Career Center

Department: Law Career Strategy 
Salary/Grade: EXS/10

Job Summary:

The Northwestern Gender Equity Initiatives is focused on making Northwestern Law School the single best option for women pursuing a legal career by supporting them from their first day on campus, through their early years of practice, and on through retirement and beyond. The Director serves as the primary officer with comprehensive responsibility for development of a strategic plan and managing the execution of programming for current students, alumnae, donors, and the local legal community. The Director works collaboratively with senior management from Alumni Relations and Development, Student Services, Career Strategy, and Faculty to achieve goals. The Director is responsible for hiring and managing an Assistant Director and student assistant(s) who assist in creating and carrying out programming and in formulating plans.  The Director monitors results and adjusts strategic plan and programming accordingly to meet program and organizational goals. The Director serves as the public-facing liaison for the Gender Equity Initiatives with Northwestern Alumni and the broader legal community.  The Director oversees research projects regarding the experiences of women in law school and the legal profession.

Please note: This is a flexible position, including remote work and flexible hours.

Specific Responsibilities:

Strategic Planning

• Primary responsibility for development & implementation of strategic plans focused on engagement and participation of current students, alumni, faculty, and the broader legal community. 
• Initiates, plans, and implements innovative & visionary organizational change; takes calculated risks to develop new strategies to meet the evolving needs of women lawyers, engage the Northwestern community, and respond to systemic challenges for women in the profession.  
• Works closely with law school senior managers to set goals and to develop and implement programming, and to establish overarching relationship management strategies, including identifying interested alumni and employers for sponsorship and engagement.
• Oversees programmatic performance evaluation and resourcing, process improvement and research. 

Programming & Collaboration

• Develops programming for each of four separate targeted audiences:
  • Prospective Students
  • Current Students
  • Northwestern Law Alumnae
  • Legal Community, including practitioners and employers
• Reviews & proposes strategic alliances, joint ventures & key collaborations with department and other University partners to identify opportunities to integrate University strategic plan goals. 
• Oversees and coaches team members regarding department collaborations. 
• Collaborations may include, but are not limited to:
  • • Collaboration with Student Services on programming for current Northwestern Law students
    • Collaboration with Career Strategy on programming focused on job evaluation, career re-entry, and navigating career transitions, and externship development
    • Collaboration with Alumni Relations on development and engagement of Women's Alumnae Network
    • Collaboration with External Partnerships in the creation, planning, and execution of annual summit for Northwestern Alumnae and other regularly scheduled programming for the legal community; sponsorship development; and professional education offerings
    • Collaboration with the Bluhm Legal Clinic on opportunities for current law students to gain hands on experience in areas of law which disproportionately affect women and gender minorities
    • Collaboration with Admissions on programming for prospective students, and the development and implementation of data collection of incoming and graduating students for use in identifying areas of improvement for women in the law school and measuring success of implemented solutions

Prospects & Gifts

• Plays a primary role in developing strategies for a self-funding program, including managing relationship strategies, development of paid-for content, expansion of engaged donors, and opportunities for legal-employer sponsorship.
• Maintains up to date current knowledge on key alumni and high-level donors, develops and engages potential partners in the legal community, and partakes in alumni and community events to further promote the Gender Equity Initiatives.

Volunteers

• Leads efforts to create opportunities to engage current law students in substantive work as research or teaching assistants. 
• Leads efforts to develop and facilitate a Northwestern Women's Alumnae Group; identifies and recruits high-level volunteers to inform goals and facilitate engagement of alumni volunteers and increased donor support for the Gender Equity Initiatives; expands mentorship opportunities for current and recently-graduated Northwestern Alumnae.  
• To the extent required to develop the Women's Alumnae Network, provides programming and markets the Gender Equity Initiative; this role may require some travel throughout the region or country. 
• Works directly with high level volunteers, donors, sponsors, and community partners, to ensure that individual needs are met. 

Events

• Oversees the development & management of an inaugural women's summit for Northwestern Alumnae, including concepting the conference, guest selection and invitation, event coordination and planning, speaker selection and retention, programming curation, and execution; facilitates the development of post-summit networking groups among attendees.
• Responsible for comprehensive events & programming designed to fulfil the Gender Equity's stated mission.
• Reviews and approves event plans, programming concepts, and supervises execution to ensure that overall goals & objectives are attained. 

Administration

• Manages an Assistant Director and one-two student assistants; provides leadership; determines & evaluates goals; develops & implements training and mentoring; assigns and monitors coverage of primary areas of focus.
• Conducts associated ongoing data analysis to determine trends, results & future plans.
• Encourages & optimizes the use of technology, social networking, and other virtual engagement tools to increase and broaden the Law School's global reach to prospects & donors.  

Budget

• Strategically manages the Gender Equity Initiatives Budget to prioritize (1) high quality content and programming, (2) increased opportunities for partner contributions with the goal of being entirely self-funded, and (3) minimizing unnecessary expenses.

Supervisory

• Hires, trains, and supervises 1 Assistant Director and one to two student assistants
• Leads, coaches, and evaluates performance of direct reports.

Miscellaneous

• Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Completion of a 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree
• 5 years of experience in the legal profession
• 1 year of experience in program management, administration, or development

Minimum Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities.)

• Creative thinking; analytical thinking, complex problem solving and planning; global/organizational perspective; ability to work in fast-paced environment; comfortable with change and associated ambiguity; professional communication, strong interpersonal skills, public speaking, program development, detail oriented, risk calculation, growth mindset

Preferred Qualifications:

• Completion of a JD from an accredited college or university

Benefits:
At Northwestern, we are proud to provide meaningful, competitive, high-quality health care plans, retirement benefits, tuition discounts and more! Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/index.html to learn more.

Work-Life and Wellness:
Northwestern offers comprehensive programs and services to help you and your family navigate life’s challenges and opportunities, and adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles.
We support flexible work arrangements where possible and programs to help you locate and pay for quality, affordable childcare and senior/adult care. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/work-life/index.html to learn more.

Professional Growth & Development:
Northwestern supports employee career development in all circumstances whether your workspace is on campus or at home. If you’re interested in developing your professional potential or continuing your formal education, we offer a variety of tools and resources. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/learning/index.html to learn more.

Northwestern strongly recommends COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters for people who can obtain them as a critical tool for minimizing severe illness For more information, please visit our COVID-19 and Campus Updates website.

The Northwestern campus sits on the traditional homelands of the people of the Council of Three Fires, the Ojibwe, Potawatomi, and Odawa as well as the Menominee, Miami and Ho-Chunk nations. We acknowledge and honor the original people of the land upon which Northwestern University stands, and the Native people who remain on this land today.

Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer of all protected classes, including veterans and individuals with disabilities. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply. Click for information on EEO is the Law.
  

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About Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a major private research university with 12 academic divisions located on three campuses in Evanston, Chicago, and Education City in Doha, Qatar. We have approximately 2,500 full-time faculty members, 17,000 graduate and undergraduate students, and over 5,700 full and part-time staff. Northwestern University combines innovative teaching and pioneering research in a highly collaborative environment. It provides students and faculty exceptional opportunities for intellectual, personal and professional growth.

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