Commonwealth of Massachusetts · 14 hours ago
Executive Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness
United States-Massachusetts-Haverhill - 100 Elliot Street
Full-time
Onsite
Director/Executive
$125K/yr - $131K/yr
7+ years expNorthern Essex Community College is dedicated to serving a diverse student body and fostering an innovative organizational culture. The Executive Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness will lead a team in managing data analytics and reporting, ensuring effective use of technology for strategic planning and continuous improvement across the institution.
Government Administration
Responsibilities
Demonstrate strong data curiosity and analytical leadership by proactively exploring institutional data, asking critical questions, identifying trends and gaps, and uncovering opportunities for assessment, improvement, and innovation beyond standard reporting requirements
Provide strategic leadership for the responsible and effective use of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies on the staff and administrative side of the college, identifying opportunities to improve efficiency, data analysis, planning, and institutional effectiveness
Partner with college leaders to take an entrepreneurial yet pragmatic approach to AI adoption, including piloting tools, evaluating impact, and scaling practices that demonstrably enhance institutional operations while remaining aligned with institutional values, ethics, and compliance expectations
Serve as the central coordinator for the college's work related to New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) accreditation, operating within a hub-and-spoke model that brings together content experts across the institution to ensure timely, accurate, and well-integrated reports, narratives, and evidence
Act as both project manager and data lead for NECHE-related efforts, aligning institutional data, assessment results, and strategic priorities with accreditation standards and reporting requirements
Manage IE Team workflow, deadlines, and requests from stakeholders (internal and external)
Provide leadership, coaching, and professional development for the Institutional Effectiveness team to ensure high-quality, timely, and impactful work
Serve as principal project manager and determine prioritization for Data Governance
Collaborate with college-wide stakeholders to improve processes with data and assessment
Serve as subject matter expert (SME) for the college's data portfolio and relevant projects happening in sector-specific areas
Lead strategic work with Achieving the Dream (ATD)
Collaborate with college-wide stakeholders on annual Community Impact Report
Lead all qualitative research conducted by IE Office
Represent the IE on college committees and working groups, and with external partners to ensure data needs are considered as new initiatives develop, and that once collected data is accessible, comprehensible, and actionable to those groups (e.g., DHE Data Council, Non-Credit HEIRS team)
Assist Grants Development Office in ensuring effective data reporting for sponsor requirements
Provide leadership to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) process
Lead the college's progress towards building a culture of assessment and informed improvement by establishing baseline and progressive metrics related to ongoing and developing initiatives, built on a deep understanding of best practices for assessment at all levels within the institution
Create data-driven, institution-wide assessment practices to support accreditation and continuous improvement at the institution, division, and program levels
Collaborate with each area of the college to establish processes for using data to measure progress towards strategic goals and implementing changes to ensure continued growth
Create a system for monitoring the effects of policy change based on student- and institution-level data
Collaborate with directors and deans across the college to promote and ensure ongoing use of strategic planner, strategic planning rubric, and overall prioritization of strategic goals
Oversee strategic work with campus stakeholders on development of goals and metrics as well planning tools that inform budgets, evaluations, etc
Measure progress toward strategic goals and provide leadership for subsequent strategic planning processes
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's degree in a relevant field such as information systems, statistics, mathematics, data analytics, business, or a related discipline
Minimum of seven years of progressively responsible professional experience, including at least five years in institutional research, analytics, assessment, or a closely related function, with demonstrated experience leading teams or complex portfolios
Demonstrated leadership experience overseeing professional staff and managing multiple, concurrent priorities in a complex organizational environment
Working knowledge of application implementations, upgrades, or major system enhancements
Strong understanding of enterprise systems and data ecosystems (e.g., ERP, CRM, CMS) and the ability to guide effective use of tools and platforms within an institutional research and effectiveness context
Understanding of data management and data governance and its relationship across all campus constituencies
Demonstrated experience supporting institutional planning, assessment, or accreditation-related work through data, analysis, and coordinated reporting
Excellent skills in telling a data story in a concise and effective fashion for technical and non-technical audiences
Ability to problem-solve using appropriate statistical and analytical methodologies
Willingness and ability to investigate, learn, and initiate new processes, technologies, and analytical tools
Demonstrated ability to think strategically about data?asking meaningful questions, identifying patterns and gaps, and translating analysis into actionable insights for institutional improvement
Proven ability to build consensus and work effectively within cross-functional teams for the purpose of planning and execution
Propensity to meet tight deadlines regularly and manage work across overlapping timelines
Ability to learn new systems quickly and effectively
Demonstrated ability to work effectively with ethnically, culturally, and socially diverse populations in a multi-campus environment
Preferred
Master's degree in a related field
Direct experience leading or significantly supporting strategic planning processes, including development, implementation, assessment, and transition to a subsequent planning cycle
Experience serving in a leadership role related to accreditation (e.g., NECHE), including coordination of evidence, narratives, timelines, and cross-functional contributors
Experience with Modern Campus Lifelong Learning (fka Destiny One), Navigate, and Banner
Experience with a data warehouse and/or business intelligence system(s)
Experience providing technical or systems-level guidance to maximize the effective use of data platforms, dashboards, and analytics tools within an institutional research or effectiveness office
Experience with ZogoTech Data Warehouse
Experience implementing or advancing data governance strategies
Experience building customer lifecycle models or longitudinal student outcomes frameworks
Experience developing data frameworks to capture drivers of student, employee, or customer experience
Experience piloting, evaluating, or scaling emerging technologies (including AI-enabled tools) in administrative or planning contexts
Bilingual (Spanish/English)
Experience working with and supporting a culturally diverse population
Benefits
Complete fringe benefit package including competitive health insurance
Dental insurance
Basic life insurance
Long-term disability insurance
Paid sick
Vacation and personal leave
Educational benefits for employee/spouse/dependents
Excellent retirement benefits
Company
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a government administration.
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
Commonwealth of Massachusetts has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (7)
2024 (4)
2023 (2)
2022 (6)
2021 (1)
Funding
Current Stage
Late StageTotal Funding
$20.84MKey Investors
U.S. Department of Agriculture
2024-10-29Grant· $20.84M
Leadership Team
David J. Kelly
CEO/President
Mary-Louise White
CEO
Recent News
2025-12-24
2025-09-13
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