Programs Director Jobs in Madison, WI (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 masters 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.

The expected salary range for this position is $110,000 up to $140,000 for highly experienced candidates. Actual pay within this range will depend on experience and qualifications.

Employees in this position can expect to receive benefits such as generous vacation, holidays, and sick leave; competitive insurances and savings accounts; retirement benefits. Please review the summary of benefits for more information.

• 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

Click the "Apply" button to start the application process.

Please note when applying, there will beonlyoneattachment field.You must uploadall your documents in the attachment field.

• Resume

• Letter of Qualification

Applicants should attach a letter of qualifications and resume detailing their training and experience relating to the required and preferred qualifications referenced above. The application reviewers will be relying on written application materials to determine which qualified applicants will advance in the recruitment process. The search committee will review all application materials after the posted deadline. We will notify selected applicants to participate further in the selection process directly. References will be requested of final candidates. All applicants will be notified after the search is complete and a candidate has been selected.

• 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.

Lori Ushman, ushman@wisc.edu

Relay Access (WTRS): 7-1-1. SeeRELAY_SERVICEfor further information.

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an Equal OpportunityEmployer.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, including but not limited to, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, or status as a protected veteran and other bases as defined by federal regulations and UW System policies. We promote excellence by acknowledging skills and expertise from all backgroundsand encourage all qualified individuals to apply. For more information regarding applicant and employee rights and to view federal and state required postings, visit the Human Resources Workplace Poster website.

To request a disability or pregnancy-related accommodationfor any step in the hiring process (e.g., application, interview, pre-employment testing, etc.), please contact the Divisional Disability Representative (DDR)in the division you are applying to.Please make your request as soon as possible to help the university respond most effectively to you.

Employment may require a criminal background check. It may also require your references to answer questions regarding misconduct, including sexual violence and sexual harassment.
The University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released. See Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7).
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