Executive Director, Global Business, Northeastern University – NYC

Northeastern University•Oakland, CA

1d•$172,845 - $250,628•Onsite

About The Position

Founded in 1898, Northeastern is a global research university and a world leader in experiential learning. The university offers a comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate programs leading to degrees through the doctorate in nine colleges and schools. Our Global University System consisting of fourteen campuses across North America and in the UK are platforms for undergraduate and graduate learning and collaborative research. Northeastern's signature cooperative education model integrates rigorous academic study with professional experience, producing graduates who are career-ready from day one. Reporting to the Dean of the D'Amore-McKim School of Business (DMSB), and working in close partnership with the Dean of US Degree Programs at Northeastern University London, the Executive Director of Global Business is the founding academic leader charged with building and scaling Northeastern's next-generation business degree: one program delivered across two continents, designed for a future in which competitive advantage comes from human capability — not technical knowledge alone. The Bachelor of Global Business is a transformative degree in which students move between New York and London as a core feature of the degree, not a study-abroad add-on, developing expertise across business, design, technology, creativity, entrepreneurship, and AI along the way. The centerpiece of the degree is a sequence of four required, progressive, cross-year Studios — Foundations, Innovation Lab, Strategy & Implementation, and Leadership & Transformation — each co-taught by one business faculty member and one design/arts faculty member, and each replacing select traditional core courses under an AACSB-compliant, competency-based assessment model. This business design/arts co-teaching model sits at the heart of every studio, and the Executive Director must bring a proven ability to lead cross-college collaboration, building shared ownership between business and design/arts faculty as they design and deliver much of the curriculum together. Beyond the studios, students pursue an I3 studio (a specialization studio, paired with two required electives) in areas such as media and entertainment, fashion and luxury marketing, fintech, global supply chain, and tech and AI leadership — taken at either campus, and serving as the degree's primary vehicle for cross-campus mobility. This is a significant program-building opportunity within Northeastern's global network: a chance to lead the design of an AI-native, studio-based, portfolio-assessed business degree from its earliest working skeleton through launch, in close and continuous partnership with Northeastern University – London. The ideal candidate is energized by building something that does not yet exist — a business education organized around real industry partners, experiential studios, and demonstrated capability rather than a conventional course list — and is comfortable operating amid genuinely open questions about curriculum, concentrations, and market positioning as the program takes shape. The Executive Director will lead the program from its current prototype stage through launch, finalizing the first so-called “I3 (Imagination/Ideation/Innovation) Studio” concentrations, building out the competency-based core curriculum, standing up the industry liaison and studio-partner infrastructure, and ensuring the degree is clearly differentiated from the BSBA in the market from day one.

Requirements

Doctorate or terminal degree (e.g., PhD, DBA) in business, management, entrepreneurship, or a closely related field
Significant academic leadership experience, including service at the level of Program Director, Associate Dean, Department Chair, or equivalent, with demonstrated responsibility for curriculum design, faculty leadership, and budget oversight
Demonstrated experience building or launching new academic programs, ideally programs involving experiential, studio-based, project-based, or competency-based pedagogy
Experience operating in an international or multi-campus higher education environment, ideally including direct familiarity with both US and UK academic structures
Experience navigating AACSB or comparable business accreditation processes, particularly where non-traditional curricular models (e.g., studios or labs replacing standard courses) require close attention to competency documentation
Track record of building industry partnerships and employer engagement in business, technology, media, or entrepreneurial sectors
Deep understanding of studio-based, project-based, and portfolio-assessed curriculum design, including how to structure competency-based course groupings in place of traditional single-subject courses
Familiarity with AACSB accreditation standards and the documentation required to substitute studios or labs for required core courses
Knowledge of AI-native curriculum design — embedding AI fluency, supervision, and strategic application throughout coursework rather than isolating it in a single class
Understanding of experiential and industry-integrated learning models, including co-op education and alternative experiential-semester structures
Familiarity with two-campus (or multi-campus) degree mobility design, including how cultural, regulatory, and market differences between locations shape a shared curriculum
Understanding of the competitive landscape for innovative business degrees, and the market dynamics differentiating a next-generation program from a traditional BSBA or BSIB
Visionary leadership presence with the ability to articulate a compelling identity for a genuinely new kind of business degree, and to inspire faculty, staff, students, and industry partners around a shared mission
Proven ability to lead cross-college collaboration — particularly the business/design-arts co-teaching model at the heart of every studio — building shared ownership between DMSB and CAMD faculty
Experience building and sustaining partnerships with employers who sponsor project work, embed practitioners, and hire graduating talent
Ability to work effectively in a matrixed, multi-campus environment, with close coordination with Northeastern University London leadership and alignment with Northeastern's central academic and administrative leadership
Demonstrated track record of faculty recruitment, development, and retention, including staffing co-teaching faculty pairs across disciplines
Strong financial acumen and experience managing program budgets tied to enrollment growth and phased program launches
Exceptional communicator and relationship builder, with the interpersonal range to engage credibly with prospective students and families, faculty across two colleges and two campuses, industry partners, and Northeastern's senior leadership
Demonstrated commitment to belonging efforts and to building an inclusive academic community across business, creative, and design disciplines

