San Diego State University Research Foundation

Workforce & Industry Lead

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Overview

This position is budgeted at $31.25 - $34.61 per hour depending on experience and is non-negotiable.

Established in 1943, the mission of the SDSU Research Foundation (SDSURF) is to support the research objectives of San Diego State University by helping faculty and staff find, obtain, and administer funding for their research and sponsored programs. SDSU achieved its strategic plan goal of becoming an R1, premier public research university in early 2025 furthering discoveries, interventions, and solutions that improve communities and change the world. SDSURF provides the full life cycle of grants services to faculty and staff to further their important work.

Our vision is to foster a culture of creativity and collaboration with integrity and respect for individuals that results in the delivery of superior service to support the university’s strategic aspirations.

Our core values:

Service: We are a service organization that strives to provide superior support to the university community to achieve SDSU’s goals; we are committed to being professionally competent by setting high standards and working hard to achieve results; and we continually seeking to improve our skills and capabilities by valuing education and professional development.

Collaboration: We seek to actively engage with our stakeholders and employees to identify issues and design solutions, build strong relationships grounded in trust, openness, and inclusion and achieve the best results by taking pride in the accomplishments of our colleagues.

Innovation: We work towards inspired solutions to improve and adapt to emerging opportunities and challenges, creative ways to streamline and enhance our delivery of services through resourceful and proactive problem solving and strategic use of technology and reduction of obstacles.

Respect: We promote a culture where every individual is valued and treated with dignity, we honor open-mindedness toward different viewpoints and ideas and have a genuine appreciation for varied backgrounds, experiences, and ways of thinking.

Integrity: We are committed to act with the highest ethical standards, with honesty, integrity, and transparency, provide consistent and accurate information and value and respect all individuals.

Function Of The Unit

San Diego State University Career Services is an award-winning, outcomes-focused career center known for innovation, strategic partnerships, and a forward-thinking approach to student success and workforce development. Likely the largest career center at a college or university in California, SDSU Career Services operates at a scale that reflects the size, complexity, and ambition of the university and the regions it serves.

As a federally affiliated career services provider leading programs funded by the California Employment Development Department (EDD) through Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) resources authorized by the U.S. Department of Labor, SDSU Career Services operates at the intersection of higher education, workforce development, employer engagement, and economic mobility.

SDSU Career Services is recognized for doing things differently by expanding the role of the modern career center beyond traditional models of career exploration and personal growth. The department places a stronger emphasis on industry-driven strategies, workforce alignment, accountability, employment outcomes, and career pathways that lead to livable-wage careers. Through data-informed practices, scalable programs, and strong partnerships with employers and regional workforce stakeholders, SDSU Career Services measures its impact and treats employment outcomes as a key priority while building a modern career center model focused on access, opportunity, and meaningful career advancement for students, alumni, and emerging talent.

Purpose Of The Position

The Workforce & Industry Lead supports the implementation and delivery of workforce development programs serving In-School Youth and other designated populations. These programs support both SDSU and non-SDSU students, including prospective students from feeder schools and partner organizations, as well as youth and students from K-12 school districts, community colleges, and community-based organizations throughout the Greater San Diego Metropolitan Region.

Programs are designed to support individuals facing barriers to education and employment, including low-income individuals, students with disabilities, formerly incarcerated individuals, foster youth, pregnant or parenting youth, individuals experiencing homelessness, and other priority populations identified by funding partners.

This position serves as a flexible, cross-functional team member responsible for supporting workforce solutions, industry relations, and program administration activities. The Workforce & Industry Lead works directly with participants, employers, partners, and project staff to coordinate services, support participant success, strengthen employer engagement, maintain compliance, and advance project goals.

Responsibilities

Specific Duties

Workforce Solutions 30%

  • Coordinate participant recruitment, engagement, retention, and follow-up activities.
  • Deliver and coordinate career exploration, workforce readiness, employment preparation, and work-based learning activities.
  • Facilitate workshops, trainings, orientations, and career development services.
  • Provide resource navigation, referrals, and participant support throughout the program lifecycle.
  • Maintain participant records, service documentation, case notes, and outcome tracking activities.
  • Utilize AI and emerging technology to create workforce solutions to prepare candidates for employment.

