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The Center for Academic Innovation (CAI) at the University of Michigan is seeking a qualified Director of Business Intelligence and Data Infrastructure who will play a crucial role in optimizing program performance, improving student engagement and retention, and guiding decisions on future online offerings. In this role you will be responsible for providing visionary leadership for the center's business intelligence and data strategy, ensuring that data infrastructure and analysis are effectively integrated to enable our mission to transform education, including through the use of predictive and prescriptive analytics and AI-driven insights to support data-informed decision making. The position will report to the Chief Operating Officer.

Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion 

The Center for Academic Innovation (CAI) is committed to inclusion in our organizational work, culture, climate, and the products we create. We strive to recruit, develop, and retain a diverse team as a reflection of our commitment to our work designing equitable and inclusive learning and work environments that are necessary for the university community to make progress on solving societal challenges. CAI draws on each of our team member's unique backgrounds and experiences to guide our everyday work in the center, and our team collaborates with students, staff, and faculty on projects that center our commitment to DEI work. All interested applicants, including those from groups historically marginalized by educational privilege, are encouraged to apply.

Organizational Statement on Harassment 

We believe all individuals deserve to be treated with respect and dignity and have the right to work in a professional atmosphere that promotes mutual respect and a safe space for collaboration. Any concerns shared with Individuals with Reporting Obligations in the Center for Academic Innovation will be reported to the Equity, Civil Rights, & Title IX Office to be reviewed and addressed, and the Center for Academic Innovation encourages reporting of any forms of harassment including sexual and gender-based harassment.

About the Center for Academic Innovation

Through curricular innovation, tools for student success and equity, and educational research and analytics, the University of Michigan Center for Academic Innovation is building the future of education. Our vision is a future in which education connects and empowers learners everywhere to reach their full potential throughout their lives. To realize our vision, we make it our mission to collaborate across campus and around the world to create equitable, lifelong educational opportunities for learners everywhere.

About the Operations, Policy and Analytics Team

The Operations, Policy and Analytics team provides leadership and support within the Center for Academic Innovation around talent management and organizational development, financial management, compliance and policy leadership, student fellowship support, and space management. This team also serves as the driving force behind data strategy, business intelligence, and data infrastructure to support informed decision-making and data-powered learner experiences across all CAI initiatives. They design and maintain scalable data systems, develop predictive and prescriptive analytics, and create intuitive dashboards, reports, and analyses that provide actionable insights for improving online learning, learner engagement, and operational efficiency in areas such as talent management, financial management and compliance. Additionally, they develop the data strategy and architecture that will enable the Center to deliver personalized learner experiences while championing data stewardship, governance, and data security while continuing to foster a data-informed culture across CAI that empowers the team with the tools and knowledge to leverage analytics for strategic impact.

For more information, please visit our website: Academic Innovation.

Business Intelligence and Data Infrastructure Strategy and Leadership 

• Provides visionary leadership for CAI's business intelligence and data strategy, ensuring that data infrastructure and analysis are effectively integrated to enable CAI's mission to transform education, including through the use of predictive and prescriptive analytics and AI-driven insights to support data-informed decision making.
• Shapes and oversees the strategic development of CAI's data infrastructure, enabling seamless access to critical business intelligence and insights across all CAI units and initiatives. Oversees the development and support of internal infrastructure to maintain and make available key business intelligence data across CAI to enable technology applications, including generative artificial intelligence tools, that deliver world-class learner experiences.
• Drives data literacy efforts across CAI, developing training and resources to ensure faculty and staff can effectively interpret and apply business intelligence insights. Creates solutions for non-technical stakeholders to access data independently.
• Leads the design and maintenance of business intelligence tools providing pertinent and current data visualizations, dashboards, and reports to inform decision-makers across CAI.
• Collaborates with CAI team leads and central information technology colleagues to maintain Salesforce org serving CAI business functions including marketing, partnership development, and learner services use cases.
• Monitors and analyzes business intelligence metrics to identify trends, evaluate effectiveness, and recommend areas for improvement and optimization, aligning data insights with CAI's overall objectives and mission.
• Manages and optimizes data architecture within CAI, ensuring high data integrity, security, and compliance with university and regulatory policies through standardized
  data definitions and access control. Leads the implementation of security best practices for data within CAI.
• Helps ensure business intelligence and data architecture best practices and projects align with CAI's strategic goals. Formulates a strategy to support CAI in creating a unified data ecosystem (e.g. integrating key data sources such as LMS, CRM, SIS, and financial data) 
• Collaborates with CAI's online learning and creative studios teams to use business intelligence data to refine online learning strategies, enhance teaching methods, and optimize student outcomes based on data-driven insights.
• Guides strategic partnerships with internal and external teams to ensure effective data stewardship, governance, and ethical data usage across CAI initiatives, aligning with U-M's broader data strategy. Works with other teams within CAI to ensure proper storage and stewardship of institutional data.
• Working closely with CAI's technology infrastructure team, provides expertise and oversight of CAI's data strategy and efforts around database management, data pipelines, cloud infrastructure management and automation to enhance data processing efficiency and enable use of data in technology solutions.
• Establishes clear data strategy goals and provides leadership in negotiating with vendor partners to build and iterate scalable data solutions that advance CAI and U-M's mission. Works with vendor partners to establish clear data pipeline goals and iterate solutions on behalf of U-M partners.
• Provides expertise related to key ethical considerations related to data usage, ethical considerations and data privacy related to CAI initiatives and connected research.
• Acts as a thought partner to units across the U-M landscape to make informed use of online learning and educational technology data.

