Executive Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness

Commonwealth of Massachusetts•Merrick, NY

1d•$125,000 - $131,000

About The Position

POSITION: Full-Time Executive Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness (Executive Director): Institutional Research and Effectiveness; Haverhill Campus;; 37.5 hours per week; Non-Unit Professional Position. SUMMARY: The Executive Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness manages a team of four, the college's reporting and data analytics portfolio, a suite of technology systems, and is the owner of the college's Data Governance initiative. The Executive Director also provides institution-wide leadership for accreditation coordination, strategic data use, and the responsible adoption of emerging technologies in support of informed decision-making and continuous improvement. Additionally, the Executive Director ensures ongoing institutional assessment and guides the implementation and evolution of the college's strategic plan. This position reports to the Vice President of Institutional Advancement and serves on the Leadership Cabinet.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in a relevant field such as information systems, statistics, mathematics, data analytics, business, or a related discipline.
Minimum of seven years of progressively responsible professional experience, including at least five years in institutional research, analytics, assessment, or a closely related function, with demonstrated experience leading teams or complex portfolios.
Demonstrated leadership experience overseeing professional staff and managing multiple, concurrent priorities in a complex organizational environment.
Working knowledge of application implementations, upgrades, or major system enhancements.
Strong understanding of enterprise systems and data ecosystems (e.g., ERP, CRM, CMS) and the ability to guide effective use of tools and platforms within an institutional research and effectiveness context.
Understanding of data management and data governance and its relationship across all campus constituencies.
Demonstrated experience supporting institutional planning, assessment, or accreditation-related work through data, analysis, and coordinated reporting.
Excellent skills in telling a data story in a concise and effective fashion for technical and non-technical audiences.
Ability to problem-solve using appropriate statistical and analytical methodologies.
Willingness and ability to investigate, learn, and initiate new processes, technologies, and analytical tools.
Demonstrated ability to think strategically about data?asking meaningful questions, identifying patterns and gaps, and translating analysis into actionable insights for institutional improvement.
Proven ability to build consensus and work effectively within cross-functional teams for the purpose of planning and execution.
Propensity to meet tight deadlines regularly and manage work across overlapping timelines.
Ability to learn new systems quickly and effectively.
Demonstrated ability to work effectively with ethnically, culturally, and socially diverse populations in a multi-campus environment.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in a related field.
Direct experience leading or significantly supporting strategic planning processes, including development, implementation, assessment, and transition to a subsequent planning cycle.
Experience serving in a leadership role related to accreditation (e.g., NECHE), including coordination of evidence, narratives, timelines, and cross-functional contributors.
Experience with Modern Campus Lifelong Learning (fka Destiny One), Navigate, and Banner.
Experience with a data warehouse and/or business intelligence system(s).
Experience providing technical or systems-level guidance to maximize the effective use of data platforms, dashboards, and analytics tools within an institutional research or effectiveness office.
Experience with ZogoTech Data Warehouse.
Experience implementing or advancing data governance strategies.
Experience building customer lifecycle models or longitudinal student outcomes frameworks.
Experience developing data frameworks to capture drivers of student, employee, or customer experience.
Experience piloting, evaluating, or scaling emerging technologies (including AI-enabled tools) in administrative or planning contexts.
Bilingual (Spanish/English).
Experience working with and supporting a culturally diverse population.

Responsibilities

Demonstrate strong data curiosity and analytical leadership by proactively exploring institutional data, asking critical questions, identifying trends and gaps, and uncovering opportunities for assessment, improvement, and innovation beyond standard reporting requirements.
Provide strategic leadership for the responsible and effective use of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies on the staff and administrative side of the college, identifying opportunities to improve efficiency, data analysis, planning, and institutional effectiveness.
Partner with college leaders to take an entrepreneurial yet pragmatic approach to AI adoption, including piloting tools, evaluating impact, and scaling practices that demonstrably enhance institutional operations while remaining aligned with institutional values, ethics, and compliance expectations.
Serve as the central coordinator for the college's work related to New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) accreditation, operating within a hub-and-spoke model that brings together content experts across the institution to ensure timely, accurate, and well-integrated reports, narratives, and evidence.
Act as both project manager and data lead for NECHE-related efforts, aligning institutional data, assessment results, and strategic priorities with accreditation standards and reporting requirements.
Manage IE Team workflow, deadlines, and requests from stakeholders (internal and external).
Provide leadership, coaching, and professional development for the Institutional Effectiveness team to ensure high-quality, timely, and impactful work.
Serve as principal project manager and determine prioritization for Data Governance.
Collaborate with college-wide stakeholders to improve processes with data and assessment.
Serve as subject matter expert (SME) for the college's data portfolio and relevant projects happening in sector-specific areas.
Lead strategic work with Achieving the Dream (ATD).
Collaborate with college-wide stakeholders on annual Community Impact Report.
Lead all qualitative research conducted by IE Office.
Represent the IE on college committees and working groups, and with external partners to ensure data needs are considered as new initiatives develop, and that once collected data is accessible, comprehensible, and actionable to those groups (e.g., DHE Data Council, Non-Credit HEIRS team).
Assist Grants Development Office in ensuring effective data reporting for sponsor requirements.
Provide leadership to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) process
Lead the college's progress towards building a culture of assessment and informed improvement by establishing baseline and progressive metrics related to ongoing and developing initiatives, built on a deep understanding of best practices for assessment at all levels within the institution.
Create data-driven, institution-wide assessment practices to support accreditation and continuous improvement at the institution, division, and program levels.
Collaborate with each area of the college to establish processes for using data to measure progress towards strategic goals and implementing changes to ensure continued growth.
Create a system for monitoring the effects of policy change based on student- and institution-level data.
Collaborate with directors and deans across the college to promote and ensure ongoing use of strategic planner, strategic planning rubric, and overall prioritization of strategic goals.
Oversee strategic work with campus stakeholders on development of goals and metrics as well planning tools that inform budgets, evaluations, etc.
Measure progress toward strategic goals and provide leadership for subsequent strategic planning processes.