Senior Director, Student Engagement and City Careers, Bloomberg Center for Cities

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The Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University serves a global community committed to improving public management, leadership, and governance. The Center’s cross-Harvard collaboration unites expertise focused on cities across disciplines and schools to produce research, train leaders, and develop resources for global use. The Center is designed to have practical impact on the future of cities, where more than half of the world’s people now live, by informing and inspiring local government leaders, scholars, students, and others who work to improve the lives of residents around the world.

The Bloomberg Center for Cities at Harvard University seeks a dynamic, results-oriented Senior Director of Student Engagement and City Careers to grow and elevate the Center’s efforts to develop the next generation of city leaders and scholars focused on urban challenges. This is an opportunity for a strategic and hands-on leader to shape how the Center connects Harvard students with cities and urban problem-solving, drawing students from across all Harvard Schools through fellowships and internships, co-curricular programming, and a wide range of real-world learning experiences and jobs in city government. 

The Senior Director will lead a team focused on experiential learning, talent development, and career pathways. They will oversee and grow the Center’s fellowship programs (including the prominent Bloomberg Harvard City Hall Fellowship and Summer Fellowship), forge new opportunities for students to engage with urban problem-solving, and expand the Center’s reach across Harvard’s student community. They will also build partnerships across Harvard and with cities to match talent with opportunity, helping students explore and secure meaningful public service roles in city government. 

The ideal candidate is collaborative, a natural builder, a thoughtful strategist, and a pragmatic doer—someone who takes initiative and gets things done—who is passionate about student development, cities, and public impact. They are a systems thinker who thrives in dynamic environments, values relationships, and brings a strong bias toward execution. With a deep commitment to public service and city government, they’re eager to help students apply their skills to make a difference in cities and to build a talent pipeline of the leaders of tomorrow. 

Job-Specific Responsibilities:

• Lead a team (currently 4 staff reports) responsible for a broad portfolio of student-facing programs and opportunities, including fellowships, internships, research assistant recruitments, field-based learning, student engagement events, alumni connections, and other co-curricular and experiential learning pathways that connect students to cities and urban public service. 

• Oversee and expand key, high-profile fellowship programs, with responsibility for recruitment, effective scoping and development of high-quality project descriptions, and seamless execution. These programs include: 
  • The Bloomberg Harvard City Hall Fellowship for graduating Harvard masters’ students, which places talented early-career professionals in two-year, full-time positions within city halls to advance mayoral priorities and build organizational capacity. 
  • Graduate and Undergraduate Summer Fellowships, which place Harvard students in 10-week roles cities to work on high-impact, city-identified projects—providing applied learning opportunities, exposure to city leadership, and meaningful contributions to solving civic challenges. 
• Build and strengthen the infrastructure needed to expand student pathways into public service, roles in cities including: 
  • Connecting students with full-time roles, internships, and fellowships in city government 
  • Advising and supporting students seeking careers, research experiences, or other forms of engagement with city public service. 
  • Engaging faculty and city leaders in surfacing, shaping, and promoting high-quality city job and project opportunities for students. 
• Strengthen the Center’s visibility and presence among students through events, co-curricular programming, student groups, study groups, and other community-building strategies across the University. 
• Partner with faculty to advance student involvement in field courses, PAEs, thesis projects, and research that support city hall priorities. 

• Serve as a strategic thought partner across the Center and Initiative on issues related to student engagement, talent development, and career support. 

• Develop and steward systems and partnerships with collaborators across Harvard schools and externally to enhance the Center’s student-facing efforts. 

• Track and elevate alumni outcomes, using data, storytelling, and relationship management to make visible the real-world impact of student participants. 

Basic Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree and a minimum of 8 years of progressively responsible experience in program leadership, student engagement, public service, or related fields. 

Additional Qualifications and Skills:

• Master’s degree preferred. 

• Strong leadership experience and people management skills, with a track record of building and managing high-performing teams and delivering outcomes. 

• Demonstrated success designing, launching, and scaling programs that provide hands-on learning experiences, mentorship, or career support for early-career professionals, students, or public sector talent—inside or outside of a university setting. 

• Knowledge of the ecosystem of public service, city governance, and urban innovation; strong grasp of the challenges and opportunities cities face. 

• Proven ability to build and steward partnerships across a complex institutional environment (e.g., university departments, schools, and external stakeholders). 

• Ability to help city leaders scope meaningful projects and job descriptions by actively listening, asking incisive questions, and translating needs into compelling, student-ready opportunities, while supporting others on the team to do the same. 

• Exceptional judgment, discretion, and problem-solving skills; able to navigate sensitive issues and maintain strong relationships. 

• Highly organized, with excellent project management skills and the ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities. 

• Entrepreneurial mindset with a track record of initiating and sustaining programs in fast-paced, evolving settings. 

• Skilled communicator with experience presenting to diverse audiences, such as city officials, university officials, faculty, students, and donors. 

• Mission-driven and energized by inspiring the next generation of civic leaders. 

• Appointment End Date: This position is a fully-benefits eligible term appointment through June 30, 2026, with the strong possibility of renewal.
• Visa Sponsorship Information: Harvard University is unable to provide visa sponsorship for this position
• Pre-Employment Screening: Identity, Education
• Other Information:  This is a full-time, on-campus position based in Cambridge, MA. Flexible remote work arrangements may be available with supervisory approval.

Work Format Details

This position is based on-site at a Harvard campus location. Additional details will be discussed during the interview process. Certain visa types may limit work location. Individuals must meet work location sponsorship requirements prior to employment. 

Salary Grade and Ranges

This position is salary grade level 059. Please visit  Harvard's Salary Ranges  to view the corresponding salary range and related information. 

Benefits

Harvard offers a comprehensive benefits package that is designed to support a healthy work-life balance and your physical, mental and financial wellbeing. Because here, you are what matters. Our benefits include, but are not limited to: 

• Generous paid time off including parental leave 
• Medical, dental, and vision health insurance coverage starting on day one 
• Retirement plans with university contributions 
• Wellbeing and mental health resources 
• Support for families and caregivers 
• Professional development opportunities including tuition assistance and reimbursement 
• Commuter benefits, discounts and campus perks 

Learn more about these and additional benefits on our Benefits & Wellbeing Page. 

EEO/Non-Discrimination Commitment Statement

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