Chief Data Officer

Position Focus :

Reporting to the Head of Strategy, the Chief Data Officer will collaboratively lead Yale on a multi-year journey to make data a strategic asset and will play a critical role in promoting the use of data across the university in decision-making, safely utilizing advances in AI, and ensuring the security and privacy of the university’s data.

The Chief Data Officer will develop a cohesive data strategy and federated governance model that will enable integrated insights for key stakeholders at the university.

Effective data management is also a pivotal enabler of AI. Strengthening the overall data quality, governance and infrastructure will be essential as the use and importance of AI continues to grow in the future.

The scope of responsibility for the Chief Data Officer includes all institutional data apart from clinical data and the research data of faculty members.

The leader will develop a shared vision and comprehensive university data strategy and roadmap that encompasses creation of data products, establishment of robust data governance, improvement of data infrastructure, and upgrading overall data culture and skills.

Collaborating closely with campus colleagues across multiple departments and functions, the Chief Data Officer will be responsible for identifying an infrastructure, team, process, and culture change required to establish a cohesive and robust data and analytics capability across the university.

The leader will establish partnership with departments and functions across the university, particularly with IT, the Office of Institutional Research and teams located within Yale Schools.

They will meet regularly with deans, VPs and other leaders at the university to understand their priorities and develop a pipeline of data products to serve the common needs.

The Chief Data Officer will form and collaborate closely with a new Data Strategy Committee consisting of senior university leaders including the Provost, School Deans, SVP of Operations, Chief Information Officer, University Librarian, and Head of Strategy.

This position is located on Yale’s campus in New Haven, CT and requires a presence on campus 3-4 days per week.

The recruitment for this position is being conducted by the search firm, Egon Zehnder. Interested job seekers are encouraged to submit a formal application through STARS, Yale’s applicant tracking system.

Qualified candidates will be referred to Egon Zehnder for continued consideration.

Essential Duties

1. Directs one or more functional areas within an administrative department of the University and ensure compliance with University policies and procedures.

2. Directs analytic and research support for educational policies and planning and develops and approves administrative policies affecting assigned functional areas of the University.

3. Directs and establishes parameters for major projects for the department and University. 4. Interprets federal policies and regulations and educates staff and administration about regulations, restrictions, and the legal responsibilities of the University.

5. Directs and implements policy and program modifications and develops standards to ensure compliance with federal, state and local regulations.

6. Develops and administers an operating budget for the assigned department consistent with University policies and procedures.

7. Develops cost savings objectives and goals; authorizes major purchases and negotiates contracts that range from routine to complex in nature.

8. Establishes and implements long- and short-range goals for the functional area consistent with University goals and objectives.

9. Directs the development of related automated systems to support the function; determines office policies and procedures for use of automated systems.

10. Directs the evaluation and selection of vendors and negotiates contract details including work steps and pricing with the vendors on behalf of the assigned functional area.

11. Works with internal and external contacts to solve problems that range from routine to complex in nature. 12. Represents the University in discussions and negotiations with various governmental agencies.

13. Directs a staff of exempt and nonexempt employees. 14. May perform other duties as assigned.

Required Education and Experience

Bachelor’s Degree in related field. Ten years of experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Required Skill / Ability 1 :

Ability to effectively develop and lead an organization-wide data strategy through active engagement and building relationships with multiple stakeholders across organizational boundaries.

Required Skill / Ability 2 :

Demonstrated ability to proactively listen and seek input for decision-making. Ability to champion and facilitate the use of data to make informed and effective decisions.

Required Skill / Ability 3 :

Excellent leadership skills, as evidenced by a track record of hiring, retaining, developing, and motivating top-tier talent, providing an inspiring translation of an organization mission into specific team objectives.

Required Skill / Ability 4 :

Comfortable and conversant with technology stack. Understands data integration and processing technologies. Expertly skilled in discerning and translating user needs into data and product roadmap.

Keen ability to conceptualize individual data solutions and the larger ecosystem of technology platforms and systems.

Required Skill / Ability 5 :

Highly skilled in influencing through collaboration, listening and trust building, and will be energized by navigating a distributed decision-making environment.

Preferred Education, Experience and Skills :

Bachelor’s degree from accredited institution with 10+ years and / or experience in data, strategy, digital and / or technology.

Experience developing and leading an organization-wide data strategy, particularly in a higher education / non-profit space.

Drug Screen

Health Screening

Background Check Requirements

All candidates for employment will be subject to pre-employment background screening for this position, which may include motor vehicle, DOT certification, drug testing and credit checks based on the position description and job requirements.

All offers are contingent upon the successful completion of the background check. For additional information on the background check requirements and process visit "Learn about background checks" under the Applicant Support Resources section of Careers on the It's Your Yale website.

COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement

The University maintains policies pertaining to COVID-19. All faculty, staff, students, and trainees are required to comply with these policies, which may be found here :

Posting Disclaimer

The intent of this job description is to provide a representative summary of the essential functions that will be required of the position and should not be construed as a declaration of specific duties and responsibilities of the particular position.

Employees will be assigned specific job-related duties through their hiring departments.