Associate Director for Data & AI Investigations and Partnerships

UM01 University of Maryland College Park (UMCP); College Park (MD); On-site; USD 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

41 days of leave per year

Employer-matched retirement plan

Comprehensive health insurance

Tuition remission

Up to 12 weeks paid parental leave

Job summary

The University of Maryland College Park (UMCP) is seeking an Associate Director for Data & AI Investigations and Partnerships at the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism. This role involves leading innovative data initiatives and managing collaborations for data-driven reporting while integrating AI technologies.

Candidates should possess a Bachelor's degree and a minimum of four years experience in professional journalism, with specific expertise in data journalism. Responsibilities include teaching a hands-on class and overseeing student projects in collaboration with professional news organizations.

Qualifications

• Minimum of four years post-college experience as a professional journalist.
• Experience managing or producing data-driven investigative journalism.
• Teaching and mentoring experience in a university setting.

Responsibilities

• Launch and manage a curated data initiative for journalism.
• Develop reporting collaborations with partners.
• Teach hands-on classes related to data investigations.

Skills

Data journalism experience

Investigative reporting

Project management

Knowledge of AI technologies

Teaching and mentoring

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Job description

Overview

The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, part of the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism, seeks an innovative and collaborative data journalist to serve as Associate Director for Data & AI Investigations and Partnerships. The role will lead new initiatives in data curation, support data-driven reporting partnerships, incorporate AI, and teach a hands‑on class.

Responsibilities

• Launch and manage a new initiative to gather and maintain a curated set of newsworthy data and document collections for journalists and researchers to use.
• Assist the Howard Center director in establishing and managing data‑driven reporting collaborations with professional and academic newsroom partners.
• Manage selected student‑driven investigative data journalism projects in collaboration with professional news organization partners.
• Integrate large language models and other AI technologies responsibly into the investigative reporting workflow.
• Oversee the work of a Howard Center staff member and graduate fellows specializing in investigative data journalism.
• Teach one hands‑on class per year tied to Howard Center data investigations.

Preferred Experience

• Experience producing investigative data journalism as a reporter.
• Experience managing investigative data journalism projects as an editor, project manager or similar role.
• Experience building and maintaining newsworthy databases or document collections for internal newsroom or external partner use, or managing people engaged in that work.
• Experience experimenting with or a demonstrated interest in large language models, agentic systems, machine learning or other AI approaches for investigative reporting.
• Experience establishing or managing editorial collaborations with newsroom partners.
• Teaching and mentoring experience (university‑level teaching, workshops, or informal training of newsroom colleagues).
• Management experience with professionals, interns, or early‑career journalists.
• Interest in storytelling forms tailored to reach new audiences.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree.
• Minimum of four years post‑college experience as a professional journalist, including data journalism experience.

Application Materials

Resume, cover letter explaining interest and alignment with responsibilities and preferred experience, and links to three examples of prior work (data‑driven investigative stories, data products, tools, or teaching materials).

Benefits

• 41 days of leave per year (22 vacation, 3 personal, 16 holidays) and 15 days sick leave.
• Choice of defined‑benefit retirement plan (state pension) or defined‑contribution plan with employer match.
• State of Maryland insurance for healthcare, prescription drugs, dental, vision, term life, accidental death, long‑term disability.
• Tuition remission for you and dependents.
• Up to 12 weeks paid parental leave.

EEO Statement

University of Maryland, College Park is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment. Please read the University’s Equal Employment Opportunity Statement of Policy.