Open Rank Professor of Accounting (Non-Tenure Track) — Analytics, Technology & Advisory

Merrimack College; Massachusetts; On-site; USD 80,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Merrimack College's Girard School of Business invites applications for a full-time, open-rank faculty position in Accounting beginning Fall 2027. The role emphasizes AI, analytics, automation, and evolving professional practices, seeking candidates with industry experience and a dedication to teaching and engagement.

The successful candidate will contribute to the MS in Accounting and undergraduate programs, build external partnerships, and help shape experiential learning and industry

Responsibilities

• Teach undergraduate and graduate Accounting courses
• Develop and differentiate the MS in Accounting program
• Keep curricula aligned with changing professional practice and technology
• Maintain an active program of applied scholarship and thought leadership
• Build relationships with accounting firms and external partners
• Translate practice challenges into opportunities for learning
• Mentor students and involve them in research projects
• Contribute to the Girard School and Merrimack College
• Support the Center for the Future of Work and Applied Industry Labs

Job description

Merrimack College is a selective, private college in a beautiful,residential setting — just minutes from Boston,Massachusetts.

Position Overview

The Girard School ofBusiness at Merrimack College invites applications for a full-time,open-rank faculty position in Accounting beginning in Fall2027.

The Girard School is seeking a faculty member who can help shapethe future of accounting education and applied scholarship asartificial intelligence, analytics, automation, and evolvingprofessional practices change both the work accountants perform andthe value they provide to organizations. We are particularlyinterested in candidates who combine meaningful professional orindustry experience with a strong commitment to teaching,scholarship, and external engagement.

This position is part of a broader strategic investment in faculty,academic programs, research, experiential learning, and industryengagement within the Girard School. The successful candidate willhave a significant opportunity to help shape the continuedevolution and differentiation of the School’s M.S. in Accounting,while contributing to undergraduate Accounting education and theSchool’s growing network of experiential and industrypartnerships.

The Girard School believes the next generation of accountingeducation must extend beyond technical preparation alone. Astechnology assumes a greater role in routine accounting, analysis,and compliance activities—and as pathways to CPA licensure continueto evolve—graduate accounting education has an opportunity toprepare professionals for increasingly important roles in advisoryservices, analytics, risk, technology, strategic decision support,and organizational leadership. The successful candidate will helpMerrimack explore and develop this next generation of accountingeducation while maintaining the strong technical foundationessential to the profession.

Responsibilities

• Teach undergraduate and graduate Accounting courses consistentwith the candidate’s expertise and the needs of the GirardSchool;
• Play a meaningful role in the continued development anddifferentiation of the M.S. in Accounting, including opportunitiesto expand graduate education in advisory services, analytics,artificial intelligence, technology, risk, and strategic decisionsupport;
• Help ensure that Accounting curricula remain responsive tochanges in professional practice, technology, employer needs, andpathways into the profession;
• Maintain an active program of applied scholarship and thoughtleadership focused on consequential problems facing organizationsand industries. Relevant outputs may include applied research,white papers, industry reports, case studies, conferencepresentations, practitioner publications, and other scholarly orprofessional work that advances knowledge and informspractice;
• Develop and sustain relationships with accounting firms,corporate accounting and finance functions, advisory organizations,and other external partners that can support research, experientiallearning, cooperative education, and student engagement;
• Translate challenges emerging from professional practice intoopportunities for faculty research, student projects, cases,simulations, and other forms of applied learning;
• Mentor undergraduate and graduate students and engage studentsmeaningfully in research and applied projects;
• Contribute to the intellectual life, service, and strategicdevelopment of the Girard School and Merrimack College;
• Where appropriate to the candidate’s scholarly and professionalinterests, contribute to the developing Center for the Future ofWork and related Applied Industry Labs.

Qualifications

We are especially interested incandidates who are comfortable operating across academic andprofessional environments—individuals who understand the changingaccounting profession, can identify important questions emergingfrom practice, study those questions rigorously, and translatetheir expertise into relevant teaching and studentexperiences.

The Girard School welcomes candidates whose careers have crossedtraditional boundaries between industry and academia, includingaccomplished accounting professionals, executives, consultants, andsenior practitioners who have developed or are developing asubstantive scholarly and teaching agenda.

