Careers Specialist
The Optical Society (OSA) is recruiting for a Careers Specialist. This position will oversee the development and curation of the new OSA Career Center. This is an exciting initiative that will seek to bring together OSA's robust portfolio of professional development and career opportunities under a unified mission and vision and then advance the Center to become a leading resource for individuals seeking to begin or advance their careers within the fields of optics and photonics. This is a full-time position with overall responsibility for helping our society grow through the development of career resources and targeted communications about our member benefits. The Specialist will have a comprehensive understanding of OSA's programs and benefits (both domestic and international), as well as issues facing our members, and will be charged with building OSA as a top destination for job seekers in optics and photonics to find opportunities and advice.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Under the guidance of the Director, Membership, Marketing & Sales and Chief Membership Engagement Officer, develops and implements a state-of-the-art OSA-wide Career Center for the Optics and Photonics community.
- Leads and partners with other OSA departments, to enhance the member experience by creating a one-stop-shop career resources platform. The ultimate goal will provide the community at large with access to: Career Calibrator, Work-in-Optics, Technical Groups Professional Development (webinars/onsite), Professional Development at Meetings (Outreach/Membership), OPN (Career Blog/Career Articles), OSAF (Fellowships and other professional activities offered), Conventions & Meetings Programming and other programming to be developed.
- Develops employer relations and career development strategies. Proactively implements those strategies to increase employment opportunities and overall engagement for members.
- Collaborates with internal and external stakeholders to build and maintain relationships with companies, agencies, and organizations, domestically and internationally that lead to employment opportunities for OSA members.
- Provides day-to-day oversight of the WorkinOptics.com job board, seeking both quality and quantity of job postings to ensure that the board reflects the depth and breadth of opportunities available to members. With guidance from leadership, sets, monitors, and achieves metrics for job postings and usage.
- In coordination with OSA departments, collects, cultivates and curates internal and external career and professional development resources for members and prospective members to ensure comprehensive career support for the optics and photonics community.
- Researches emerging trends in careers and employment in STEM fields and proactively proposes new programs and resources to transition OSA's career services from primarily a job board to a multidimensional platform providing career support at all stages of the professional life cycle.
- Seeks to generate additional revenue for OSA via paid job postings, employer advertisements, sponsorships, and other sources.
- Supports logistics and programmatic development of career-related content at OSA's three signature conferences and other events and meetings as required.
Education and Experience:
- Four-year college degree required
- 3-5 years of relevant service in a higher education career center or membership or scientific society -must have experience in program development, marketing, membership, or career development
Skills and Abilities:
- Excellent written and verbal communication and proofreading skills
- Strong project management and problem-solving skills
- Strong organizational skills with keen attention to detail; ability to work independently and multi-task to meet multiple deadlines
- Skill in building and establishing relationships with internal stakeholders, member volunteers, partner societies, and external organizations, and the ability to connect and close on opportunities with each audience
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications-with minimum intermediate capabilities in Excel, and database applications
- Experience with an online career services module (CSM), such as Boxwood or YMCareers preferred
- Ability to travel approximately 10 percent annually-domestic and international