Employer Specialist, Engineering Career Centre

Position Overview

The Engineering Career Centre in the Schulich School of Engineering is currently seeking a Full-time Regular Employer Specialist.

Reports to the Manager, Student Experience and takes direction from the Engineering Industry Advisory Council. This position involves frequent professional contact in person, via email and by phone with over 300 unique industry contacts per year. The primary purpose of this role is to secure postings and work experience opportunities (relevant to engineering) to further student success goals and allow students to participate in Engineering Internship (Undergraduate )and MEng Internship Programs which advance the reputation of the Schulich School of Engineering Career Centre. In addition to industry relations, the Employer Specialist team will conduct site visits/check-ins for close to 1300 internship placements, meeting with students and their supervisors.

Position Description

Summary of Key Responsibilities (job functions include but are not limited to):

Employer Focused Accountabilities

• Developing and maintaining a network of industry contacts. Actively marketing to and recruiting new employers to be partners in the Engineering Career Centre.
• Identifying target industries and companies to proactively upgrade client list for better jobs, better placement / postings rate, better meeting of student experience needs, and more consistent relationships. Weekly metrics on contacts and positions secured will be reviewed quarterly to determine targets and success.
• Conducts internship site visits and supports employers and students in a successful internship placement.
• Advising supervisors and HR representatives on the development of job descriptions with suitable opportunities.
• Providing advice, when requested, on engineering content of job postings and relevance / suitability for an Engineering student (Internship / summer position).
• Assisting the ECC Advisor in providing clear communication to student where a position may not qualify for engineering experience as per APEGA.
• Responsible for recruiting sufficient positions for the Internship program, to fill the desired interest from the Engineering Students. Increased positions on an annual basis is anticipated based on the growing student population and new programs.
• Maintain knowledge of skills requirements and expectations of key employers (technical & behavioral); industry market segments and opportunities available; and potential career paths for new grad engineers.
• Participating in the development of plans to accommodate the needs of key clients, within the context of providing a successful and valid internship experience for students.
• Maintaining relationships with existing employers in the program, contact requirements to be established (quarterly) and this includes following up with employers to either ensure that their needs are met through our process or provide alternative suggestions to them, and gathering feedback to be used to improve the process.
• Annual job site visits with Employers to gather supervisor feedback, potentially student visit and ensure that employer requests are responded to promptly.

Faculty and Engineering Career Centre (ECC) Focused Accountabilities

• Create partnerships with the Academic Faculty who can assist in leading to industry contacts.
• Actively participate with on-campus career services to stay abreast of new developments and trainings offered.
• Assisting with all aspects of the Engineering Career Centre expansion plan and actively contributing to the communication and marketing material for both internal and external stakeholders.
• Working with the ECC Advisor, provide instruction when required, on successful job search strategies to maximize student success.
• Provides day to day supervision to student staff in the ECC.
• Providing feedback on training and acting as back-up for ECC Advisor when necessary to deliver training on career preparedness.
• Reviewing the response to job postings, working with employer feedback to support ECC Advisor ensuring postings are noticed / responded to.
• Provide a professional engineers' perspective on any unique challenges so that the ECC Advisor can coach and mentor interns with unique challenges (i.e.: academic probation, workplace issues, etc.) and/or assisting displaced interns to be re-assigned or re-integrated to another workplace or to the academic setting.
• Maintain knowledge of the international internship placement process (work visa process, communication practices, etc.); and Electronic data sharing practices (i.e.: linking to databases, posting information to websites).

Communication Accountabilities

• Reviewing intern Merit Award nominations, and provide feedback on selection process.
• Review marketing and communication material to provide updates, suggestions as the ECC expands in career preparedness.
• Work with the ECC to provide feedback on survey questions, review survey from employers for the purpose of process improvement.
• Provide suggestions or recommendations to optimize ECC program and process, undertake new initiatives based on direction from the Leadership within the Schulich School of Engineering.
• Reporting of weekly activities and statistics at departmental meeting while contributing to the ECC program metrics.

Qualifications / Requirements:

• A degree in engineering is required, as well as a minimum of 8 years professional engineering experience in industry.
• Professional Engineering (PEng) designation is required, as is a working knowledge of the APEGA professional designation application process.
• Specific experience of more than 5 years managing or mentoring engineering in training or new graduates is considered a strong asset.
• Minimum of 5 years experience with the engineering program and specific knowledge of engineering curriculum and all disciplines of engineering, as well as awareness of industries employing engineers is critical to success in this position.
• The ability to act as an ambassador, interact with both students and individuals at all levels of organizations, and positively contribute to the Engineering Career Centre team is important.
• The ability to interview and draw information out of others, analyze information quickly, and think creatively to resolve problems or act on or develop opportunities is required.
• Demonstrated (5+ years experience) of professional communication, (email, letter, in-person and presentation skills) is required.
• The ability to connect independently (cold calling) with industry stakeholders and demonstrated comfort and skill in presenting in front of employers and students is a valuable asset.
• Ability to adapt to a changing environment and work with the Faculty to advance the Engineering Career Centre.
• Familiarity with the Schulich School of Engineering programs (currently CPE, ECE, MME, CIV, GEO) and centre's (CEERE, Pipeline, Project Management, BME, CBRE).
• Technical expertise on the Careerlink system (Orbis) to ensure tracking and data analysis is required.

Application Deadline: March 19, 2024

We would like to thank all applicants in advance for submitting their resumes. Please note, only those candidates chosen to continue on through the selection process will be contacted.

Additional Information

This position is classified in the Technical Professional Career Band, Level 3 of the Management and Professional Staff Career Framework.

For a listing of all management and staff opportunities at the University of Calgary, view our Management and Staff Careers website.

About the University of Calgary

UCalgary is Canada's entrepreneurial university, located in Canada's most enterprising city. It is a top research university and one of the highest-ranked universities of its age. Founded in 1966, its 36,000 students experience an innovative learning environment, made rich by research, hands-on experiences and entrepreneurial thinking. It is Canada's leader in the creation of start-ups. Start something today at the University of Calgary. For more information, visit ucalgary.ca.

The University of Calgary has launched an institution-wide Indigenous Strategy committing to creating a rich, vibrant, and culturally competent campus that welcomes and supports Indigenous Peoples, encourages Indigenous community partnerships, is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives in all that we do.

As an equitable and inclusive employer, the University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and will support their academic and professional success while they are here. In particular, we encourage members of the designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible/racialized minorities, and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities) to apply. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. Questions regarding [diversity] EDI at UCalgary can be sent to the Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (equity@ucalgary.ca) and requests for accommodations can be sent to Human Resources (hrhire@ucalgary.ca).

Do you have most but not all the qualifications? Research show that women, racialized and visible minorities , and persons with disabilities are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At UCalgary we are committed to achieving equitable, diverse, inclusive and accessible employment practices and workplaces and encourage you to apply if you believe you are right for this role.

We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, however preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.