Academic Program Director Jobs (NOW HIRING)

We are seeking an Associate Director to work closely with the Director and Department Administrator. This is an exceptional opportunity for a motivated and accomplished administrator to contribute to the success of one of the nation's leading Information Schools. The successful candidate will bring outstanding collaborative, management, communication, and supervisory skills, along with the ability to navigate a complex and dynamic academic environment. This individual will play a vital role in supporting the department's strategic priorities while fostering a culture of service, professionalism, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

• Management of iSchool programs, assessment/reporting, stewardship/outreach, and institutional collaboration activities. This position involves expertise in supervision of staff, education administration, data-driven planning, budget management, and building and maintaining relationships with students, alumni, community members, and campus partners.
• iSchool Management: the Associate Director coordinates overall student recruiting, admissions, and well‑being across four degree‑granting programs (BA/BS, MA, MS, and PhD) and one non‑degree‑granting continuing/professional education office. Typical responsibilities include production of a combined course timetable each semester, supervision of individual program managers, and coordination with faculty curricular leads.
• Assessment/reporting: the Associate Director directs on‑going assessment and continuous improvement of academic programs and services by guiding the establishment of annual goals, ensuring progress towards goals is met, articulating challenges, and reporting on annual outcomes and achievements for programs/services.
• Stewardship/outreach: the Associate Director supports communication with program alumni and partners in public service and private industry, including donors, employers and board liaisons.
• Institutional collaboration: the Associate Director coordinates interaction with other units and members of the campus community, handling special projects as needed.
• The Associate Director is supervised by the iSchool Director (department chair) and includes direct and indirect supervision of staff members. In addition to working closely with the Director and Department Administrator, the role involves working with the faculty Executive Committee, curriculum committee leads, and other iSchool faculty and staff committee chairs.
  

• Serves as the principal liaison between the program, University leadership, and outside entities
• Evaluates operations and outcomes to ensure alignment with organizational goals
• Formulates program strategies and goals, directs long‑term planning, develops policies and procedures, and establishes and maintains new and emerging program materials
• Collaborates with faculty members to develop student academic programs and agendas, directs implementation, and creates curricular structure including operational and logistical arrangements
• Manages student academic program(s)
• Exercises supervisory authority, including hiring, transferring, suspending, promoting, managing conduct and performance, discharging, assigning, rewarding, disciplining, and/or approving hours worked of at least 2.0 full‑time equivalent (FTE) employees
• Develops the unit budget and approves unit expenditures
• May provide guidance to faculty regarding funding, staffing, and space implications

College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence (CAI), Information School (iSchool)

The Information School (iSchool) has been home to research and teaching that elevates questions of public good, people, and community in relation to computing, data and information for over 100 years. It is in a period of growth, more than doubling its faculty and enrollments over the past five years. It hosts the new Information Science major as well as two professional master's programs and a PhD degree. The iSchool is part of the new College of Computing and Artificial Intelligence which is committed to interdisciplinary and cross‑campus research collaborations, establishment of innovative educational programs in the intersection of computing and other domains, and engagement with high‑impact, real‑world challenges.

Located at the nexus of four beautiful lakes, Madison, the capital of the state of Wisconsin and home to the University of Wisconsin‑Madison, consistently ranks among the top American cities for its quality of life. With the headquarters of medical software company Epic, Microsoft's Jim Gray Systems Lab, Google, and several other technology giants in the area, as well as a strong startup ecosystem, Madison is also among the fastest growing technology hubs in the country.

We are committed to creating an inclusive environment in which all of us - students, staff, and faculty - can thrive. Ours is a community in which we all are welcome. Most importantly, we strive to build a community in which all of us feel a great sense of belonging. There is no excellence without diversity in all its forms; diverse teams are more creative and successful than homogeneous ones. We are better when we are diverse and when we acknowledge, celebrate and honor our diversity. In acknowledging and honoring our diversity, we also assume a responsibility to support and stand up for each other.

• A minimum of 4 years of experience in organizational administration (some examples include: budgeting, curriculum development, course scheduling, management, strategic planning, project planning, and evaluation. These examples are not all-inclusive)
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively
• Demonstrated supervisory experience
  

• Graduate-level degree and/or experience in the governance of a learned society, non‑profit, or higher education organization
• Experience communicating with a range of internal and external stakeholders
• 3 or more years of experience managing full‑time staff
• Familiarity or previous experience in Information, iSchools, or an allied field
  

Bachelor's degree required

The application deadline is 11:59 pm on August 7, 2026.

Please note that successful applicants are responsible for ensuring their eligibility to work in the United States (i.e. a citizen or national of the United States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without need of employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of appointment.