Leadership and Team Management 

• Leads and mentors a high-performing team of researchers and analysts, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and strategic impact.
• Provides senior leadership for a dynamic team, guiding their professional development, aligning their portfolios with CAI's strategic goals, and ensuring high-impact contributions to CAI initiatives. Manages a team providing mentoring and professional development, workload oversight and individual portfolio and performance management.
• Oversees workflows, sets strategic goals, and ensures that the team delivers high-quality results that meet both short-term and long-term objectives. Manages workflows, sets goals, and determines responsibilities.
• Leads the recruitment, onboarding, and development of top talent, ensuring the team is equipped to advance CAI's ambitious business intelligence agenda. Hires, trains, and onboards new hires to make sure they understand their roles.
• Provides ongoing mentorship, feedback, and professional growth opportunities, cultivating a collaborative and high-performance culture. Ensures that goals, deadlines, and quality standards are met.
• Conducts performance evaluations, setting clear expectations and aligning individual goals with the broader CAI mission. Conducts annual performance review for all direct reports.
   

• Master's degree (or equivalent experience) in Data Science, Business Intelligence, Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field.
• 10+ years of experience in business intelligence, data analytics, or data strategy roles, with at least 5 years in a leadership capacity.
• Deep expertise in data architecture, database management, and data governance, with a strong understanding of SQL, ETL pipelines, and data warehousing best practices.
• Extensive experience with data visualization tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI, Looker) and dashboard development for executive decision-making.
• Hands-on experience with cloud-based data solutions (e.g., AWS, Google Cloud, Azure) and API-based data integrations.
• Knowledge of Python or R for advanced data analysis.
• Experience in adopting modern data tools (e.g. Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks).
• Proven track record in Salesforce administration and reporting, including managing data integrations and analytics within the CRM ecosystem.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with experience translating complex data into actionable business insights.
• Knowledge of data privacy regulations, compliance, and ethical considerations in higher education or similar industries.
• Exceptional leadership and team management skills, with experience leading high-performing analytics teams.
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to present data insights clearly to non-technical audiences

Positions that are eligible for hybrid or mobile/remote work mode are at the discretion of the hiring department. Work agreements are reviewed annually at a minimum and are subject to change at any time, and for any reason, throughout the course of employment. Learn more about the work modes.

Salary Information

The general salary range for this position is $140,000 - $160,000. Candidates can expect to be paid a competitive and equitable salary. Factors used to determine salary include education level, experience, knowledge and skills for the position and internal equity within the unit. All candidates are encouraged to discuss salary questions to honor alignment and transparency throughout the recruiting process

The mode of work for this position is Hybrid. The work requirements for this position allow both onsite and offsite work and you will have an expected regular and recurring onsite presence. On
occasion, you may be required and must be available to work onsite more frequently if necessitated by our center's policy and domain leadership or by your job requirements.

Must have legal authorization to work in the United States.

The salary for this position will be based upon the selected candidate's education and experience.
Excellent benefits are available, for details, see http://benefits.umich.edu/

The University of Michigan conducts background checks on all job candidates upon acceptance of a contingent offer and may use a third party administrator to conduct background checks.  Background checks are performed in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Job openings are posted for a minimum of seven calendar days.  The review and selection process may begin as early as the eighth day after posting. This opening may be removed from posting boards and filled anytime after the minimum posting period has ended.

Applications will be reviewed as received throughout the posting period and continue until the position is filled.

The University of Michigan is an equal employment opportunity employer.