Senior Advisor for Research and Innovation

Title: Senior Advisor for Research and Innovation

Employee Classification: Executive/Admin & Managerial

Institution: System Office

Department: Research and Innovation

Campus Location: Tennessee Board of Regents System Office

Job Summary

TBR—The College System of Tennessee serves community colleges and colleges of applied technology across the state. The Office of Research and Innovation works at the front lines of TBR’s efforts to support innovation that advances postsecondary access and student success.

Through the Office of Research and Innovation, TBR turns data, research, and field-based learning into actionable information for system leaders, colleges, and partners. The office is organized around three interconnected labs: the Policy Lab, the Innovation Lab, and the Data Lab. Together, these labs support data-informed decision-making across the TBR system.

The Senior Advisor for Research and Innovation will manage a portfolio of ambitious, cross-functional projects focused on how TBR and its colleges understand, use, and share research and data. The Senior Advisor will serve as a convener, strategist, and program leader who can bring structure to complex challenges, engage stakeholders with different areas of expertise, and move important work from broad ideas toward shared solutions and sustained implementation.

One major focus will be building shared understanding and data resources across TBR and its colleges. The Senior Advisor will engage college leaders, institutional research and effectiveness professionals, technical experts, and system staff to define common concepts, develop reusable data resources, and document knowledge currently distributed across people and institutions. This work will help TBR and its colleges prepare together for changes in enterprise systems, reporting requirements, research practices, and the broader higher education data environment.

The Senior Advisor will also help TBR reimagine how research and data insights reach the people who need them. By listening closely to system and college stakeholders, the Senior Advisor will help redesign TBR’s research and data footprint, exploring how reports, interactive tools, and multimedia products can work together to deliver useful insights. The role will also coordinate a forward-looking effort to prepare for AI-enabled analytics, developing a practical roadmap for experimentation and adoption.
Success in this role will require more than technical knowledge. The Senior Advisor will combine deep curiosity about research, data, and higher education with exceptional project management, communication, and relationship-building skills. Working with TBR leaders, college presidents and teams, and state partners, the Senior Advisor will convert collective knowledge into resources and practices that strengthen TBR’s research and data capacity.

This position may have the opportunity to work remotely within the state of Tennessee, with periodic visits to the TBR System Office (Nashville, TN) at the employee’s expense, and potential travel to TBR colleges in Tennessee.

Job Duties

• 25% - Transformation Portfolio Leadership: In partnership with the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation, lead a portfolio of high-priority research and data transformation initiatives. Translate broad priorities into clear project charters, stakeholder-engagement strategies, and implementation roadmaps; maintain momentum across multiple projects; and prepare initiatives for successful transition and long-term implementation. - (Essential)
• 15% - Shared Data Resources and Understanding: Contribute to a sustained, collaborative process with TBR colleges, system teams, and partners to develop shared data and research resources. Facilitate stakeholder discussions, translate diverse perspectives into clear decisions and recommendations, and develop practical plans for adoption and continued use. - (Essential)
• 15% - Redesigned Research and Data Footprint: Lead a stakeholder-centered redesign of how TBR organizes and shares research, data, and insights. Assess the needs of system and college audiences; evaluate the current portfolio of dashboards, reports, and communication channels; and coordinate the development and testing of recommendations for a more modern, coherent, and accessible data footprint. - (Essential)
• 20% - AI-Enabled Analytics and Data Access: Coordinate TBR’s preparation for responsible AI-enabled analytics and data access within the Office of Research and Innovation. - (Essential)
• 20% - Stakeholder Engagement: Build trusted relationships with TBR leaders, college presidents and cabinets, institutional research and effectiveness teams, TBR staff, and partners. Design and facilitate engagement processes; communicate complex ideas to technical and nontechnical audiences; build support for new approaches; and develop the documentation, training, and shared resources needed to sustain new practices and capabilities. - (Essential)
• 5% - Perform other duties as assigned. - (Marginal)

Minimum Qualifications

• Graduate degree in higher education, public policy, organizational leadership, data analytics, statistics, or a related field.
• Seven or more years of progressively responsible experience leading strategic initiatives, transformation programs, research or data initiatives, enterprise projects, or comparable cross-functional work.
• Demonstrated experience managing complex initiatives involving multiple organizational units, stakeholder groups, and senior leaders.
• Demonstrated experience facilitating stakeholder engagement, building consensus, and translating diverse perspectives into decisions, recommendations, shared resources, or implementation plans.
• Strong ability to communicate effectively with executive leaders and technical and nontechnical audiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working within a higher education system, college, university, or state agency.
• Experience leading organizational change, strategic planning, or technology-enabled initiatives.
• Experience working with college presidents and cabinets, system executives, institutional research and effectiveness professionals, state-agency leaders, governing bodies, or other senior stakeholders.
• Knowledge of higher education data, institutional research, student success analytics, workforce data, or federal and state reporting.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Demonstrated ability to lead complex, cross-functional transformation initiatives by translating broad priorities into clear workplans, milestones, decisions, and sustainable implementation strategies.
• Exceptional project management, facilitation, and consensus-building skills, including the ability to engage diverse stakeholders, navigate competing perspectives, manage dependencies, and move complex work forward.
• Strong understanding of higher education research and data environments, including the relationships among data definitions, reporting logic, business processes, technical systems, analytics, and organizational decision-making.
• Demonstrated ability to assess stakeholder needs and guide the development of shared data resources, modern research and data products, and responsible applications of artificial intelligence and emerging technologies.
• Exceptional relationship-building and communication skills, including the ability to establish credibility, lead through influence, and communicate complex research, data, and technology issues clearly to system executives, college leaders, technical professionals, researchers, and other partners.

Physical Demands / Working Conditions

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