Job Description

Position Summary:

The Director, Public Leadership Career Pathway is part of Vanderbilt University’s Career Advancement & Engagement (CAE) team and serves as the strategic leader for career development across government, public policy, advocacy, nonprofit and civic leadership, and other mission-driven public-facing careers. The Director is responsible for developing and advancing a distinctive Vanderbilt pathway that integrates career advising, sector expertise, employer and alumni engagement, experiential learning, and student preparation. The role will build a coherent strategy that helps students explore and successfully pursue careers across a broad and evolving public leadership landscape, including federal, state, and local government; legislative and executive branch roles; public policy and research organizations; advocacy and civic organizations; nonprofit and social-impact leadership; campaigns and political organizations; and adjacent public-interest fields.

The Director will bring deep knowledge of public leadership ecosystems and the varied, often relationship-driven and experience-intensive routes into these fields. Working closely with CAE’s Employer Relations and Experiential Learning teams, the Director will strengthen Vanderbilt’s relationships with government agencies, policy organizations, nonprofits, alumni, parents, public leaders, and other partners and translate those relationships into internships, projects, mentoring, fellowships, industry immersion, networking, recruiting opportunities, and full-time outcomes for students. The Director will lead the Public Leadership pathway and collaborate across Vanderbilt to connect students with the University’s academic programs, alumni networks, geographic assets, and institutional relationships in Washington, D.C., Nashville, New York, and other key centers of public leadership.

About the Work Unit:

Career Advancement & Engagement connects Vanderbilt students with meaningful career opportunities through advising, experiential learning, employer partnerships, and industry engagement. CAE is building a pathway-based model that integrates career advising, employer engagement, and experiential learning across key industries and sectors. Within this structure, pathway leaders own strategy and student preparation for specific sectors while collaborating closely with Employer Relations and Experiential Learning teams responsible for developing and activating institutional partnerships. Together, these teams create clearer pathways for students from career exploration through experience, relationship building, recruiting, and launch.

Key Functions and Expected Performance:

Public Leadership Pathway Leadership & Strategy

• Lead Vanderbilt’s Public Leadership career pathway strategy and establish priorities for student preparation, experiential learning, external engagement, and career outcomes.
• Define priority sectors, career opportunities, readiness milestones, and preparation models appropriate to the distinctive hiring, fellowship, appointment, and recruiting practices of public leadership fields.
• Ensure advising, employer and partner engagement, experiential learning, alumni engagement, and programming operate as an integrated pathway rather than as separate activities.
• Monitor emerging policy, civic, labor-market, technology, and recruiting trends and use those insights to continuously refine pathway strategy.
• Build Vanderbilt’s visibility and reputation as a source of exceptional undergraduate talent for government, policy, advocacy, nonprofit, civic, and mission-driven leadership.

Government, Employer, Alumni & External Engagement

• Serve as a senior external-facing representative of Vanderbilt and cultivate relationships with government leaders, public agencies, policy organizations, nonprofits, advocacy organizations, alumni, parents, and other influential public leadership partners.
• Partner with Employer Relations leadership to identify priority organizations and develop multidimensional relationships that create opportunities for Vanderbilt students.
• Activate Vanderbilt alumni and parents as mentors, connectors, speakers, advisers, employers, and champions for students pursuing public leadership careers.
• Expand student access to internships, fellowships, projects, public leaders, networking opportunities, and full-time employment.
• Leverage Vanderbilt’s presence and relationships in Washington, D.C., Nashville, New York, and other public leadership centers to create a connected Vanderbilt Public Leadership network.

Experiential Learning & Public Leadership Immersion

• Set the pathway strategy for experiential learning and public leadership exposure, working closely with CAE’s Experiential Learning team to develop and deliver high-impact opportunities.
• Develop distinctive experiences such as Washington, D.C. and other public leadership treks, government and nonprofit internships, policy projects, shadowing, mentoring, fellowships, site visits, and other forms of public leadership immersion.
• Create opportunities for students to explore public leadership careers early and progressively build more sophisticated experiences as their interests and readiness develop.
• Partner with academic programs, faculty, alumni, public-sector and nonprofit partners, and student organizations to connect classroom learning with public leadership practice.

