Executive Director, Data Engineering & Applied AI

Excelsior University; City of Albany (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Excelsior University seeks an Executive Director of Data Engineering and Applied AI to lead enterprise data strategy, architecture, and AI initiatives. You will steer the Data Engineering team, drive data pipelines, APIs, and analytics platforms, and partner with ADS to advance AI workloads across the university.

You will guide governance, security, and scalable data platforms, ensuring alignment with institutional goals and ethical AI standards, while fostering innovation and operational

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in data engineering, BI, or enterprise data management
• 5+ years in a leadership role with design oversight
• Experience designing and developing enterprise data systems and analytics platforms
• Strong expertise in data architecture, APIs, middleware, and cloud-native solutions
• Experience with SaaS enterprise systems (Banner, Salesforce) and secure integrations
• Knowledge of applied AI/ML within enterprise data environments
• Experience with DevOps, CI/CD, automated testing, and secure SDLC
• Experience implementing data governance and compliance in higher education

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the enterprise data strategy and architecture
• Lead Data Engineering team delivering data services for BI, analytics, and AI workloads
• Oversee data integrations, warehousing, and reporting platforms
• Provide technical leadership for APIs, integration architecture, and data pipelines
• Govern data quality, security, compliance, and accessibility across systems
• Collaborate with ADS to support AI model integration and analytics
• Advance AI-enabled systems aligned with IT infrastructure and governance
• Foster a high-performing engineering culture focused on innovation and service excellence

Skills

Data architecture

APIs

Middleware

Cloud-native

SaaS integrations

AI/ML

DevOps

CI/CD

Data governance

Leadership

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science/Software Engineering/IS/Data Engineering

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

Ellucian Banner

Salesforce

Job description

Excelsior University seeks an Executive Director of Data Engineering and Applied AI to lead enterprise data strategy, architecture, and AI initiatives. You will steer the Data Engineering team, drive data pipelines, APIs, and analytics platforms, and partner with ADS to advance AI workloads across the university.

You will guide governance, security, and scalable data platforms, ensuring alignment with institutional goals and ethical AI standards, while fostering innovation and operational