President, Big Ten Academic Alliance

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign•Urbana, IL

15h•Hybrid

About The Position

The Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA or “Alliance”), the academic consortium of the Big Ten universities, seeks its next president. Headquartered in Champaign, Illinois, and hosted by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the Alliance has served for more than 65 years as a powerful force for academic collaboration among 18 world-class research universities. Through cooperation, co-investment, and shared innovation, the Big Ten Academic Alliance advances the academic missions of its member institutions and provides a trusted framework for pursuing shared priorities and addressing common challenges. Representing an unparalleled concentration of educational, research, and intellectual capital across its member institutions, the Alliance has served as a place for collective action in advancing knowledge and strengthening institutional excellence. Guided by a vision to provide the most responsive and effective framework for academic collaboration in higher education, the Alliance is a national model for interinstitutional partnership. The president provides overall leadership for the organization, its staff, programs, and infrastructure while serving as a trusted partner to university provosts and other institutional leaders across the consortium. The president helps shape the BTAA’s strategy and future direction, ensuring it remains responsive to members’ needs while leveraging its unique convening power to elevate the collective strengths of member universities. The president will also serve as a champion for the Big Ten overall, articulating a compelling narrative highlighting the excellence, innovation, and impact of its member institutions. Balancing strategic vision with operational excellence, the president will creatively leverage resources and partnerships to advance shared priorities and build upon BTAA’s longstanding record of impact. The successful candidate will be a mission-focused, seasoned, and strategic leader with experience overseeing complex operations and fostering a positive, collaborative, and mission-driven culture. The president will guide the BTAA in delivering meaningful value to member organizations while empowering a talented and deeply committed team to advance its mission and strategic priorities. The president will support staff development, cultivate collaboration across teams and stakeholder groups, and create an environment in which creativity and excellence flourish.

Requirements

Advanced degree.
Senior-level administrative experience at a Research I university, higher education consortium, or similarly complex academic organization.
Demonstrated success leading and developing talented and diverse teams with the ability to foster a culture of accountability, collegiality, and high performance.
Demonstrated success managing complex, high-profile programs, initiatives, or operations.

Nice To Haves

Terminal degree.
Seven years of senior-level administrative experience at a Research I university, higher education consortium, or similarly complex academic organization.
Ability to think strategically, anticipate emerging trends and challenges, and translate vision into action by aligning people, resources, and priorities to advance organizational goals.
Strong operational and financial management skills, including the ability to balance ambitious objectives with available resources and deliver measurable, cost-effective results.
Exceptional judgment, analytical ability, and problem-solving skills, with a track record of making sound decisions in complex environments.
Capacity to build organizational and staff capability, develop future leaders, and create systems and processes that support long-term success.
Collaborative leadership style and demonstrated ability to build consensus, navigate competing interests, and advance shared priorities among diverse stakeholders.
Exceptional communication and relationship-management skills, with the ability to engage a broad range of institutional leaders, stakeholder groups, and external partners in support of shared goals.
Action-oriented approach, including the ability to exercise initiative, adapt to changing circumstances, and lead confidently amid ambiguity.
Commitment to the value of interinstitutional collaboration and the role research universities play in advancing knowledge and serving society.
Understanding of and genuine appreciation for the universities comprising the Big Ten and their academic, research, and public service missions.

Responsibilities

Provide overall leadership for the organization, its staff, programs, and infrastructure.
Serve as a trusted partner to university provosts and other institutional leaders across the consortium.
Shape the BTAA’s strategy and future direction, ensuring it remains responsive to members’ needs.
Leverage the Alliance's unique convening power to elevate the collective strengths of member universities.
Serve as a champion for the Big Ten overall, articulating a compelling narrative highlighting the excellence, innovation, and impact of its member institutions.
Creatively leverage resources and partnerships to advance shared priorities and build upon BTAA’s longstanding record of impact.
Guide the BTAA in delivering meaningful value to member organizations.
Empower a talented and deeply committed team to advance its mission and strategic priorities.
Support staff development, cultivate collaboration across teams and stakeholder groups, and create an environment in which creativity and excellence flourish.
Work closely with the provosts of the Big Ten universities, who serve as the Board of Directors, along with member university leadership and the Big Ten Conference, to advance the Alliance’s mission, goals, and priorities.
Engage with national leaders, including the Big Ten’s presidents/chancellors, to advocate for the interests of their universities and advance issues of importance to higher education.
Help shape the strategic direction of the Alliance, regularly evaluating its portfolio of programs and investments to ensure they remain aligned with member priorities and responsive to a rapidly evolving higher education landscape.
Help member institutions identify opportunities for collective action, build consensus around shared priorities, and translate those priorities into initiatives that advance academic excellence and create value across the Alliance.
Set organizational direction, align resources with strategic goals, and foster a collaborative, high-performing culture.
Recruit, develop, and mentor the team while empowering staff to perform core functions and serve members and stakeholder groups with a high level of professionalism and responsiveness.
Ensure the overall effectiveness and sustainability of the Alliance, stewarding its resources, operations, programs, and financial health to ensure they are aligned with member needs and strategic objectives.
Manage a complex network of relationships and serve as an ambassador for the Alliance, communicating its value to internal and external audiences.
Exercise sound judgment and diplomacy to balance the diverse perspectives and issues of member institutions with the identification of shared priorities and objectives where the Alliance can build capacity across the consortium.