Head – Career Services & Alumni Engagement

The Head – Career Services & Alumni Engagement is a senior leadership role responsible for building a robust industry ecosystem, driving successful internships and placements, and engaging with alumni at each IBC, thereby enhancing student outcomes. The role acts as a strategic bridge between academia and industry by aligning career development programs, employer partnerships, alumni relations, and student readiness with evolving workforce demands.

About the Role

The Head – Career Services & Alumni Engagement is a senior leadership role responsible for building a robust industry ecosystem, driving successful internships and placements, and engaging with alumni at each IBC, thereby enhancing student outcomes.

Responsibilities

Strategy & Leadership
Define and execute the career services and industry engagement strategy aligned with institutional goals at each IBC.
Lead the career services function across all IBCs, ensuring high-quality outcomes in internships, placements, entrepreneurship, and further studies.
Establish KPIs around internship and placement rates, compensation benchmarks and YoY growth, India vs. international internships and placements, employer satisfaction, and alternate career paths such as entrepreneurship/startups and further studies.
Create and drive Industry Advisory Committees at each IBC, bringing together CXOs and academic leaders to align program outcomes.
Develop an alumni engagement strategy at each IBC to engage with existing alumni, especially the Indian diaspora from the home campus.
Create enabling policies across all IBCs, such as extended placement support, to encourage students to pursue startup ideas.

Industry Engagement & Partnerships
Build and sustain strategic relationships with corporations, startups, government bodies, research organizations, and global employers to create a strong ecosystem supporting internships, placements, live projects, entrepreneurship, and higher education pathways.
Act as the primary liaison between the IBC and industry, facilitating job opportunities, internships, live projects, startup collaborations, and career pathways, including placements, further studies, and entrepreneurial ventures, while engaging faculty, academic leaders, and alumni networks to strengthen outcomes.
Represent the IBC in industry forums, networking events, and employer engagement platforms, promoting the University’s talent pool, fostering partnerships for recruitment, research, and innovation, and enhancing visibility among corporates, startups, investors, and alumni stakeholders.

Placements & Internship Programs
Oversee end-to-end management of internships, campus placements, and graduate employment outcomes. Drive structured processes for internships, final placements, PPO conversions, startup incubation linkages, and admissions into premier global institutions.
Drive employer outreach and engagement initiatives, including campus recruitment drives, career fairs, industry immersion programs, and startup connect forums.
Continuously monitor industry trends, hiring patterns, and future skill demands, and translate insights into dynamic placement and career strategies, enabling the University to stay ahead of evolving workforce needs.

Career Development & Student Readiness
Design and implement career readiness programs, including workshops, mentoring, assessments, coaching, and experiential learning initiatives, to equip students with the skills required for internships, placements, entrepreneurship, and higher studies.
Provide structured guidance to students on career planning, including résumé building, interview preparation, networking strategies, personal branding, and career pathway selection, supporting diverse outcomes such as corporate roles, startup ventures, and admissions to premier global institutions.
Integrate employability skills and career pathways into academic programs by partnering with faculty and academic leaders to embed industry-relevant competencies, experiential learning, entrepreneurial exposure, and career-aligned curriculum design across disciplines.

Employer Relations & Ecosystem Building
Develop and manage employer pipelines and recruiter databases, including corporates, startups, alumni-founded ventures, and global employers, supported by structured databases and systems.
Ensure a strong employer experience and long-term engagement with the University by delivering seamless recruitment processes, proactive relationship management, continuous feedback loops, and value-added interactions.
Explore new industry partnerships for live projects, research collaborations, and skill development initiatives, including engagements with startups, incubators, and innovation ecosystems.

Data, Analytics & Reporting
Track, analyze, and report placement metrics, student outcomes, and engagement levels, including internship conversions, placement rates, compensation benchmarks, higher education pathways, and student engagement metrics.
Maintain databases covering students, alumni, recruiters, industry partners, and job opportunities, enabling data-driven operations.
Leverage data-driven insights to improve program effectiveness and support leadership decisions, including refining placement strategies, identifying industry demand trends, strengthening employer partnerships, and shaping academic and career interventions.

Stakeholder Collaboration
Partner with academic departments to align curricula with evolving industry needs by integrating employability skills, experiential learning, live projects, and entrepreneurial pathways into academic programs to enhance student readiness for diverse career outcomes.
Work closely with alumni relations, research, and student services teams to leverage alumni networks, industry insights, research linkages, and student support frameworks in building a holistic career ecosystem.
Engage internal and external stakeholders to enhance overall student career outcomes by co-creating initiatives that improve employability and strengthen the University’s reputation within the global talent and innovation ecosystem.

Team Leadership & Operations
Build and lead high-performing teams across career services, placements, and employer engagement.
Manage budgets, resources, and operational efficiency of the function.
Foster a culture of innovation, service excellence, and continuous improvement.

Qualification
Rich experience in career services, placements, corporate relations, or talent development.
Global exposure to closing positions outside India, such as in GCC, Singapore, and Malaysia, will be important to create differentiation in outcomes across IBCs.
Proven track record in building employer partnerships and achieving strong placement outcomes.
Strong understanding of industry hiring trends and employability frameworks.