Relations Manager Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

Who We Are:

For 140 years, National Louis University has been driven by one core belief: education changes lives. Since our founding, we've stayed grounded in the values of innovation, access, excellence, and equity, and we've never wavered from the idea that education is the greatest lever for social and economic mobility. We are a student-focused community built on continuous improvement and a genuine commitment to serving those we teach. Through education, we empower change and build stronger, healthier communities. Our hard-working team runs on collaboration and mutual respect, for one another and for every student we serve.

What You Will Do:

The Employer Relations Manager develops and manages strategic employer partnerships that expand internships, experiential learning, and employment opportunities for National Louis University students and alumni across all academic programs, degree levels, and learning modalities. This position serves as a business development professional responsible for identifying new employer relationships, strengthening existing partnerships, and aligning workforce needs with student talent.

Working collaboratively across Career Bridge, Academic Affairs, Student Success, and university leadership, the Employer Relations Manager serves as a trusted advisor to employers by sharing labor market insights, hiring trends, and workforce needs that enhance student career readiness and employment outcomes.

This role partners closely with the Career Advisor supporting Business, Communications & Media, and Marketing programs while promoting career opportunities and employer engagement across all colleges, modalities, and student populations. The Employer Relations Manager serves as an ambassador for Career Bridge and National Louis University, representing the university with professionalism while building trusted employer relationships that support long-term workforce partnerships and student success.

Develop and maintain strategic employer partnerships that increase internships, experiential learning, and employment opportunities for students and alumni.
• Conduct proactive employer outreach through networking, referrals, industry associations, LinkedIn, employer visits, business development activities, and strategic prospecting.
• Conduct consultative employer discovery meetings to understand hiring needs, workforce challenges, recruitment timelines, internship opportunities, and partnership goals.
• Build customized employer engagement strategies that align organizational hiring needs with Career Bridge services and student talent.
• Establish long-term employer partnerships that extend beyond job postings to include classroom engagement, employer information sessions, networking opportunities, mock interviews, mentoring, advisory boards, site visits, career fairs, sponsorship opportunities, and other strategic employer engagement initiatives.

Employer Relationship Management

• Serve as the primary relationship manager for an assigned employer portfolio.
• Conduct regular employer check-ins to assess hiring needs, satisfaction, partnership opportunities, and future workforce initiatives.
• Establish realistic expectations regarding National Louis University student populations, internship timelines, recruitment processes, and employment outcomes.
• Respond promptly to employer requests while providing exceptional customer service.
• Maintain accurate employer records, job postings, internship opportunities, employer engagement activities, and partnership documentation within Handshake, CRM platforms, and university systems.
• Share employer feedback with Career Bridge leadership to strengthen services, partnerships, and student employment outcomes.

Academic & University Collaboration

• Build collaborative relationships with assigned academic colleges, faculty, and university partners.
• Partner closely with the Career Advisor supporting Business, Communications & Media, and Marketing programs to develop coordinated employer engagement strategies, strengthen academic partnerships, and improve internship and employment outcomes.
• Meet regularly with faculty and program leadership to understand curriculum, student populations, internship requirements, workforce needs, and emerging industry trends.
• Share employer feedback, labor market insights, and hiring trends to support curriculum discussions, program reviews, and career readiness initiatives.
• Collaborate with Career Advisors, Student Success Coaches, Academic Affairs, and university leadership to improve student career readiness and employment outcomes.
• Participate in classroom presentations, faculty meetings, advisory boards, employer panels, and university initiatives.

• Connect employers directly with students through classroom presentations, employer information sessions, networking events, employer panels, mock interviews, career fairs, site visits, and other employer-facing opportunities.
• Prepare students for successful employer engagement by sharing employer expectations, industry trends, hiring practices, labor market information, and internship guidance.
• Support career readiness initiatives that serve undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, transfer, online, international, and adult learner populations across multiple academic disciplines.
• Collaborate with Career Advisors and Student Success partners to strengthen student engagement, internship participation, and employment outcomes.

Workforce Trends, Reporting & Assessment

• Collect, analyze, and communicate labor market trends, employer feedback, workforce needs, and hiring practices to Career Bridge leadership, academic partners, and university stakeholders.
• Monitor employer engagement metrics, partnership growth, internship development, recruitment activity, hiring outcomes, and employer satisfaction.
• Prepare reports highlighting employer activity, hiring outcomes, internship participation, partnership growth, and emerging workforce trends.
• Recommend employer engagement strategies based on workforce data, employer feedback, and student employment outcomes.
• Support Career Bridge's continuous improvement efforts through data-informed decision making.

Career Events & Special Projects

• Plan, coordinate, and support employer-facing events including career fairs, employer spotlights, networking events, industry panels, and recruiting initiatives.
• Collaborate with internal and external partners to maximize employer participation and student engagement.
• Assist with identifying sponsorship, partnership, and employer engagement opportunities that strengthen Career Bridge programming and student experiences.
• Participate in strategic initiatives that enhance Career Bridge's employer engagement efforts.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Human Resources, Organizational Leadership, or a related field.
• Three to five years of progressively responsible experience in employer relations, recruiting, staffing, talent acquisition, business development, sales, workforce development, higher education, or another client relationship management role.
• Demonstrated experience building and maintaining professional partnerships with external organizations.
• Strong presentation, communication, relationship-building, and consultative sales skills.
• Experience using employer engagement technology such as Handshake, CRM platforms, LinkedIn Recruiter, Microsoft Office, or similar systems.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree preferred.
• Experience working with employers within business, marketing, communications, technology, professional services, staffing, recruiting, workforce development, or higher education.
• Experience interpreting labor market data and workforce trends to support strategic planning.
• Experience partnering with academic programs, faculty, or educational institutions.

NLU Inclusion Statement:

National Louis University is deeply committed to serving its community, advancing access and equity, and ensuring that all individuals are welcomed and valued. We are dedicated to fostering a culture where diversity, equity, and inclusion remain at the core of who we are. These are more than just words to us: they are truly a way of life for the NLU community. We recognize that differences in abilities, age, ethnicity, gender (identity and expression), race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and background bring richness to our work environment. We affirm diverse perspectives, innovative contributions, and authentic presentations of self from every member within the NLU community. We believe inclusion is grounded in the actions we intentionally take each day. Our goal is to inspire and empower NLU employees and community members to cultivate an environment where we collectively focus on uplifting and advancing our institutional culture.

At National Louis University, we offer our employees an innovative environment to work together and inspire the ideas that will make an impact. As our external environment changes, our employees are provided the opportunities and tools needed to grow both personally and professionally to remain successful. NLU employees and dependents are offered a wide range of benefits, including but not limited to, Health Insurance benefits, Retirement benefits, Paid Time Off and Educational Opportunities. Additional information regarding full-time staff benefits can be found here.

The salary range of the grade for this position is $47,365.00 to $$66,311.00 annually. Compensation decisions are dependent upon the facts and circumstances of each position and candidate. Offers are based on multiple factors permitted by law, including but not limited to: budgetary considerations, job-related knowledge/skills, experience, market considerations, tenure and standing with the university (applicable to current employees), and internal equity.

Please Include the following along with your application:

• Resume (Required)
• Cover Letter (Required)

NLU Employees please also submit an Internal Posting Form