Job Description / Duties

Job Summary:
Responsible for strategically researching, identifying, assessing, developing and cultivating employer relationships in the global business community to develop and convert employer prospects into employment and experiential opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. This role will liaise with internal Faculty and University departments to align outreach efforts and maximize industry engagement at McMaster.

Purpose and Key Functions:
• Identify and assess prospects and develop relationships with employers to secure co-op and other work-integrated learning employment opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students using effective sales and client management techniques.
• Build a lead funnel to develop employment opportunities within assigned or designated regions and/or strategic areas of job development focus through individual lead-generation initiatives including research, active lead follow-up calling, networking, acting on referrals, developing and leveraging a strong personal network within industry and industry associations, social media campaigns, etc.
• Manage leads actively to move inactive or unproductive leads from individual roster and ensure high value leads are prioritized with active follow-up and then moved toward becoming a new employer.
• Convert prospective employer leads into discipline-specific, relevant and meaningful employment opportunities by developing, nurturing, managing and serving a large network of employment contacts.
• Advise employers through the hiring process inclusive of assessing hiring needs and providing guidance on salary ranges, consulting on job description development, interview best practices, and supporting with hiring decisions and offers of employment.
• Provide advice on best practices for inclusive hiring, including effective strategies for reaching, engaging and recruiting from equity-deserving populations.
• Continuously improve business development approaches, processes and technology for greater efficiency, effectiveness, productivity and results.
• Develop strategic employer partnership plans that support campus recruitment objectives, align with labour market trends and maximize industry engagement with McMaster University.
• Facilitate student-industry collaborations in coordination with other Faculty units. Identify opportunities for sponsorship and gift giving, alumni engagement and industry partnered research innovation.
• Cultivate and maintain relationships with alumni to gain insight into their careers and determine whether partnership opportunities exist from a recruitment or student development perspective.
• Analyze market research, and attend industry events and conferences (in-person and virtual) to stay abreast of industry and labour market trends, and to build new employer relationships and networks in the business community.
• Strengthen and maintain engagement with employers to ensure employer retention and adequate and appropriate job opportunities for McMaster students.
• Actively promote and educate employers on funding opportunities to support the creation of new employment opportunities and where applicable, facilitate the distribution of funding to employers via government and other affiliate groups or programs.
• Provide end-to-end hiring support to deliver an excellent experience for employers recruiting at McMaster.
• Facilitate the arrangement and scheduling of interviews between employers and students and discuss interview results with employers to help determine candidate fit.
• Share industy knowledge and feedback with the Career Education team to support success of co-op students in securing a satisfying work term.
• Mediate between students and employers in difficult situations. Mitigate challenges using a consultative and collaborative approach.
• In collaboration with employer partners, plan and coordinate strategic recruitment events and employer branding opportunities to support the attraction of highly skilled, diverse, undergraduate and graduate talent.
• Host employer partners on campus in support of their campus branding and recruitment needs, including, but not limited to information sessions, events, interviews, guest speaking, etc.
• Maintain a database of employer contacts to ensure integrity of information related
to employer engagement and recruitment.
• Provide comprehensive annual reporting of employer partners and industry contacts to national and international accrediting and institutional ranking organizations/groups to support McMaster as one of the world’s top universities.
• Develop and deliver programming, resources and services that support McMaster Sustainability Development Goals including, but not limited to, quality education, economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure, partnerships and gender equality.
• Delivers key metrics to support McMaster Strategic Management Agreement (SMA-3) in the areas of skills and job outcomes and economic & community impact.
• Provide expertise on the co-operative education model, academic programs, students, and process to effectively guide employers and clients towards exceptional engagement with McMaster University.
• Provide advice on market potential of new programs and strategies to promote engagement.
• Serve on university and external committees relating to employment, community engagement and economic development.
• Remain current with Canadian and international government legislation and policy documents that relate to employment and work-integrated learning.

Supervision:
• Provide direction to others in how to carry out work tasks.
• Ensures adherence to quality standards and procedures for short-term staff and volunteers.
• Has ongoing responsibility for supervising up to 9 casual employees.

Qualifications / Required Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field.
• Requires 4 years of relevant experience.
• Experience in an academic environment (co-operative education preferred), early talent programs, or campus recruitment is an asset
• Exceptional communication skills with demonstrated experience in strategic communications development and successful cultivation and influencing
• Superior relationship development and management skills to bring credibility to industry partners and engineering/technology students
• In-depth understanding of degrees in engineering/technology as well as extensive knowledge of engineering/technology disciplines and the engineering/technology labour market
• Strong skills in analysis, time management and organization; creative thinking and development of innovative approaches to stakeholder groups
• Self-driven, takes initiative and leads through action
• Commitment to student success and exceptional client service

Additional Information

This role is hybrid. The anticipated schedule is one to two days a week on-campus, but may be subject to change with future employer needs. Travel and evening work will be required during peak times of year.

Salary: $27.88 - $43.09 (hourly)

Contact Information

Inquiries about this opportunity can be sent to Rachelle Ireson: iresonrl@mcmaster.ca

Applications must be submitted online: https://careers.mcmaster.ca/psp/prepprd/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/HRS_HRAM.HRS_APP_SCHJOB.GBL?Page=HRS_APP_JBPST&Action=U&FOCUS=Applicant&SiteId=1001&JobOpeningId=48576&PostingSeq=1

Employer Profile

Ranked among the top engineering schools in Canada and worldwide, McMaster’s Faculty of Engineering has a reputation for innovative programs, cutting-edge research, leading faculty, and aspiring students. The Engineering Co-op & Career Services (ECCS) office supports all students in the Faculty of Engineering with experiential and work-integrated learning. McMaster’s Engineering Co-op Program is currently the 2nd largest program in Ontario, supporting over 7000 students annually. Due to program growth and expansion, we're adding one additional Talent Partnership Consultant to join our Talent Partnership and Employer Engagement team.

The Talent Partnership and Employer Engagement team is responsible for identifying, developing, and cultivating strategic employer development plans and relationships in the business community, in support of developing new opportunities for collaboration with McMaster University. This includes enhancing talent partnerships and developing employment opportunities, delivering creative and engaging events, facilitating student-industry collaborations, identifying opportunities for sponsorship and gift giving, and identifying opportunity for industry partnered research & innovation. This role will support the enhancement of existing, as well as creation of new partnership opportunities with the Faculty of Engineering.

Key accountabilities of this role include identification of and outreach to engineering/technology employers who have the interest and capacity to hire engineering/technology students and graduates with advanced degrees, supporting the career development of engineering/technology students. The preferred candidate is a self-reliant individual with strong proficiency at outreach and developing new relations with employers to generate employment opportunities for students.