Executive Director of Institutional Research & Strategic Analytics

Position Summary

The Executive Director of Institutional Research & Strategic Analytics serves as the University’s lead strategist for institutional data, analytics, and rankings performance. Reporting to the Vice Provost for Academic Operations, this role provides executive-level leadership for institutional research, official reporting, and enterprise analytics in support of the Provost and senior leadership.

The Executive Director ensures the University’s institutional reporting, analytics capabilities, and performance metrics advance strategic priorities, strengthen competitive positioning in national and global rankings, and inform high-level decision-making across academic and administrative units.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as principal advisor to the Provost’s Office and senior leadership on institutional performance, rankings strategy, benchmarking, and competitive positioning.
• Led institutional rankings strategy, including analysis of methodologies, scenario modeling, and identification of high-impact improvement levers.
• Translate the University’s strategic priorities into measurable performance indicators and executive-ready insights.
• Provide forward-looking analyses and predictive modeling to inform academic planning, student success initiatives, faculty hiring, research performance, and resource allocation decisions.
• Prepare high-impact dashboards, executive briefings, and data narratives for senior leadership and the Board of Trustees.
• Provide overall leadership and direction for the Institutional Research office, including prioritization of analytic work and development of staff capacity.
• Oversee submission of all official institutional data to federal and state agencies, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and consistency.
• Maintain deep expertise in evolving reporting standards and national/global ranking methodologies and proactively assess institutional implications.
• Partner with institutional stakeholders such as Information Technology Services, Budget Office, Global Affairs, Human Resources, Enrollment, Registrar, Institutional Insights & Innovation (i3), and others to align reporting processes, strengthen data governance practices, and improve analytic tools.
• Promote data-informed decision-making and consistent data definitions across academic and administrative units.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mathematics, statistics, data science/analytics, public policy, economics, or a related field.
• Minimum of 8 years of progressively responsible experience in higher education, with a focus on directing institutional research, analytics, strategic planning, or a related field.
• Minimum of 5 years of supervising a complex quantitative department.
• Demonstrated experience overseeing complex modeling, institutional reporting and external data submissions.
• Demonstrated quantitative/analytical expertise and the ability to translate complex data into clear, actionable insights for executive audiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree in a related field.
• Experience leading rankings strategy at a research-intensive institution.
• Experience developing enterprise dashboards and predictive analytics tools in partnership with IT or data teams.