Associate Director

Primary Purpose: The Associate Director provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for the Center for Elder Justice. This role supports the Director in advancing the Center’s mission through program management, fundraising, student engagement, and community outreach. The Associate Director also supervises staff, fellows, and student workers while fostering a collaborative and inclusive environment. Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Fund-raising Partner with faculty, Development & Alumni Relations, and external stakeholders to identify fundraising priorities. Cultivate alumni, corporate, and grant opportunities to sustain and expand Center initiatives. Draft and support grant applications and donor engagement efforts. Monitor various websites to identify new grant opportunities and create first drafts of grants for professors. Marketing, Communications & External Relations Collaborate with Communications to design and implement strategic marketing, advertising, and social media campaigns. Oversee content creation, branding, and metrics to evaluate outreach effectiveness. Represent the Center at conferences, professional gatherings, and community events. In conjunction with Communications develop social media messaging for director-approved social media apps and for the Center’s digital messaging board. Oversee social media strategy and ensure timely, consistent content updates. Respond to inquiries and schedule media interviews for professors. With Communications, identify necessary marketing and advertising for the LL.M degree in Elder Law. Work with Communications and the Director of LLM and Graduate Enrollment to create advertising and marketing materials for the LL.M program in elder law by providing content and determining deadlines. Manage applicant communications and ensure a responsive recruitment process. Program and Project management Lead signature initiatives including the Elder Law Society, Journal of Aging Policy & Law, and pro bono projects. LL.M Program Support Along with the Director, manage the LL.M program: Recruit applicants. Assist in recruiting adjunct professors. Foster student and programmatic success through proactive advising and frequent communications with LL.M students and adjunct professors Ensure all LL.M. program materials comply with applicable academic and professional standards of legal education and reflect current ethical and regulatory frameworks. Liaise with Director and Media Services to Ensure program content and media delivery meet high academic and professional standards. Attend events and conferences with a large number of potential LL.M applicants and market program to them. With director, manage all student and adjunct faculty concerns. With director, choose which courses will be offered each semester and oversee student registration for classes. Supervision & Student Engagement Supervise Center staff, fellows, student workers, and pro bono volunteers. Assign and oversee work for the support staff. Foster student involvement in elder law initiatives and professional development. Provide mentorship, set expectations, and ensure accountability. Set schedules for students and approve any deviations. Receive projects from director and assign tasks to the students. Budgets Run projections for the current year’s budget and conduct year-to-date analysis of budget. Compare current year budget to last year budget year-to-date to identify stress areas. Administer budget weekly to ensure timely processing of expenditures and to project shortfalls or excesses for the Business Office. Draft budget for the next budget year. Examine budgets for various programs and projects and budget for the next year as well as year-to-date performance metrics. Represent the Center at various events and activities on- and off-campus: Identify which events the Center should have presence and identify who will represent the Center. Develop and manage workflow: Create a timeline and schedule for short-term, intermediate-term, and long-term tasks. Create a description of the task and how it will be completed. Make assignments of the various steps needed to complete a task. Identify other COL departments needed to assist with tasks and give them their assignments. This includes a description of the task. Set and adhere to deadlines. Specific tasks departments need to perform. Supervise departments involvement in center projects: Create a timeline. Explain assignment. Review and edit assignment. Give final ok of assignment and determine when task is completed to her satisfaction. Qualifications/Education and Experience: This position requires: Juris Doctor (J.D.) required; admission to the Florida Bar highly desirable. Experience in legal education or CLE preferred but not required. While this is not a teaching position, the possibility exists for an attorney in this position to teach occasionally as an adjunct professor without possibility of tenure. Ability to apply legal analysis and professional judgement in academic, policy, or programmatic settings. Proven ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines in a fast-paced environment. Strong interest in working with students on legal pro bono and other legal programs Strong organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills. Demonstrated leadership and supervisory experience. Fundraising and grant-writing experience preferred. Proficiency in MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Outlook, Publisher, as well as other brochure software and publishing tools, including Canva. Strong customer service skills and professionalism are a must. Commitment to inclusive excellence and ability to foster a welcoming environment. Ability to work a flexible work schedule during busy office periods; some travel required. Working Conditions: This position is based at the Gulfport Campus in a professional office environment with frequent interaction with students, faculty, and external partners. Occasional evening and weekend hours, travel, and the ability to lift up to 20 lbs. may be required. Reasonable accommodation will be made for individuals with disabilities. Work authorization sponsorship may be available for this position. However, sponsorship is contingent upon the non-applicability of the visa petition fees outlined in the relevant Executive Order signed September 19, 2025. Due to the recent federally-mandated increased financial expense, the university is not in a position to absorb this significantly increased cost of sponsorship for new H-1B petitions at this time. International candidates are encouraged to apply, but should be aware that eligibility for sponsorship will be evaluated in accordance with current U.S. immigration regulations and institutional policies. #J-18808-Ljbffr