and decision-making. 

• Maintain a student-centered, strengths-based, and inclusive coaching approach that supports a wide range of student experiences and goals.

• Serve as a primary coaching liaison for assigned Career Communities. 

• Develop and maintain working knowledge of industry trends, roles, and entry pathways relevant to the community. 

• Partner with faculty and academic departments to align coaching with disciplinary pathways and student interests. 

• Contribute to community-specific programming, including panels, workshops, and alumni engagement events.

• Partner with faculty to support the integration of life design and career development concepts into courses, workshops, and co-curricular experiences. 

• Deliver guest sessions, embedded workshops, and short modules that connect academic learning with career exploration and professional skill development. 

• Collaborate with faculty to introduce concepts such as career exploration and meaning-making, reflection and narrative development, prototyping and iterative career decision-making, and translating academic work into professional skills and experiences. 

• Contribute to the development of scalable classroom resources, toolkits, and assignments that faculty may adapt within their courses.

• Design and deliver workshops aligned with the institution’s Life Design framework. 

• Contribute to developmentally sequenced programming across the undergraduate experience (e.g., first-year exploration through senior-year transition). 

• Integrate reflection, experiential learning preparation, and career readiness competencies into group programming.

• Work closely with Experiential Education colleagues to connect coaching conversations with internships, research, creative work, and applied learning. 

• Coordinate referrals and warm handoffs to employer relations, alumni engagement, and campus partners. 

• Contribute to shared language and consistency across coaching, experiential education, and employer engagement.

• Track coaching interactions and engagement in relevant systems and use data and student feedback to refine coaching approaches and programming over time. 

• Contribute to assessment efforts related to student engagement, learning, and post-graduate outcomes. 

• Other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS – Qualifications are deemed required or preferred and represent what is needed to effectively perform job. 

• Bachelor’s degree in Higher Education, Counseling, Student Affairs, Organizational Psychology, or related field or equivalent experience required; Master’s degree preferred. 

• 2–4 years of experience in career coaching, advising, student development, or professional coaching required. 

• Experience facilitating workshops, presentations, or classroom-based engagement required.

• Experience supporting students or early-career professionals in competitive fields required. 

• Experience engaging with faculty or supporting learning within academic contexts preferred.

• Experience supporting students in industry-specific pathways (e.g., arts/creative industries, communications) preferred.  

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES – May be representative, but not all-inclusive, of those knowledge, skills, and abilities commonly associated with the job.  

• Familiarity with career development theory and/or life design principles. 

• Strong knowledge of coaching, strengths-based approaches, design thinking, and/or CliftonStrengths. 

• Familiarity with experiential learning models and employer engagement practices 

• Ability to use data to inform programming and coaching practice.

• Strong emotional intelligence skills.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills 

• Industry curiosity and commitment to continuous learning

• Ability to be collaborative, and operate with a team-oriented mindset 

• Ability to engage and support a wide range of student experiences 

• Ability to balance broad student access with community specialization

• Ability to be adaptable and work in a fast-paced environment.

PHYSICAL ABILITIES – Activities commonly associated with the performance of the functions of this job. The physical demands described below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

• This position is generally sedentary in nature, movement throughout the area is required from time to time.

• Ability to have continuous oral and written communication with students, co-workers, and supervisors is essential.

• Ability to concentrate for long periods

WORK ENVIRONMENT – Environmental or atmospheric conditions commonly associated with the performance of the functions of this job.

• General office conditions. 

• Exposed to moderate noise levels

Disclaimer: This job description in no way states or implies that these are the only duties to be performed by the employee occupying this position.  Employees may be required to follow other job-related instructions and to perform other job-related duties as requested, subject to all applicable state and federal laws.  Certain job duties described herein may be subject to possible modification in accordance with applicable state and federal laws.

Compensation: $58,850.00 - $72,150.00 annually, commensurate with experience.

 

Grade of Position: 23-07E

Employment Category: Regular

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Scheduled Weekly Hours: 36.25

In addition to a competitive salary, Emerson College is committed to the health and well-being of our employees and family members. We offer a generous benefits package to regular staff scheduled to work 20+ hours per week. 

Emerson Employment Categories influence work schedules, benefits eligibility, and time off policies. Benefits include outstanding health plans with limited out-of-pocket expenses, dental plans, generous time-off programs, and a 403(b) retirement benefit with a 9% employer contribution once eligible. Additional benefits, such as life and disability coverage and commuter offerings, are available.

Please refer to our benefits website for a full list of benefits and eligibility requirements.