The Organization

The Career Pathway Program:

Our Career Pathway program specifically includes two years of intensive, personalized career coaching, and access to our professional network and to corporate partnerships for internships and jobs. In recent years, Thrive Scholars has moved from a generalist Career Pathway program model to an industry pathway model to ensure that Scholars receive the tailored preparation and gain the specialized skills, experiences, and networks they need for the industries they are pursuing.  Currently, Thrive Scholars has the following Career Pathways programs: Life Sciences, Engineering, Technology, Law, Finance, and Consulting. Scholars interested in other fields participate in our generalist Core pathway.  

The Position:

Thrive Scholars is looking to recruit a student-centered, results-driven, and experienced Life Sciences Career Coach, who will partner with other members of the Life Sciences Career Pathway team, to ensure that interested Scholars are exposed to career options in the life sciences, land excellent internships and jobs in the field, and that they develop the knowledge and skills they need to thrive in life sciences, including in roles within biotech, research, pharma, diagnostics, health careers, and more. In this role, you will provide high-quality, tailored individual career support to a caseload of Scholars within the Life Sciences track by leveraging your skills in rapport-building and coaching, developing effective and impactful relationships, and facilitating group programming. You will leverage your extensive knowledge of life sciences career paths, along with the necessary skills and competencies, to enable successful entry and advancement in these industries, ultimately supporting Scholars in achieving economic mobility.

The Career and Placement Coach will collaborate closely with other members of the Career Pathway team, as well as with the broader Thrive program teams, fostering cross-functional collaboration. Reporting to the Pathway Director of Life Sciences, this role will actively engage in interdepartmental cooperation to enhance program effectiveness and support for scholars.

To succeed in this role, candidates need a strong understanding of the college and internship experience for students pursuing life sciences careers; demonstrate knowledge of corporate talent requirements; high emotional intelligence and motivational skills; and the ability to build rapport with students, corporate partners, and Thrive Scholar staff. 

Key Responsibilities:

Case Management, Individual Scholar Coaching, and Support (60%):

GOAL: Ensure students are effectively exposed to opportunities within the life sciences space, that they obtain excellent internships and jobs, and that they have the preparation to enter and grow in the industry.

• Provide individual coaching and support to Life Sciences pathway students, focusing on career exploration; career road mapping and skills development; applying for internships, job or graduate school/health professional school, or fellowship opportunities; and the bar for success in the Scholar’s identified function and industry. Given that our students are distributed nationally, coaching most often takes place virtually, through in-depth video, phone, and email exchanges.

• As the primary relationship manager for students on the caseload, assess and triage holistic needs that Scholars may have, including needs related to academic and socio-emotional success.

• Maintain records of all appointments, presentations, and services to students.

Internship and Job Recruitment (25%):

GOAL: Ensure Scholars are successful in obtaining internships and jobs that align with their life sciences career goals and position them for economic mobility. 

• Partnering with the Life Sciences Account Manager and the Employment Placements team, develop a keen understanding of the success profile sought by life sciences companies and effectively support the recruitment and preparation of Scholars for these internship and job opportunities.

• Provide coaching around resume and cover letter preparation, interview skills, and prepare Scholars for on-the-job success before and during internship/job.

• Provide individualized outreach to students using our Salesforce database.

• Strive towards department-identified metrics and goals for Scholar placement.

Career Program Development, Implementation, and Support (15%):

GOAL: Partner collaboratively within and beyond the Career Pathway team to ensure a cohesive and successful Scholar experience, actively engaging in cross-collaboration with other program teams across the organization.

• In collaboration with others on the Career team, the Career Coach will have the opportunity to develop, implement, and support the core Thrive Scholars Career Pathway curriculum and programming, as well as Life Sciences programming, including events, workshops, webinars, and the production of lasting resources.

• Deliver relevant career pathway programming utilizing a Learning Management System as our curriculum hub and in-person at Summer Academy and Thrive Academies (approximately 2 weeks of total travel per summer).

• Partner with the Mentorship team to facilitate high-impact relationships between Scholars and industry mentors, ensuring their active participation and benefit.