Student Preparation & Pathway Development

• Lead the overall strategy for preparing students to navigate the varied, competitive, and relationship-driven nature of public leadership careers.
• Establish pathway-specific milestones and readiness expectations related to sector knowledge, professional relationships, experiential learning, application and fellowship preparation, and recruiting readiness.
• Lead and develop staff responsible for pathway advising and student programming.
• Provide selective high-level coaching and sector perspective for students navigating particularly competitive opportunities or complex public leadership career decisions.
• Ensure students have access to practitioners, alumni, mentors, and experiences that help them move intentionally from exploration to opportunity.

Cross-Campus Collaboration & Ecosystem Development

• Build strong partnerships with faculty, academic programs, Development and Alumni Relations, student organizations, Vanderbilt’s government and community relations partners, and other university units whose work intersects with public leadership.
• Connect Vanderbilt’s academic strengths and alumni relationships with public leadership opportunities and career pathways.
• Collaborate with CAE leadership to ensure employer, alumni, public-sector, nonprofit, and experiential relationships are stewarded as institutional assets and leveraged across Vanderbilt where appropriate.
• Identify opportunities to connect the Public Leadership pathway with Vanderbilt’s growing presence in Washington, D.C., New York, and other network locations.

Data, Outcomes & Continuous Improvement

• Establish and monitor measures of pathway engagement, experiential learning participation, partner activity, internship and fellowship participation, placement outcomes, and student readiness.
• Use student feedback, partner input, labor-market and sector information, and outcomes data to evaluate and refine pathway strategy.
• Identify gaps in access or outcomes and develop strategies to ensure student can build meaningful public leadership relationships and experiences regardless of their existing networks.

Supervisory Relationships:

While the position does not initially have direct supervisory responsibility, the Director leads Vanderbilt’s Public Leadership Career Pathway and its broader ecosystem, providing strategic direction and coordinating the work of advisers, employer relations and experiential learning professionals, faculty, alumni, parents, student organizations, government and nonprofit partners, and other contributors to the pathway. The Director reports directly to the Vice Provost for Career Advancement & Engagement and serves as a member of the Vice Provost’s leadership team. In this capacity, the Director contributes not only to the Public Leadership pathway but also to the broader strategy, priorities, and continued development of Career Advancement & Engagement and Vanderbilt’s Career Ecosystem.

Education and Certifications

• Bachelor’s degree is required.
• Master’s degree or equivalent combination of advanced education and relevant professional experience is preferred.

Experience and Skills:

• Minimum 10+ years of relevant professional experience in government, public policy, advocacy, nonprofit or civic leadership, public service, career development, employer relations, or a closely related field.
• Significant professional experience within one or more government, policy, advocacy, nonprofit, civic, or public leadership sectors is strongly preferred.
• Deep understanding of the structure, culture, career paths, talent needs, and relationship driven hiring and advancement practices of public leadership fields.
• Demonstrated ability to develop relationships with senior public leaders, government and nonprofit executives, employers and partner organizations, alumni, and other external stakeholders.
• Experience developing public-sector or nonprofit partnerships, experiential learning opportunities, fellowship or talent programs, or professional networks.
• Demonstrated ability to translate sector knowledge into effective strategies for student or early-career talent development.
• Leadership experience managing staff, complex programs, or cross-functional initiatives.
• Strong strategic thinking, communication, collaboration, and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to operate effectively across organizational and sector boundaries and connect people, resources, and opportunities.
• Willingness to travel regularly to key public leadership markets and engage extensively with government, nonprofit, policy, advocacy, alumni, and other external leaders.

At Vanderbilt University , our work - regardless of title or role - is in service to an important and noble mission in which every member of our community serves in advancing knowledge and transforming lives on a daily basis. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, on a 330+ acre campus and arboretum dating back to 1873, Vanderbilt is proud to have been named as one of “America’s Best Large Employers” as well as a top employer in Tennessee and the Nashville metropolitan area by Forbes for several years running. We welcome those who are interested in learning and growing professionally with an employer that strives to create, foster and sustain opportunities as an employer of choice.

We understand you have a choice when choosing where to work and pursue a career. We understand you are unique and have a story. We want to hear it. We encourage you to apply today so that you might become a part of our story.

Vanderbilt University is an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.