WashU is proud to announce the newly created position of Senior Director of Institutional Effectiveness within the Office of the Provost. This pivotal role will lead and advance the efforts of the Institutional Effectiveness (IE) team, dedicated to delivering top-tier university information and support for decision-making, planning, and continuous improvement. The Senior Director will report to and collaborate closely with the Associate Provost for Institutional Effectiveness to provide strategic leadership and expertise to propel the university's mission and priorities. 

As Senior Director of IE, you will be responsible for overseeing and executing the IE strategic plan, ensuring that institutional research, decision support, assessment, and operations are aligned with our commitment to excellence. Additionally, you will partner with the data governance team to enhance the integrity, accessibility, and strategic use of institutional data. You will also champion data-informed decision-making, fostering strong partnerships across the university to translate data into actionable insights that drive meaningful impact. 

Primary Duties and Responsibilities  

Strategic Leadership

• Implement the IE strategic plan and evaluate the progress towards our strategic objectives.  

• Partner with the associate provost for IE to identify new strategic directions and ensure IE priorities align with the provost's and university leadership's goals.  

• Lead the operations of the IE Office and support the critical functional areas of institutional research, assessment, operations, and decision support.  

• Collaborate closely with the director of data governance to ensure alignment across all of IE and advise the data governance team.  

• Serve as a key member of the IE senior leadership team.  

Management and Talent Development

• Set IE strategy for talent development and helping individuals reach their full potential. Identify and support areas of development for our team members. 

• Develop in-role performance standards and ensure employee growth and success. Ensure performance standards are clearly communicated and monitored.  

Stakeholder Engagement

• Build and sustain partnerships with key leaders, schools, and administrative units across the university to understand the institutional needs and priorities.  

• Identify new opportunities for collaboration and integration across the university.  

• Lead the development of a data community of practice in collaboration with the IE team and other university partners.  

Strategic Advisor 

• Provide consultation on IE efforts and proactively make recommendations to guide strategic decision-making.  

• Support the execution of IE/IR data projects across the team.  

• Provide guidance on utilizing findings to inform policies, programs, and program effectiveness as needed.   

• Represent the associate provost for institutional effectiveness at internal and external meetings, as needed and appropriate.  

Critical Skills, Traits, and Competencies  

• Ability to organize and work effectively in a matrix organization with cross-functional project teams from various units. 

• Demonstrated leadership and management experience in institutional research, planning, assessment, and decision-making. 

• Experience in higher education management roles that include leading and supporting teams and supervising employees. 

• Experience in leading research design, data collection and retrieval, survey design, data visualization, statistical analysis and reporting, and developing an organizational strategy for a research or data analytics business unit that supports senior-level decision-making.  

• Excellent analytical, communication, and presentation skills. 

• Sound planning, organization, and implementation skills. 

• Strong attention to accuracy; mature judgment. 

• Skill in summarizing, translating, and displaying complex data into information useful for senior executives and other stakeholders. 

• Effective at networking and cultivating and sustaining partnerships. 

• Proficiency with office, data management, statistical, and data visualization software 

• Ability to prioritize and manage simultaneous projects and handle complex situations. 

• Must be able to make quick judgments; patience; a sense of humor; positive attitude. 

Qualifications  
Required: Bachelor’s degree and ten years of relevant experience.  

Preferred: Master’s degree and seven years of relevant experience preferred, or equivalent combination of education and experience.  

This position is based in St. Louis and will have a hybrid schedule (not eligible for remote work).