Executive Director
The Betty and B. Frank Matthews II ’49 Center for Career Development
Davidson College seeks a transformative leader to serve as the next Executive Director for the Matthews Center for Career Development, a center devoted to purposeful professional development and career exploration throughout the Davidson experience.
The Betty and B. Frank Matthews II ’49 Center for Career Development (Matthews Center) helps students turn academic knowledge into real-world careers with a variety of resources to help secure graduate degrees, internships, fellowships and jobs.
Leveraging the Davidson network, the Matthews Center empowers students to assess and achieve their postgraduate goals. This is primarily accomplished through the foundational pillars that drive its services: career advising, professional programming, and employer engagement. One-on-one advising and professionalization workshops, focusing on technical and soft-skill development, are combined with opportunities for immersive, experiential learning to jump-start the student-to-career journey. For more information about the Matthews Center, please visit our website.
This is an exceptional opportunity to lead a center at a pivotal time for Davidson as it prepares itself to achieve its purpose more fully through its recent strategic plan. To that end, the next Executive Director will be a key leader in executing on two of the plan’s key pillars: building a learning-for-life program rooted in exploration and self-reflection, and deepening engagement with the Charlotte metro area.
Reporting to the President, the Executive Director will provide visionary and strategic leadership to achieve these goals, while overseeing the development and delivery of programs and resources for the Center. This individual is a highly visible leader, with frequent engagement in the Charlotte metro area, as well as regionally and nationally, to further develop and strengthen relationships with employers, donors, a highly engaged alumni community, and other community partners.
The Executive Director must be an effective convener, bringing together a diverse set of stakeholders—including academic affairs, student life, athletics, admission, college relations, faculty, alumni, trustees, parents, and employers—to develop innovative solutions that address student needs and innovate towards future trends. The Executive Director will continue the College’s efforts in developing and advancing students’ academic, career, and professional exploration, further promoting holistic advising.
The Executive Director must be a dynamic leader with demonstrated experience managing and motivating high-performing teams, as this individual will lead a dedicated and talented team committed to providing holistic career services and resources to students, alumni, and employers, with a focus on career exploration, development, and the successful transition from college to career and beyond. Supervision and staff development will be critical responsibilities, ensuring that team members are supported, empowered, and aligned with the Center’s mission.
Initial screening of applicants will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled. Davidson College will be assisted by Ellen Brown Landers, Meghan Ashbrock, and Sulli Cressler of Heidrick & Struggles, Inc.
Nominations and applications should be directed to: DavidsonCareerDirector@heidrick.com
At Davidson College, we believe the college grows stronger by recruiting and retaining a diverse faculty and staff committed to building an inclusive community. In order to achieve and sustain educational excellence, we seek to hire talented faculty and staff across the intersections of diverse races, ethnicities, religions and worldviews, sexual orientations, gender identities, ages, socio-economic backgrounds, political perspectives, abilities, veteran status, cultures, and national origins.