Relevant areas of scholarly and professional interest may include,but are not limited to:

• accounting analytics and data-driven decision-making;
• artificial intelligence and automation in accounting;
• advisory and consulting services;
• accounting technology and digital transformation;
• strategic decision support;
• risk management and internal controls;
• assurance and emerging forms of assurance;
• technology governance and responsible use of AI;
• financial analysis and organizational performance;
• the changing role and skills of accounting professionals;and
• taxation, particularly where it intersects with technology,analytics, advisory services, or organizationaldecision-making.

Required Qualifications

• A doctorate or appropriate terminal degree in Accounting,Business Administration, or a closely related field by the time ofappointment.
• Demonstrated ability or strong potential to teach effectivelyat the undergraduate and graduate levels.
• Evidence of an active or emerging scholarly agenda, appropriateto the candidate’s career stage, with interest in producing appliedscholarship that addresses consequential organizational, market, orindustry challenges.
• Demonstrated interest in engaging professional organizationsand translating real-world challenges into scholarship and/orstudent learning.

Preferred Qualifications

• Significant professional experience in public accounting,advisory or consulting services, corporate accounting,controllership, accounting technology, risk, assurance, taxation,or related areas.
• Experience applying analytics, artificial intelligence,automation, or emerging technologies to accounting andorganizational problems.
• Experience in advisory, consulting, or other roles requiringaccountants to translate financial and nonfinancial informationinto organizational decisions.
• Experience contributing to the development, redesign, ordelivery of graduate or professional education.
• CPA or other relevant professional certification.
• A record of applied research, thought leadership, professionalpresentations, or other work that bridges scholarship andpractice.
• Experience developing relationships across professionalpractice, industry, and academia.
• Interest in building new programs, research initiatives,partnerships, or experiential-learning models.

Application Materials Should Include

• Curriculum vitae
• Cover letter stating motivation and interest in the position,citing experience relevant to the qualifications and experienceassociated with key responsibilities for the position includingteaching philosophy and evaluations.
• Contact information for three professional references (name,title, address, phone number, email address). References will becontacted only at a later stage of the search process.

Compensation

The expected 9-month base salary rangefor the Assistant Professor or Assistant Professor of Practice rankis $100,000-$125,000; for the Associate Professor or AssociateProfessor of Practice $125,000,000-$140,000; for the Professor orProfessor of Practice $140,000-$160,000. The actual pay offered tothe selected candidate will be determined based on factors such as,but not limited to, candidate qualifications and prior experience,scope of responsibilities, internal equity, and marketconsiderations.

Work Location

This is an on-campus position asemployees are essential in order to provide a fully on-campus,residential college experience for our students and thecommunity.

This position is subject to the successful completion of a criminalbackground check.

Statement on Our Mission

Merrimack College is aCatholic Augustinian institution of higher education committed tobuilding an accepting and respectful community. Our mission is toenlighten minds, engage hearts and empower lives and is inspired byour Catholic faith and the Augustinian tradition of seeking truththrough inquiry and dialogue.

Merrimack College seeks candidates who understand, respect, and cancontribute to Merrimack’s Catholic and Augustinian mission. Allcandidates should describe in their application how they willfoster a culture that supports our mission.

About Merrimack College

The only Catholic, Augustinianinstitution of higher education in New England, Merrimack Collegeis a private, independent, coeducational institution with more than4,100 undergraduate, 2,500 graduate students and 50 doctoralstudents from 48 states and 63 countries. The College features morethan 160 career-focused undergraduate, professional and graduateprograms, all taught by exceptional faculty who are passionateabout their subject and student success. The College has sixschools: arts and sciences, engineering and computational sciences,nursing and health sciences, education and social policy, theGirard school of business and the graduate school of counseling andsocial work. The College’s suburban 220-acre campus is just northof Boston in North Andover, Massachusetts. Merrimack is a Master’sColleges and Universities/Larger Programs (M1) institution in theCarnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.Merrimack is one of the fastest growing educational institutions inthe country and has steadily climbed up in the U.S. News &World Report’s ranking of Best Colleges, ranking 38th in theRegional Universities North category in 2026. Merrimack is a NCAADivision I athletic institution.

Merrimack College is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Salary Range

$80,000

- $160,000