Employer Relations Specialist

Description

The Centre for Career & Personal Development in Student Experience and Support is currently seeking a Full-time Regular Employer Relations Specialist.

The Employer Relations Specialist role reports to the Manager, CCPD Operations, and is focused on achieving the following objectives: showcasing a diverse range of career opportunities to students across various industries to instill confidence in their potential for success in their chosen industries, establishing and nurturing meaningful relationships between students and current and prospective employers, with the view to support their career development, facilitating seamless engagement between industry partners and campus stakeholders, and generating revenue to foster the growth of the CCPD team.

The Employer Relations Specialist plays a crucial role in suggesting and developing various event opportunities to facilitate connections between students, recent alumni, and potential employers. They work closely with the Manager of CCPD Operations and the Business Operations team to support networking opportunities and promote the vision and mandate of CCPD. They act as the main point of contact for employers seeking to recruit from all faculties, and support employers in creating and posting their job opportunities, including experiential learning opportunities, on the university's job board.

This is a full-time position, requiring 35 hours of work per week, including frequent evening hours.

Summary of Key Responsibilities (job functions include but are not limited to):

Business Development

• Develop a comprehensive business development strategy by conducting ongoing research on potential employers in relevant industry sectors and programs on campus that require targeted support. This includes identifying new business opportunities through a variety of resources such as industry and professional association directories, the internet, and news items, and making cold calls to grow our network of employer contacts.
• The strategy should follow a general framework that involves defining the target market, researching the target market, analyzing the information, developing a communication strategy, creating a list of potential employers, reaching out to them using various methods such as cold calling, emailing, networking events, and social media, building relationships, evaluating the results, and adjusting the approach as needed.
• Apply effective sales principles to develop leads, maintain a contact database, and meet client needs. This includes regularly auditing new employer clients and job postings to determine follow-up actions, ensuring job postings are completed correctly and targeted effectively. This will require working closely with the Client Service Representative to review any approved job postings.
• Build client loyalty by communicating continuously and becoming a trusted advisor. This involves meeting with employers virtually or in-person, on or off-campus, to discuss their hiring needs and providing information on how CCPD can help them meet their needs through campus recruitment. Additionally, advise employers within specific industries or sectors about how to best connect with and target their recruitment to specific groups of students and alumni by aligning them to the services we offer. Host employer information sessions to discuss their hiring needs and provide them with information on how CCPD services can best support their needs.
• Engage in external outreach activities, such as attending trade shows, conferences, and business or government events, to foster and maintain relations with potential and current employers, with the goal of enlisting their participation in recruiting University of Calgary students and alumni. Prior approval from the Manager, CCPD Operations, is required for these activities.
• To provide employers with effective recruitment strategies, it is important to stay current on employment perspectives of University of Calgary students. Therefore, it is essential to maintain a current understanding of the student viewpoint regarding employment.
  
  

Campus Recruitment Activities

• Coordinate and execute campus recruitment activities, which would include career fairs, information sessions, networking events, industry panels, and other various recruiting events.
• Research, contact, and secure participation from a range of employers, including those already engaged with CCPD, such as preferred employers, and those who have not previously recruited on campus.
• Collaborate with employers to develop effective recruitment strategies that align with student schedules and other campus events.
• Work with the Events & Engagement Coordinator and the Manager of CCPD Operations to develop each event's overall marketing strategy to produce web content, promotional materials, and create the online registration forms that would engage the targeted student audience.
  
  

Collaboration & Partnerships

• Collaborate with other units on campus, including faculties and alumni, to develop and implement effective strategies for improving services to employers.
• Represents CCPD on committees such as the Campus Career Consortium (CCC) working group and any other relevant committees.
• Contribute to the planning, marketing, and execution of annual employer events that showcase the value of hiring University of Calgary students and alumni.
• Create a list of programs or initiatives aimed at helping employers improve their recruitment practices for students from underrepresented groups. This would involve identifying the specific needs of employers when it comes to recruiting diverse talent and developing strategies to address those needs.
• Promoting equitable and inclusive employment practices that support diversity and ensure that students from underrepresented groups have equal access to job opportunities. For example, programs could include training sessions, workshops, or panel discussions aimed at educating employers about the importance of diversity and inclusion and providing them with tools and resources to help them achieve these goals in their recruitment practices.
  
