Executive Director

Vanderbilt University is seeking an exceptionally capable, politically astute, and operationally sophisticated leader to serve as Executive Director in the Office of the Chancellor in Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN. This is a high-trust position at the center of one of the nation’s preeminent private research universities during a period of significant momentum, investment, and growth. The Executive Director will serve as a senior operational leader for the Chancellor’s Office—connecting information, people, priorities, and commitments across the institution so the Chancellor can operate at the highest possible level. The person in this role will maintain a broad view of the Chancellor’s time, interactions, travel, preparation, and institutional responsibilities. You will work closely with the Chancellor, Chief of Staff, Vice Chancellors, senior university leaders, and a wide range of external stakeholders. You will identify what is missing, surface competing priorities, make informed judgment calls, and ensure the Chancellor’s intent is translated into coordinated action. This role reports to the Chief of Staff and oversees two Senior Executive Coordinators and the Assistant Director of Briefings and Research. You will travel with the Chancellor as needed, particularly during high-stakes engagements and while learning the full rhythm, scope, and complexity of the role. The Executive Director will exercise authority with discretion, make sound decisions, and operate effectively in an environment where pace, visibility, and expectations are high. The right person will reduce noise, improve coordination, protect the Chancellor’s time, and bring order to a demanding operation with many moving parts. ABOUT VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY Vanderbilt University is in Nashville, Tennessee, with more than 13,000 students and more than 7,000 faculty and staff. Vanderbilt University offers undergraduate programs in the liberal arts and sciences, engineering, music, education, and human development, as well as a full range of graduate and professional degrees in its 11 colleges and schools. Vanderbilt University spurs cross-disciplinary research to foster discoveries that impact society for the better. “Radical Collaboration,” in a culture where Vanderbilt community members can simultaneously challenge and support one another, is one of Vanderbilt’s most closely held values. Vanderbilt is proud of what has been achieved in its first 153 years and is continuing to drive forward into bold new areas of growth. Vanderbilt is expanding its business and education programs to West Palm Beach, Florida; is establishing a full-time academic campus in San Francisco focused on innovative education and interdisciplinary collaboration that integrates technology, design, and the arts in a global center for innovation, entrepreneurship, and creativity; and has established a campus in New York City that serves as a hub for immersive learning, academic programming, and engagement with alumni and industry partners. The Chancellor’s Office works across this entire enterprise. It coordinates closely with senior university leadership and the Board of Trust while supporting the Chancellor’s institutional, philanthropic, civic, political, academic, and public-facing responsibilities. He is a combination of a Chancellor, a CEO and a public figure, and his increasing visibility has created demands that require a more sophisticated executive-office structure. Read more about Vanderbilt University HERE. Read more about Chancellor Daniel Diermeier HERE. WHAT YOU’LL DO: CHANCELLOR’S OFFICE LEADERSHIP Lead the day-to-day administrative work for the Chancellor. Directly oversee the Senior Executive Coordinator, Assistant Director of Briefings and Research, and other administrative support staff as assigned, ensuring the team functions as a collaborative, high-performing team that communicates openly, and shares context. Establish clear roles, decision rights, escalation points, and communication protocols across the office. Create the structure, rhythm, and accountability required to prevent missed information, duplicated work, dropped commitments, and unnecessary churn. Absorb matters that require judgment and coordination without unnecessarily escalating every decision. CALENDAR STRATEGY & EXECUTIVE TIME Own the strategic framework governing how the Chancellor’s time is allocated. Partner with the Chancellor, Chief of Staff, and Senior Executive Coordinator to evaluate meeting requests, institutional priorities, travel demands, media opportunities, and external engagements. Determine what belongs on the Chancellor’s calendar, what should be delegated or declined, and where tradeoffs must be made. Protect time for writing, strategic thinking, and focus, and strategically reduce inefficient travel. Maintain a forward-looking view of the Chancellor’s commitments across the institution and beyond. INSTITUTIONAL