• Collaborate with High School and College Programs, as well as other relevant teams, to align program activities and optimize support for Scholars, ensuring program coherence and effectiveness. 

Qualifications and Experience
There are innumerable ways to learn, grow and excel professionally. We respect this when we review applications and take a broad look at the experience of each applicant. The qualifications and experiences listed below are intended as a guide; we do not expect candidates to check every box. If you believe you can meet the expectations and responsibilities of this position, we want to get to know you and the unique strengths you will bring to the work. 

• Bachelor’s degree required, preferably in a Life Sciences field.

• Minimum 5 years of professional experience, including at least 3 years in the life sciences industry or 3 years providing career/grad school coaching to Life Sciences students in Higher Ed institutions.

• Minimum 2 years of relevant advising or coaching experience.

• Results-driven with adaptable methods to achieve goals.

• Ability to build strong rapport with diverse college students.

• Strong knowledge of life sciences career paths and employment trends.

• Deep understanding of the college-to-career journey for underrepresented students.

• Excellent verbal and written communication, analytical, and organizational skills.

• Ability to manage multiple tasks, meet deadlines, and demonstrate effective time management.

• Experience with Canvas or other Learning Management Systems (LMS).

• Experience using database tools for documentation and reporting (Salesforce preferred).

Compensation and Benefits:

Thrive Scholars offers a competitive compensation and benefits package including high-quality health, dental, and disability insurance, three weeks of paid vacation (four weeks after two years of employment), generous professional development funding, and access to an employer-matched retirement plan. This is a full-time, non-exempt position.

Travel Expectations: 

This role will include academic-year travel, approximately 7-9 campus visits, and up to 2 weeks total during our Summer Academies (Evanston, IL and Amherst, MA), plus attendance at our Thrive Academy locations. Additionally, there will be travel to retreats and other events throughout the year to support the engagement and development of scholars within the Life Sciences Career Pathway program.

COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement

Thrive has instituted a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for all employees, including remote staff. Individuals selected for job opportunities must be fully vaccinated and up to date, per CDC guidelines, and will be required to provide proof of vaccination status in advance of your hire date. 

If you are unable to be vaccinated for medical reasons or sincerely-held religious beliefs, Thrive will consider requests for reasonable accommodations consistent with our policy.  Accommodation requests cannot be guaranteed, Thrive will consider requests where we are able to provide such accommodations without undue hardship to the organization pursuant to applicable law.  Any such accommodation must be approved in advance of signing an offer letter.

Thrive Scholars provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, sexual orientation, age, disability, or veteran status. Knowing their importance to the success of our work, Thrive Scholars is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we aspire to build a diverse staff team and community. We strongly encourage people of all backgrounds to apply.

For more information, please visit thrivescholars.org

Thrive Scholars’ Economic Mobility Statement:

We know that everywhere in our country, there are incredibly high-achieving BIPOC students from economically disadvantaged communities who have big aspirations for their future. By virtue of everything they have achieved—academically, personally, and extracurricularly—these students demonstrate tremendous promise to continue to achieve at great levels in college and in their careers. However, as a result of structural barriers they encounter during the pivotal transitions from high school to college to career, we know that many are hindered from reaching their career ambitions and their goals of economic mobility and financial security. We understand these barriers to be complex and rooted in deep societal inequities and in systemic racism, and we believe they must be addressed at all levels—individual, institutional, and systemic.    

At Thrive Scholars, we have found that we are well-equipped to make a meaningful impact on the individual student level. As an organization, we have identified some of the main barriers that get in the way of Scholars getting that first job out of college that will position them to realize economic mobility. We have developed, over the last twenty years, key interventions, delivered through our College Access, Summer Academy, College Success, Mentorship, and Career Development programs - all aimed at helping high-achieving students from economically disadvantaged communities overcome these obstacles to experience economic mobility. This is our North Star. We do not believe that is all of the work that needs to be done at a societal or even individual level in order to promote a just society where every individual can succeed holistically, but we believe this part of it is where we as an organization should focus.