Senior Vice President, Provost & Chief Academic Officer

Strategic Education • Full-time • Hybrid in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States • $250,000 - $450,000 / year • 2h ago

Fast Facts

Capella University is seeking a Senior Vice President, Provost & Chief Academic Officer to provide strategic leadership for its academic enterprise, ensuring alignment with fiscal stewardship and advancing high-quality learning experiences.

Responsibilities: Key responsibilities include leading academic initiatives, overseeing program development, managing faculty recruitment, and ensuring compliance with accreditation standards, while fostering a culture of academic excellence and collaboration.

Skills: Candidates should possess strong management, financial acumen, exceptional communication skills, and knowledge of emerging trends in higher education.

Qualifications: A terminal degree (Ph.D./Ed.D. or equivalent) and at least 10 years of progressive leadership experience in academic roles are required, along with a commitment to diversity and inclusive culture.

Location: This position is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and requires an on-site presence, with occasional travel up to 10%.

Compensation: $250000 - $450000 / Annually

Capella University seeks an academically accomplished, financially adept leader to serve as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. This critical role provides strategic leadership for the university’s academic enterprise, aligning academic priorities with fiscal stewardship while advancing high-quality, affordable, and cutting-edge learning experiences. The provost leads the institution through complex internal and external challenges, including accreditation, regulatory compliance, and evolving market demands, while fostering faculty engagement and academic innovation in support of student success.

Reporting directly to the President, the ideal candidate should possess a solid record of scholarly achievements combined with a broad vision and commitment to upholding the position of Chief Academic Officer in a leading university. We seek a candidate with substantial administrative experience, preferably at the dean level or higher, overseeing graduate and undergraduate programs. We value a history of operational leadership highlighting excellence, growth, financial effectiveness, and a proven capability to manage complex organizations, including personnel, resources, and budget.

The successful applicant will bring a strong motivational capacity, inspiring excellence, and dedication to academic success. They should demonstrate an energetic and engaged approach to leadership, paired with decisive execution skills and proven business acumen. The individual must be fully committed to furthering Capella University’s mission as a premier institution of adult higher education.

Location & Work Arrangement (On-Site)

This role is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and requires an on-site presence. As the university’s Chief Academic Officer, the Provost is expected to be present to effectively support academic affairs, shared governance, and institutional decision-making. In addition, the provost serves as a visible senior leader in the local professional and civic community representing Capella and cultivating partnerships that advance institutional priorities.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Lead effectively within a complex, matrixed organizational structure, aligning academic, operational, and financial stakeholders to advance institutional priorities without direct line authority.
Exercise influence with impact by building trust-based partnerships, shaping agendas, and driving outcomes across academic units, shared services, and enterprise leadership.
Provide strategic leadership for faculty and academic administrators through intentional talent development, performance management, and succession planning to ensure continuity, resilience, and long-term academic excellence.
Lead the development and implementation of a cohesive academic strategy that supports instructional quality, equity, student success, and sustainable growth.
Oversee academic program planning, curriculum development, evaluation, and outcomes assessment, ensuring programs align with market needs and academic standards.
Provide executive leadership for faculty recruitment, development, evaluation, promotion, and tenure processes.
Foster a culture of scholarship, professional growth, and collaborative governance across colleges and academic units.
Build and mentor a high-performing academic leadership team.
Cultivates a culture focused on outcomes, continuous improvement, innovation, and engagement that recognizes and rewards high performers and creates a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive organization.
Continually benchmark against external best practices including innovative technology, products, and platforms to promote faculty engagement and support academic success.
Collaborate with the President and other internal stakeholders to formulate and implement strategic, operational, and quality metrics.
Act as the primary liaison to the Board of Trustees, leading the preparation, presentation, and reporting of academic and student affairs materials for the Academic Affairs and Student Affairs committees. Advocate for Capella University as a competency-based learning and assessment model, ensuring its comprehensive implementation.
Enhance the university’s brand by demonstrating leadership behaviors like enterprise thinking, learner centricity, prioritizing effectively, valuing speed, showing courage, and setting high integrity standards.
Oversee daily operations of academic and faculty affairs, including budgeting and recruiting.
Ensure the university’s compliance with applicable accreditation standards and federal/state regulations.
Represent the university externally.
Perform all other duties as assigned.

Job Skills:

An entrepreneurial disposition that identifies opportunities and inspires collaboration to achieve them.
Strong management, planning, and financial acumen, including the ability to set programmatic and budgetary priorities that balance near-term needs with long-term objectives.
A collaborative and transparent interpersonal style that fosters an environment of trust, empowerment, and shared governance.
Exceptional communication skills and emotional intelligence, with the ability to engage effectively with many constituencies.
Knowledge of emerging technologies and their application to enhance student learning.
Knowledge of current and emerging issues, trends, and best practices in higher education and enrollment;
Proven success leading high-performing teams in a diverse, metric-driven environment.
Evidence of sound executive decision-making and adeptness at coaching and developing teams, including in remote/distributed settings.
Demonstrated organizational discernment.
Commitment to the ongoing professional development of faculty and academic administrators.
Experience with digital tools such as Microsoft 365, Smartsheet, SharePoint, and Zoom.
Ability to delegate and manage multiple projects simultaneously.
Data-driven approach, strong business judgement, and proven ability to draw key insights and recommend strategies.
Executive-level influencing skills and presence.

Work Experience:

Experience: 10+ years in academic and administrative roles with progressively increasing responsibility.
Leadership: Track record of progressively responsible roles in academic leadership, with responsibility in building strategy, budgeting, and faculty relations.
Skills: Excellent communication, stakeholder management, policy and academic governance expertise.
Values: Commitment to academic excellence and inclusive institutional culture.

Education:

Terminal degree (Ph.D./Ed.D. or equivalent) from an accredited institution required.

Other:

Must be able to travel up to 10% of the time.
Must be able to lift 25 lbs.
Typical office setting.
Mobility within the office including movement from floor to floor.
Travel via plane, car, and metro may be required to perform this job.
Must be able to work more than 40 hours per week when business needs warrant.
Access information using a computer.
Effectively communicate, both up and down the management chain.
Effectively cope with stressful situations.
Strong mental acuity.
Regular, dependable attendance and punctuality are essential functions of this job.
Other essential functions and marginal job functions are subject to modification.

SEI offers a comprehensive package of benefits to employees scheduled 30 hours or more per week. In addition to medical, dental, vision, life and disability plans, SEI employees may take advantage of well-being incentives, parental leave, paid time off, certain paid holidays, tax saving accounts (FSA, HSA), 401(k) retirement benefit, Employee Stock Purchase Plan, tuition assistance as well as entertainment and retail discounts. Non-exempt employees are eligible for overtime pay, if applicable.

Careers - Our Benefits, Strategic Education, Inc

SEI is an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive and collaborative culture where individuals can grow their careers and contribute fully. We strive to attract talent with broad experiences, skills and perspectives. We welcome applications from all. While it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top end of the pay range at SEI, we offer a competitive salary. The actual base pay offered to the successful candidate may vary depending on multiple factors including, but not limited to, job-related knowledge/skills, experience, business needs, geographical location, and internal pay equity. Our Talent Acquisition Team is ready to discuss your interest in joining SEI. The expected salary range for this position is below.

$250,000.00 - $450,000.00 - Salary

If you require reasonable accommodations to complete our application process, please contact our Human Resources Department at Careers@strategiced.com.