  

Administration and Evaluation

• Utilize the online system Elevate to manage employer contact information, job postings, event registrations, information sessions, interview room bookings and billing information efficiently.
• Investigate, review, and approve employer account requests to ensure the account requests are not fraudulent. This is achieved by using LinkedIn, Google, and the internet to confirm emails, phone numbers, addresses, company names, and contact names are legitimate.
• Work in collaboration with the Client Service Representative to review and approve job postings to ensure that they are posted correctly and targeted to the correct programs.
• Support the Client Service Representative with identifying and resolving any student and/or employer issues that may arise regarding our services.
• Assess projected revenue and expenditures to recommend exhibitor registration fees, sponsorship levels, and advertising rates, and regularly review policies, procedures, and plans to maintain positive relationships with employers.
• Monitor industry trends and communicate them to relevant campus departments to ensure CCPD programs and services align with student needs and support their success in the job market.
• Continuously evaluate CCPD services and processes, identify areas for improvement, and collaborate with the Manager, CCPD Operations to implement updates.
• Generate reports on student engagement with campus recruiting activities, including fall and winter term reports, faculty summary reports, and an annual year-end report.
  
  

Qualifications / Requirements:

• A bachelor's degree is a minimum requirement.
• A strong knowledge and understanding of the services and degree program offerings of the University of Calgary is required.
• At least 2 - 3 years of relevant experience in sales and customer service, as well as a working knowledge of marketing and business development concepts.
• Minimum of one year of experience in new business development strategies to increase sales and expand customer base.
• A comprehensive understanding of local and national employment markets and labour trends.
• A strong sales-oriented mindset to outreach and develop new contacts within the employer network.
• Creativity, strong visual communication skills, and marketing principles knowledge to create promotional materials that support various events within the University standards and guidelines.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills are essential to this role.
• Intermediate to advanced computer application knowledge is required to create presentations, prepare reports and proposals, and competently use customer relationship, recruitment, and event management software as needed (Word, Excel, Publisher, PowerPoint, Elevate).
• Ability to work independently to perform multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment and attention to detail.
• Must be able to work effectively in a team environment and collaborate with the Business Operations team to create and develop events that cater to the recruitment needs of both employers and students. Being a team player is an essential quality for this role.
  
  

Application Deadline: November 27, 2026

We would like to thank all applicants in advance for submitting their resumes. Please note, only those candidates chosen to continue on through the selection process will be contacted.

This position is part of the AUPE bargaining unit, and falls under the Specialist/Advisor Job Family, Phase 2.

For a listing of all management and staff opportunities at the University of Calgary, view our Management and Staff Careers website.

About The University Of Calgary

UCalgary is Canada's entrepreneurial university, located in Canada's most enterprising city. It is a top research university and one of the highest-ranked universities of its age. Founded in 1966, its 36,000 students experience an innovative learning environment, made rich by research, hands-on experiences and entrepreneurial thinking. It is Canada's leader in the creation of start-ups. Start something today at the University of Calgary. For more information, visit ucalgary.ca.

The University of Calgary has launched an institution-wide Indigenous Strategy ii' taa'poh'to'p committing to creating a rich, vibrant, and culturally competent campus that welcomes and supports Indigenous Peoples, encourages Indigenous community partnerships, is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives in all that we do.

The university's commitment to the Indigenous Strategy is evident through the oversight of 18 Elders serving on the Circle of Advisors and the many unit-based circles working towards implementation of the strategy including the Faculty Advisory Circle and teams such as the Office of Indigenous Engagement, the Writing Symbols Lodge, and the Indigenous Research Support Team. Many Indigenous-based events and processes are impacting curriculum, programming and polices at the University of Calgary.

As an equitable and inclusive employer, the University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and will support their academic and professional success while they are here. In particular, we encourage members of the designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible/racialized minorities, and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities) to apply. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. Questions regarding [diversity] EDI at UCalgary can be sent to the Office of Institutional Commitments ([email protected]) and requests for accommodations can be sent to People & Culture ([email protected]).

Do you have most but not all the qualifications? Research show that women, racialized and visible minorities, and persons with disabilities are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At UCalgary we are committed to achieving equitable, diverse, inclusive and accessible employment practices and workplaces and encourage you to apply if you believe you are right for this role.

We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, however preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.