Responsibilities

Serve as the founding academic leader of Global Business in NYC, establishing the new bachelor’s degree as Northeastern's next-generation, AI-native business degree and the successor to the BS in International Business in New York.
Own the four-studio progressive architecture (Foundations, Innovation Lab, Strategy & Implementation, Leadership & Transformation) as the centerpiece of the degree, ensuring each studio is problem-based, cross-year, co-taught by business and design/arts faculty, and builds toward a coherent student portfolio rather than a traditional transcript.
Ensure AI fluency, human-centered leadership, cultural intelligence, and systems thinking are embedded throughout every studio, module, and assessment — not confined to a single course.
Lead the design of the competency-grouped business core (e.g., Business Foundations, Innovation & Tech Leadership, Data-Driven Management & Strategic Decision Making, Global Business & Multinational Organizations) in place of traditional single-subject courses.
Finalize and launch the initial I3 Lab concentrations (e.g., media and entertainment, fashion and luxury marketing, fintech and investments, global supply chain, tech and AI leadership, and others under consideration), each paired with two required electives.
Clearly differentiate the Bachelor of Global Business from the BSBA in curriculum, student-facing materials, and admissions messaging.
Work in close, ongoing partnership with the Dean of US Degree Programs at Northeastern University London to ensure the degree functions as a genuine two-continent program rather than two parallel offerings.
Coordinate I3 Lab availability, studio quality, and concentration equivalence across both campuses, recognizing that shared concentration names may carry a location-specific flavor (e.g., media and entertainment in London versus New York).
Oversee the primary cross-campus mobility mechanism — an I3 Lab taken at the partner campus alongside Studio 3 or 4 — and ensure students can move seamlessly between New York and London without disruption to their studio progression or portfolio development.
Build and lead a portfolio of named industry and community partners who sponsor studio projects across all four years, place embedded practitioners on 6–8 week engagements, and contribute mentors, guest speakers, and 360-style feedback alongside faculty and peers.
Establish and oversee a dedicated liaison role, modeled on the co-op office, to source and manage external partners each semester.
Cultivate deeper-tier partnerships — co-developing curriculum, embedding tools and case studies, placing staff in the classroom, and establishing a campus presence — consistent with the program's tiered industry partner model.
Oversee the competitive Experiential Semester model as the degree's primary alternative to a traditional co-op, including placements with Northeastern-affiliated startups, campus productions, venture studios, and Studio Manager or Studio Director roles managing a Studio 1 or 2 team.
Maintain the Studio Manager (year 3) to Studio Director (year 4) leadership progression as a credited, non-TA role.
Continue to support traditional co-op as a parallel path, and advise students on the trade-offs between paid co-op and unpaid, 16-credit Experiential Semesters.
Recruit, pair, and develop the co-teaching faculty model at the heart of every studio — one business faculty member and one design/arts faculty member per studio — in partnership with the College of Arts, Media and Design (CAMD).
Ensure studio-based competency assessment is documented to the standard required for AACSB accreditation, given that studios replace select required core courses.
Track enrollment, retention, and post-graduation outcomes; manage the program's operating budget; and prepare regular performance updates for Northeastern's academic and administrative leadership.