"Director of Emerging Technologies & Artificial Intelligence"

Job Description

The Director of Emerging Technologies & Artificial Intelligence will lead the thoughtful, mission-aligned integration of AI technologies and other emerging technologies across the College. Grounded in our Jesuit identity and commitment to educating the whole person, this role focuses on identifying AI applications that genuinely enhance teaching, learning, research, and institutional operations-not technology for its own sake. The Director will guide the responsible exploration of generative AI, agentic AI systems, and autonomous workflows, always in partnership with faculty, staff, and students, and with careful attention to the human relationships at the heart of a Holy Cross education. The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise with discernment, equally comfortable architecting AI solutions and engaging colleagues in conversations about where AI does and does not belong.

Major Areas of Responsibility

Strategic Leadership

• Lead the development of a comprehensive AI strategy rooted in institutional mission and values, ensuring AI initiatives enhance rather than diminish our distinctive approach to liberal arts education.
• Partner with academic and administrative leaders to identify opportunities where AI can meaningfully support the work of the College, and where human judgment, relationships, and expertise should remain central.
• Serve as the primary advisor to College leadership on AI capabilities, limitations, risks, and opportunities, providing balanced guidance that accounts for both potential and pitfalls.
• Manage relationships with AI technology vendors and partners, evaluating solutions through the lens of mission fit, not just technical capability.

Agentic AI & Autonomous Systems

• Working with our Principal AI Solutions Engineer, design, build, and deploy agentic AI systems for appropriate use cases, with emphasis on augmenting human capacity in administrative processes rather than replacing human roles in student-facing and formative contexts.
• Develop agent workflows that integrate with institutional systems (SIS, LMS, ERP, CRM) through APIs, MCP servers, and custom tool integrations.
• Implement robust human-in-the-loop controls, approval gates, and escalation protocols to ensure meaningful oversight of autonomous operations.
• Establish monitoring, logging, and evaluation frameworks to assess agent performance, identify failure modes, and ensure alignment with institutional values.
• Lead proof-of-concept projects in areas such as administrative process automation, enrollment support, and research assistance-prioritizing use cases that free staff for higher-value, relationship-centered work.

Technical Implementation

• Evaluate, configure, and deploy foundation models for institutional use cases, with attention to fit, cost, privacy, and performance.
• Build and maintain RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) pipelines, knowledge bases, and contextual retrieval systems to ground AI outputs in institutional data.
• Develop custom integrations, prompt libraries, and AI-powered applications that address specific College needs.
• Ensure AI systems meet security, privacy, and compliance requirements, including FERPA and institutional data governance standards.

Governance, Ethics & Change Management

• Develop and maintain AI governance policies addressing ethical use, academic integrity, data privacy, bias mitigation, and appropriate boundaries for autonomous systems in an educational context.
• Lead inclusive change management initiatives that bring faculty, staff, and students into the conversation about AI's role at the College, honoring diverse perspectives and concerns.
• Design and deliver professional development programs to build AI literacy and confidence, meeting colleagues where they are.
• Conduct ongoing assessment of AI initiatives, measuring impact against both operational metrics and mission alignment.

Minimum Qualifications

• Master's degree in computer science, data science, AI/ML, or related field (or equivalent professional experience).
• 3+ years of hands-on experience implementing AI/ML solutions, with demonstrated expertise in generative AI and large language models.
• Proven experience designing and deploying agentic AI systems, multi-agent architectures, or autonomous workflow automation.
• Strong proficiency in Python and experience with AI/ML frameworks, APIs, and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
• Experience with LLM application patterns including prompt engineering, RAG, function calling/tool use, and fine-tuning.
• Familiarity with agent frameworks and orchestration tools (e.g., LangChain, LangGraph, Claude Agent SDK, AutoGen, CrewAI, or similar).
• Understanding of MCP (Model Context Protocol) or similar standards for AI-system integration.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex technical concepts for non-technical audiences and build consensus across diverse stakeholders.
• Commitment to ethical AI practices, with particular attention to privacy, equity, and responsible autonomous system deployment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in higher education or mission-driven organizations.
• Familiarity with higher education systems (SIS, LMS, ERP) and data standards.
• Experience with vector databases, embedding models, and semantic search architectures.
• Background in evaluating AI system reliability, implementing guardrails, and designing human oversight mechanisms.
• Track record of successful AI pilot programs progressed to production deployment.
• Appreciation for the distinctive value of liberal arts education and the formative role of human mentorship.

Core Competencies

• Strategic Vision with Practical Execution
• Technical Depth in AI/ML with Continuous Learning Orientation
• Cross-Functional Collaboration and Stakeholder Engagement
• Discernment in Technology Adoption-Knowing When Not to Automate
• Clear Communication of Complex Technical Concepts
• Ethical Leadership and Commitment to Responsible AI
• Adaptability in a Rapidly Evolving Technology Landscape
• Service Orientation Aligned with Institutional Mission

Salary: The salary range for the Director of Emerging Technologies & Artificial Intelligence is $170,001-$180,000, commensurate with experience.

Weekly Hours: 40

Application Instructions

An updated resume and cover letter are required as a part of your internal application. In your cover letter, please reflect on how your professional and personal values align with the Mission of the College of the Holy Cross to form individuals of integrity and purpose who are committed to the flourishing of all.

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. However, priority consideration will be given to applications submitted within 30 days of the posting date.