Executive Director, AI Institute

Paycom - ATS; Fort Wayne (IN); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Indiana Tech seeks a visionary leader to serve as Executive Director of the AI Institute. The role will provide strategic direction, oversee curriculum redesign, and coordinate a multidisciplinary team to advance responsible AI adoption in higher education.

The position requires a master’s degree plus seven years of leadership experience in higher education, with strong budgeting, grant-management, and stakeholder engagement skills across academic and administrative units.

Qualifications

• Master's degree or higher in a related field with seven+ years of leadership in higher education.
• Experience supervising professional staff and managing budgets/personnel.
• Strong understanding of generative AI technologies, risks, and compliance (FERPA, GLBA, data governance).
• Experience administering grant-funded programs and reporting to funders.
• Ability to translate complex technical and compliance matters for diverse audiences.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic vision and operational leadership for Indiana Tech AI Institute.
• Oversee the faculty AI-development pipeline from awareness to curriculum execution.
• Budget oversight, milestone tracking, and funder reporting; manage budgets and grants.
• Build regional partnerships with employers, community organizations, and funders.
• Represent AI Institute to governing bodies and external stakeholders; chair Advisory Board.

Skills

Leadership experience

Budget management

Strategic planning

Executive communication

Education

Master's degree in higher education administration or related field

Doctoral degree preferred

Job description

Job Details

Job Location: Fort Wayne Campus - Fort Wayne, IN 46803, Position Type: Full Time, Education Level: Doctorate Degree Preferred, Job Category: Artificial Intelligence, Indiana Tech is a thriving, independent, teaching-oriented university that delivers career-oriented programming in a wide variety of disciplines that includes business, engineering, computer sciences, criminal justice, cybersecurity, marketing, health sciences, communication and helping professions. Indiana Tech enrolls nearly 1,500 students in its traditional undergraduate programs on its picturesque main campus, and nearly 5,000 students in its adult and online program. We offer degrees at the associate, bachelor’s, master's, and doctoral levels and undergraduate and graduate certificates.

Company Culture and Diversity

Over 41% of our students are either globally or domestically diverse; this contributes to our unique vibrant and inclusive campus community. All academic programs are designed to provide students with relevant and practical experiences, including an emphasis on internships. The university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission.

Indiana Tech is committed to fostering a welcoming and respectful environment for all. We actively support the recruitment, engagement, and retention of students, faculty, and staff from a wide range of experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives. We believe that creating a sense of connection and support across our campus community plays an essential role in preparing students to succeed and contribute in a global society.

Indiana Tech has big plans for its future. Learn more at Indiana Tech Strategic Plan or strategicplan.indianatech.edu.

Executive Director of the AI Institute

Indiana Tech is seeking a visionary, collaborative, and results-driven leader to serve as its Executive Director of the AI Institute. Reporting to the Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Executive Director will provide strategic vision and operational leadership for Indiana Tech’s AI Institute. This position will build a coordinated pathway that moves faculty, staff, and students from AI awareness to hands-on curriculum redesign while positioning Indiana Tech as a regional leader in the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence in higher education.

The Executive Director will establish the Institute’s strategic vision, annual priorities, and multi-year roadmap in alignment with Indiana Tech’s Strategic Plan and the AIHE grant. This leader will oversee the Institute’s faculty AI-development pipeline, spanning awareness, coaching, and curriculum execution, and will supervise a multidisciplinary team responsible for AI readiness, faculty strategy, curriculum design and integration, regional partnerships, and intelligent institutional operations.

The Executive Director will serve as principal administrator for the AIHE grant, with responsibility for budget oversight, milestone tracking, funder reporting, and renewal or expansion proposals. This position will also oversee the Institute’s operating and grant budgets and establish shared metrics and reporting tools that clearly communicate progress across the AI-development pipeline.

As the Institute’s principal liaison to the University AI Council, the Executive Director will ensure that programs, tools, and data practices align with Indiana Tech’s Artificial Intelligence Policy and applicable FERPA, GLBA, and data-governance obligations. This leader will convene and chair an AI Institute Advisory Board composed of academic deans, faculty, Information Technology, and Human Resources representatives to establish priorities and review new AI tools before campus-wide implementation.

The Executive Director will build regional employer and community partnerships, represent the AI Institute to grantors, accreditors, and external funders, and monitor the national AI-in-higher-education landscape to inform institutional priorities. Additional responsibilities include leading change-management and communication efforts, publishing an annual “State of AI at Indiana Tech” report, sponsoring a faculty AI fellows or seed-grant program, and supporting the hiring, onboarding, and performance management of Institute employees.

Required Skills and Experience

The successful candidate will possess a master’s degree in higher education administration, educational technology, computer science, artificial intelligence, business, or a related field. Candidates must have at least seven years of progressively responsible leadership experience in higher education, including experience supervising professional staff and managing budgets and personnel.

Candidates must demonstrate a strong understanding of generative AI technologies, their applications in higher education, and the related risks and compliance considerations, including FERPA, GLBA, and data governance. The position requires the ability to balance innovation with responsible technology adoption and to translate complex technical, academic, and compliance matters for varied institutional audiences.

Experience administering grant-funded programs, including budget oversight and funder reporting, is required. Candidates must also have experience developing partnerships with external organizations, such as employers, community organizations, or regional and national networks.

The successful candidate will possess outstanding written, verbal, and executive presentation skills and be prepared to represent Indiana Tech with external partners and interested parties. Candidates must demonstrate the ability to build consensus and advance complex initiatives across academic and administrative units with competing priorities.

Preferred Skills and Experience

A doctoral degree in higher education administration, educational technology, computer science, artificial intelligence, business, or a related field is preferred.

Preferred candidates will have experience leading institutional AI, educational technology, or digital-transformation initiatives. Experience working with or reporting to institutional governance and policy bodies, such as data-governance or AI-governance committees, is also preferred.

Additional preferred experience includes leading organizational change associated with emerging technologies, developing institution-wide professional learning initiatives, supporting responsible AI adoption, and building partnerships that connect higher education with employer and community needs.

Opportunity and Impact

This is an exciting opportunity for a forward-thinking leader to shape the strategy, infrastructure, and culture surrounding artificial intelligence at Indiana Tech. The Executive Director will help faculty, staff, and students develop confidence and competency in using AI, support the redesign of courses and academic programs, strengthen regional partnerships, and establish the systems needed for ethical, secure, and sustainable AI adoption.

Success will be reflected in the achievement of AIHE grant milestones; growth in faculty and staff AI readiness; the number of courses and programs redesigned with AI integration; regional partnership agreements and their workforce impact; compliance reviews completed without significant findings; faculty, staff, and student satisfaction; and the successful publication of the annual “State of AI at Indiana Tech” report.

Why Indiana Tech?

Indiana Tech is a private, nonprofit university committed to career-focused education, innovation, collaboration, and student success. The Executive Director will join a mission-focused academic leadership team and have the opportunity to guide the responsible use of an emerging technology that will influence teaching, learning, workforce preparation, and institutional operations.