Industry Relations 30%

  • Lead employer and community outreach, engagement, and relationship-building activities.
  • Develop work-based learning, job shadowing, internship, and employment opportunities.
  • Cultivate and maintain relationships with employers, industry partners, chambers, educational institutions, SBDCs, Offices of Economic Development/EDCs, and community organizations.
  • Oversee employer events, career fairs, hiring activities, presentations, and partnership initiatives.
  • Initiate job development, opportunity matching, and participant placement activities.
  • Utilize AI and emerging technology to create workforce solutions to assist employers with talent acquisition.

Program Administration & Outreach 30%

  • Coordinate participant eligibility determination, enrollment, onboarding, and documentation activities.
  • Maintain participant files, data systems, compliance records, and program documentation.
  • Coordinate data collection, reporting, quality assurance, and compliance activities.
  • Participate in audits, monitoring reviews, site visits, and compliance-related activities.
  • Lead marketing, design, and outreach activities to attract job seekers and employers to programing.
  • Identify, communicate, and help resolve operational, compliance, participant, and employer-related challenges.
  • Support continuous improvement efforts, special projects, and workforce development initiatives.
  • Utilize AI and emerging technology to support administrative processes and overall program success.

Other Duties as Assigned 10%

Qualifications

Knowledge and Abilities

  • Knowledge of workforce development, career services, employer engagement, work-based learning, and grant-funded program models, including general familiarity with WIOA, EDD, and Department of Labor-funded initiatives.
  • Ability to coordinate participant recruitment, eligibility, enrollment, engagement, retention, follow-up, documentation, and outcome tracking activities.
  • Ability to deliver career readiness, employment preparation, career exploration, job search support, resource navigation, and participant-centered workforce services.
  • Ability to build and sustain relationships with employers, educational institutions, community-based organizations, workforce partners, and regional stakeholders to support job development, work-based learning, and employment pathways.
  • Ability to interpret program requirements, maintain accurate records, support compliance activities, use data to track performance, contribute to continuous improvement, and meet all program outcomes, performance measures, and grant goals in an outcomes-focused environment.
Education & Experience
  • Equivalent to a bachelor’s degree and/or equivalent training and administrative work experience involving study, analysis, and/or evaluation leading to the development or improvement of administrative policies, procedures, practices or programs.
  • 3-years of progressively responsible experience in an office or administrative environment.

Preferred Qualifications & Special Skills

  • Familiarity with CalJOBS or comparable workforce development, case management, student information, or participant tracking systems.
  • Familiarity with case management practices, including participant intake, service planning, documentation, follow-up, referrals, and outcome tracking.
  • Established relationships and/or demonstrated experience collaborating with community colleges, workforce boards, Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs), Offices of Economic Development, Economic Development Corporations (EDCs), chambers of commerce, or related regional workforce and economic development partners.

ADDITIONAL APPLICANT INFORMATION

  • Candidate must reside in California and live within a commutable distance from SDSU at time of hire.
  • Job offer is contingent upon satisfactory clearance based on background check results (including a criminal record check).
  • San Diego State University Research Foundation is an equal opportunity employer. Consistent with California law and federal civil rights laws, SDSU Research Foundation provides equal opportunity in employment without unlawful discrimination or preferential treatment based on race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin or any other categories protected by federal or state law.
  • Employment decisions are based on an individual’s qualifications as they relate to the job under consideration. Our commitment to equal opportunity means ensuring that every employee has equal access to resources and support.
  • SDSU Research Foundation complies with Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the California Equity in Higher Education Act, California’s Proposition 209 (Art. I, Section 31 of the California Constitution), and other applicable state and federal anti-discrimination laws including grant or contract terms and conditions related to funded program activities. Further the SDSU Research Foundation maintains a Nondiscrimination Policy that prohibits discriminatory preferential treatment, segregation based on race or any other protected status, and all forms of unlawful discrimination, harassment, and retaliation in all programs, policies, and practices.
  • SDSU Research Foundation makes all employment decisions including, but not limited to, applicant screening, hiring, promotion, demotion, compensation, benefits, disciplinary actions, and terminations on the basis of merit.