Senior Teaching Fellow, STEM Career Advantage Academy

The Tufts Center for Professional and Workforce Impact (within University College) is seeking a Senior Teaching Fellow to assist in leading our summer STEM Career Advantage Academy (SCAA). SCAA is one of the Center's signature initiatives, launching at Tufts in summer 2026. Designed to equip STEM undergraduate and advanced high school students with critical leadership and professional skills, the program builds capacity in negotiation, communication, networking, and collaborative problem-solving-skills increasingly required at the start of a STEM internship and career.

Formerly known as the Leadership Academy (LA), the program was piloted and refined over five years with philanthropic funding from Pivotal Ventures (2019) and Reboot Representation (2023-2024), both Melinda French Gates initiatives. To date, it has served 300 students from 30 institutions, delivering immersive instruction and mentoring with instruction evenly split between industry practitioners and academics.

Evaluation data, including findings published in peer-reviewed research, shows measurable gains in student confidence, negotiation skills, and workplace readiness, supported by active alumni and industry involvement. With the research phase complete, the program is now ready to scale under its new name and expanded scope at Tufts.

The Tufts STEM Career Advantage Academy will feature a 9-module online summer program, workshops led by academics and practitioners, a 9-month coaching program with industry mentors, alumni booster sessions, and a longitudinal study tracking long-term outcomes. Students will be divided into cohorts of 5-8 and led by Teaching Fellows.

Position Overview

STEM Career Advantage Academy is seeking a Senior Teaching Fellow to work closely with the program founder to refresh the curriculum, provide instructional and technological support, engage with industry managers and program partners, and oversee the overall coordination of the program's teaching fellows. The program's Teaching Fellows' main task is to help students find their unique strengths and experiences and then develop a "Personal Narratives Story Bank" that they can use in guiding new managers and peers in the workplace to appreciate the value they bring to the organization. The Senior Teaching Fellow needs to bring relevant experience to this role. Graduate students and post-docs with teaching and mentoring experience-preferably in preparing high school and college students for the next stage of their journey are preferred. Applicants do not have to be affiliated with Tufts. The Senior Teaching Fellow will alsobe requiredto complete a mentorship training program (8 hours) inApril and May 2026.

Time Commitment Estimations

The STEM Career Advantage Academy (SCAA) will take place from July 10- August 7, 2026, as a series of 9 synchronous online sessions on Wednesdays and Fridays, noon-4pm ET, for 5 weeks. The Senior Teaching Fellow is expected to attend all sessions.

In addition, the Senior Teaching Fellow can expect to work an average of 5-8 hours per week during the spring semester and in the weeks leading up to the program for pre-program planning. Planning work includes mandatory monthly meetings and 3-4 hours/week of flexible days/times for other planning work.

• Total Program Planning:5-8 hours/ week on program planning; 190 hours estimated beginning in the spring term and in the months leading to the program launch (flexible days/times, mostly remote).This estimate is inclusive of the required mentorship training program in April and May 2026.

Programming Implementation-

The STEM Career Advantage Academy will meet 2 days a week for 5 weeks in the summer of 2026.

The Senior Teaching Fellow can expect to work about 9-10 hours per week during programming, attending all classes and weekly meetings. Given that the program is online, being on-campus to carry out the work isn't required.

• Program Dates:July 10th to August 7th, 2026
• Program Hours:
  
  
  
  • Wednesdays and Fridays 12-4:00 pm
  • 4-6 additional hours/week possible depending on program needs.
  
  
  
  
• Total During Program Implementation: 70 hours estimated

Program Close-

After the program concludes, the Senior Teaching Fellow can expect an additional 5 hours dedicated to a program debrief and closing out the program. These hours can be completed remotely.

• Total Program Close:5 hours estimated

Total Program Implementation:265hours estimated

COMPENSATION

The Senior Teaching Fellow will be paid a total of $10,500 for all efforts required of the program, inclusive of all program preparation and program implementation.

HIGHLIGHTS

Asthe Senior Fellow, you will:

• Gain valuable teaching and mentorship experience
• Develop marketableprogram leadership experience
• Participate in specialized training sessions around mentorship
• Connect with other Teaching Fellows across disciplines

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Work closely with the program founder to refresh existing curriculum. This will include preparing teaching notes, designing assessments, and interviewing industry managers.
• Provide instructional and technological support during the planning and implementation periods of the program. This will include maintaining the course Canvas site, managing break-out rooms during class, and working with course developers to update the pre-work, teaching materials, and assessments.
• Communicate information to students between meetings.
• Work closely with the other members of the team to deliver a seamless experience to the students (e.g. being the backup for the Program Administrator for Zoom administration.)
• Oversee the Personal Narrative Workshop - a key part of the overall program. This includes leading and supporting the program's teaching fellows who will be working directly with students on creating their narratives. It involves critical thinking and problem solving - helping the teaching fellows deal with the challenges of individual students.
• Successful completion of the Teaching Fellow mentoring training

• A current graduate student, postdoc, or teaching faculty.
• Teaching and/or mentoring experience with undergraduate/high school students. Since our students are all STEM students, experience in STEM roles-in jobs or in mentoring STEM students is desirable, though not mandatory.
• Ability to lead a small group of Teaching Fellows in their main task-to help students discover their unique strengths and experiences and then develop a story bank that they can use in guiding new managers and peers in the workplace to appreciate their value.
• Strong organizational and project management skills.
• Proficiency with Powerpoint, Excel, Canvas, and Zoom.
• Ability and commitment to contribute approximately 200 hours of prep work from January 2026 to the beginning of July 2026 and 10 hours/ week availability during programming (July 10- August 7, 2026)
• Ability and commitment to attend mentorship training sessions throughout April and May 2026 (6-8 hours total)
• Approval to join the program by the academic supervisor (if a current student). Applicant must be eligible to engage in this role per any relevant union guidelines that apply to them (this role is not covered by a collective bargaining agreement).
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, along with a genuine interest in mentorship for students entering STEM fields.
• Much of the work will be done remotely. However, being able to meet in-person locally at Tufts University campus in Medford, MA for planning meetings/critical reviews is a plus.

• To apply, please submit your CV and cover letter here by or before Monday, December 1, 2025.
• Starting December 1, the hiring committee will review the applications and invite selected candidates to a 30-minute Zoom meeting to further discuss their interest in the role.
• Once the selection process is completed, the decision (either positive or negative) will be promptly communicated via email to each candidate.
• The fellowship will run from January - August 2026.