COORDINATION Connect information and activity across executive leader offices and other university functions to build strong working relationships. Ensure the Chancellor’s direction is understood, translated accurately, and carried forward Coordinate complex engagements that involve multiple offices, stakeholders, and competing timelines, following up when information is incomplete or responsibilities are unclear. BRIEFINGS, PREPARATION & INFORMATION FLOW Set the strategic direction for the Chancellor’s briefing process in partnership with the Assistant Director of Briefings and Research. Ensure the Chancellor receives the right level of information, context, analysis, and stakeholder intelligence before each significant interaction. Create reliable systems to identify when information is missing, inconsistent, overly detailed, politically sensitive, or insufficient for the Chancellor to make an informed decision. EXTERNAL ENGAGEMENTS & PROTOCOL Serve as a point of contact for trustees, donors, elected officials, corporate executives, civic leaders, and media, representing the Chancellor with maturity, discretion, credibility, and sound judgment. Coordinate high-level external engagements, including objectives, participants, protocol, preparation, logistics, and follow-up. Travel with the Chancellor as needed for major university, donor, government, media, and stakeholder engagements. SYSTEMS, TECHNOLOGY & OPERATIONAL IMPROVEMENT Improve workflows related to calendar decisions, briefing preparation, information sharing, stakeholder management, and commitment tracking. Lead the thoughtful use of AI to improve visibility and decision-making. Use data to identify patterns in the Chancellor’s time, travel, and meeting load, then translate those findings into practical recommendations. Provide the Chancellor with useful outputs and recommendations without expecting him to personally operate every tool. WHO WILL SUCCEED IN THIS ROLE: A seasoned executive-office leader with the judgment and presence to operate credibly with senior university leaders, trustees, donors, CEOs, elected officials, and other high-profile stakeholders. A strategic operator who sees the whole board, connects information quickly, and understands the downstream impact of decisions. Politically astute, institutionally aware, and highly discreet with sensitive information. Comfortable exercising authority, making sound decisions, and communicating them without creating unnecessary friction or frequent intervention. Intellectually confident and well prepared; able to challenge a powerful leader with facts, sound reasoning, and appropriate timing. Calm under pressure and steady when priorities shift, stakes rise, information isn’t perfect or ideas are challenged. Thrives in unpredictability and scale while still close loops and holding priorities. Operationally rigorous, with a strong instinct for systems, accountability, and follow-through. Collaborative and low ego; able to lead a strong team while respecting the expertise and responsibilities of others. Enjoys consistent feedback. Able to see around corners, resolve issues, and keep the Chancellor and the team appropriately informed without creating more noise. Technologically curious and confident using AI, CRM systems, executive-office platforms, and data to improve decision-making. Comfortable representing Vanderbilt’s values, including institutional neutrality, open inquiry, and civil discourse. COMPENSATION, REQUIREMENTS & LOGISTICS Full-time, benefits-eligible position based on Vanderbilt University’s campus in Nashville, Tennessee. Travel with the Chancellor may be required, including domestic and occasional international travel. A bachelor’s degree in management, public administration, communications, higher education, or a related field is required. An advanced degree is preferred. 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in high-level executive-office leadership, operations, government, higher education, philanthropy, or a similarly complex environment is required. Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office, executive calendar systems, CRM platforms such as Salesforce, Box, project-management tools, and AI-enabled workflows is expected. Competitive compensation commensurate with the scope and seniority of the role. Comprehensive benefits, including medical, prescription, dental, and vision coverage beginning on the hire date; a 403(b)-retirement plan with university matching contributions; paid time off; life and disability insurance; tuition assistance for self and up to three (3) dependents; and employee wellness and professional development resources. This is an opportunity for an accomplished executive-office leader to help strengthen the administrative structure behind one of Vanderbilt’s most consequential and visible offices. Please do not apply unless you have the maturity, judgment, confidence, and attention to detail clearly outlined above. #J-18808-Ljbffr Vanderbilt University