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The Director, Industry Relations provides visionary, enterprise-level leadership for employer engagement, industry partnerships, and early-career pipeline development across the institution. Reporting to the Assistant Vice President, Career Development, this role designs and executes a comprehensive industry relations strategy that advances student outcomes, strengthens institutional reputation, and builds sustainable talent pipelines into priority sectors including film, television, digital media, journalism, communications, marketing, and the arts.
Serving as the institution's primary ambassador to industry, the Director cultivates high-impact partnerships with employers, studios, agencies, production companies, nonprofits, and emerging creative enterprises. The role ensures that employer engagement efforts translate into measurable student opportunities, including internships, project-based learning, fellowships, and full-time employment.
This position operates at both strategic and executional levels-setting vision, securing flagship partnerships, and building scalable systems, while ensuring consistent, high-quality employer engagement across geographic markets (e.g., Boston, New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and beyond).

ESSENTIAL JOB DUTIES

• Develop and execute a multi-year, institution-wide employer and industry relations strategy aligned with enrollment priorities, academic programs, and student success outcomes.

• Identify and prioritize target industry sectors and geographic markets, with a focus on high-growth creative and communications fields.

• Serve as the senior liaison to executive-level industry partners, including C-suite leaders, alumni executives, and advisory boards.

• Build and steward flagship partnerships that yield recurring pipelines (e.g., studio partnerships, agency cohorts, production pipelines, media fellowships).

• Position the institution as a preferred talent partner through consistent branding, storytelling, and outcomes reporting. Design and implement structured early-career talent pipelines, including internship-to-hire programs and rotational or cohort-based hiring models

• Establish and scale employer commitment frameworks, including resume review and portfolio critique programs, guaranteed interview programs or priority candidate pipelines, and multi-year recruiting partnerships

• Collaborate with academic and career development leadership to align partnerships with curriculum, credit-bearing internships, and experiential learning models.

• Expand opportunities across emerging and nontraditional employers, including startups, creator economy platforms, and independent production networks.

• Develop and implement revenue-generating employer engagement models, such as sponsored programs and recruitment packages, employer-funded internships or fellowships, and industry-sponsored labs, studios, or experiential programs

• Partner with Emerson's advancement, alumni relations, and external affairs groups to align employer partnerships with philanthropy and institutional priorities.

• Identify opportunities for public-private partnerships, grants, and workforce development funding.

• Lead, coach, and scale a high-performing industry relations team, including establishing portfolio management strategies and segmentation.

• Build and standardize employer engagement protocols, ensuring consistency in outreach, relationship management, and service delivery.

• Collaborate closely with career coaching, internship, and alumni teams to ensure seamless student-to-employer pipelines.

• Develop and maintain comprehensive employer engagement dashboards, tracking employer growth and retention, internship and job posting volume, student participation and pipeline utilization, and conversion rates. Produce regular reports for senior leadership on ROI, market trends, and outcomes.

• Benchmark performance against peer institutions and national standards (e.g., NACE). Monitor and analyze labor market data, hiring cycles, and industry shifts, particularly within creative and communications sectors.

• Advise institutional leadership on emerging trends such as streaming industry dynamics, AI in media, and creator economy growth.

• Translate industry insights into actionable strategies for programs, partnerships, and student preparation. Represent the institution at industry events, festivals, conferences, and professional associations, including film festivals, media summits, and advertising industry events.

• Build visibility and credibility for the institution within key industries and markets.

• Cultivate a strong network of alumni and industry champions who actively support student pipelines.

• Other duties as assigned.

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

• Bachelor's degree in media, human resources, communications, or related field or equivalent experience required; Master's degree or higher preferred.

• 10-12 years of progressive experience in employer relations, industry partnerships, workforce development, or creative industries leadership required.

• Demonstrated success building high-level, strategic partnerships with employers or industry organizations required.

• Experience leading teams and managing complex, cross-functional initiatives required.

• Demonstrated success in revenue generation, partnership development, and/or business development required.

• Experience within higher education career services or a closely related ecosystem preferred.

• Established professional network within key markets (e.g., LA, NYC, Boston, Atlanta) preferred.

• Experience working with creative portfolios, freelance pipelines, or gig-based industries preferred.

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

• Deep knowledge of film, television, media, communications, and/or arts industries, including hiring practices and talent pipelines.

• Proven ability to design and implement scalable employer engagement strategies that produce measurable outcomes.

• Strong executive presence, with the ability to engage senior stakeholders and represent the institution externally.

• Familiarity with labor market analytics tools (e.g., Lightcast) and CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce, Handshake, 12Twenty).

• Proven ability to foster a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement within the team.

• Exceptional strategic thinking and systems design skills.

• Strong relationship building and influencing skills

• Expert knowledge of market and industry trends and emerging opportunities

• Ability to make data-driven decisions

• Demonstrated ability to innovate with an entrepreneurial mindset

• Knowledge of equity-minded approaches to access and opportunity

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.

• Position is generally sedentary, requiring movement throughout the area as needed.

• Ability to sit and concentrate for long periods of time.

• Continuous oral and written communication with co-workers, students, and supervisors.

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

• Some travel is required

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: $116,950.00 - $146,250.00 annually, commensurate with experience.Grade of Position: 23-13EEmployment 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.