Manager, Career Pathways

Location: Des Plaines, IL Category: Staff Posted On: Wed Nov 12 2025 Job Description:

Basic Function and Responsibility:

The Manager, Career Pathways, plays a key role in coordinating and managing career pathway initiatives that connect students to high-demand, high-wage opportunities. Working across credit and non-credit programs, the position supports seamless transitions from K-12 through postsecondary education into employment and beyond.

This role focuses on managing the day-to-day operations of career pathways, facilitating alignment between Oakton College, K-12 partners, employers, and community organizations. While strategic direction originates from senior leadership, the Manager helps operationalize strategies and ensures cross-functional alignment to meet the needs of students, employers, and the regional workforce.

Characteristic Duties and Responsibilities:

Pathway Development and Management

• Establish partnerships with deans, department chairs, and faculty to map and align pathways across programs and disciplines, ensuring clear student progression into key industries.
• Maintain knowledge of industry-related workforce development programs and career pathway opportunities.
• Support integration of credit and non-credit programming, ensuring that short-term credentials, certificates, and degrees are connected for student advancement.
• Drive processes to document and update pathway maps to reflect program changes, employer needs, and emerging opportunities.
• Collaborate with faculty to integrate labor market data and student outcome metrics into the design, evaluation, and continuous improvement of academic and career pathways programs.
• Establish cross-functional teams to align curricula, credentials, and support with career pathway goals and coordinate with program faculty, student services, and academic departments to ensure smooth student transitions.

Partnership Support & Engagement

• Initiate, facilitate, and maintain liaison with K-12 partners, employers, and workforce organizations to enhance pathway relevance and effectiveness.
• Develop outreach and recruitment strategies in partnership with enrollment, marketing, and advising teams.
• Collaborate closely with other internal leads, including those overseeing Early College, work-based learning, pre-apprenticeships, apprenticeships, career services, and employer-aligned opportunities, to integrate these elements into the pathway planning process.
• Represent the College at appropriate programs, conferences, and meetings as directed.

Student & Employer Success

• Ensure that students and families understand the available pathways and supports, working closely with advising and coaching teams at the college and with local K-12 partners.
• Collaborate with employers to facilitate internships, apprenticeships, and direct-to-employment opportunities.
• Develop strategies to integrate wraparound services (e.g., transportation, childcare, stipends) into pathways to improve student access and retention.

Data, Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Track key performance indicators (KPIs), including enrollment, completion, credential attainment, employment, and wage outcomes.
• Prepare reports and updates for leadership and partners to demonstrate pathway progress and impact.
• Identify gaps, challenges, and opportunities for improving alignment and scaling pathway success.

Strategic Support

• Assist the Senior Director of Workforce Development in integrating pathway goals into broader workforce and academic initiatives, ensuring cross-campus collaboration.

Perform other job-related duties as assigned.

Supervision Received:

Administrative supervision is received from the Senior Director of Workforce Development.

Supervision Exercised:

Functional supervision is exercised over classified staff positions, instructors, and student employees.

Job Requirements:

Qualifications and Working Conditions:

• A Master's degree in a related field, such as Marketing, Business, Adult Education, Organizational Development, or Educational Leadership, is required, or an equivalent combination of education and experience from which comparable knowledge and abilities can be acquired.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating education, workforce, or career pathway programs. Three years of experience required.
• Strong collaboration and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Excellent organizational, project management, and communication abilities.
• Experience in recruitment, career pathway and curriculum development, program planning/implementation, and assessment is required.
• Organizational, communication, and public relations skills, including the ability to persuade, explain procedures, and interpret policy.
• Competency in the use of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook) and other relevant software is required.
• Ability to interact professionally and tactfully with people of different levels of education, cultural backgrounds, and life experiences, and to exhibit an adequate level of respect to fellow employees and the College community at large.

Physical Demands:

Light lifting up to 10 lbs. and light carrying up to 10 lbs. Ability to reach above shoulder. Periods of time spent sitting, standing, walking, kneeling, bending, and stooping. Mobility to move from building to building on-campus and to visit off-campus entities. Work is performed in a general office environment and sedentary in nature. Little or no exposure to adverse working conditions.

Additional Information:

SALARY: $67,440

HOURS: Monday - Friday 8:15 am - 5:00 pm

Based on the needs of the college and with Administrator approval, some positions at the college may have a hybrid schedule option available after 30 working days.

For information regarding employment eligibility, please visit our employment at Oakton web page.

Equal Opportunity Employer