Job Description

The Vice Provost for Workforce Partnerships and Professional Learning provides university-wide strategic leadership for Virginia Tech's workforce and professional learning enterprise by fostering innovative educational models and creating educational pathways that: respond to evolving workforce needs and employer demand; align with institutional priorities and Virginia Tech's research and scholarly expertise; and advance Virginia Tech's land-grant mission through educational innovation, workforce preparation, and economic development. The Vice Provost builds partnerships across academic and administrative units and leads the growth of a sustainable portfolio of professional graduate degrees, certificates, executive education, and other credentialed workforce programs.

The Vice Provost has entrepreneurial drive and works collaboratively with and provides strategic leadership across the academic colleges and departments, research institutes, the Graduate School, Enrollment Management, Outreach & International Affairs (OIA), and Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) to launch and sustain programs that capitalize on the institution's strengths and geographic opportunities. As a member of the Provost's senior leadership team, the Vice Provost advises the Provost on institutional growth and sunsetting strategies related to workforce partnerships and professional learning.
The position will be based either in Blacksburg or the Greater Washington, D.C. area.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership

• Develop and implement Virginia Tech's strategy for professional workforce education.
• Develop an organization that brings coherence to activities related to workforce partnerships and professional learning that includes organizational design, staffing, governance, long-term strategic priorities, and a financial operating model such that it is a self-sustaining unit.
• Lead university-wide strategic development for professional master's degrees, graduate certificates, executive education, and other relevant credentialling offerings, ensuring alignment with Virginia Tech's academic strengths, research priorities, and market opportunities.
• Advise the Provost regarding institutional investments, policies, and priorities related to workforce education and professional learning.
• Identify and recommend changes to university policies, processes, and governance that enable more agile development and delivery of workforce education and professional learning opportunities.
• Coordinate workforce education and professional learning strategies across Virginia Tech's statewide locations to maximize institutional impact while responding to regional workforce priorities.

Organizational Strategy and Portfolio Management

• Lead institutional market and feasibility analysis and portfolio planning to identify opportunities for new workforce education and professional learning initiatives (in-person, fully online, or hybrid) aligned with Virginia Tech's strengths.
• In partnership with the Graduate School, academic colleges and departments, research institutes, and VCE, develop and manage a university-wide portfolio of workforce education and professional learning offerings, ensuring academic quality, financial sustainability, and alignment with institutional priorities.
• Regularly assess the portfolio using enrollment, financial, workforce demand, learner outcomes, and employer engagement metrics, recommending expansion, modification, or discontinuation as appropriate.
• Establish performance expectations and portfolio review processes for workforce education and professional learning initiatives.

Partnerships and Pathway Development

• Build strategic partnerships with academic leaders across Virginia Tech to leverage faculty expertise, research strengths, and geographic assets in support of workforce education and professional learning. Initial foci will center on Blacksburg/Roanoke and the Greater Washington, D.C. area, with emerging foci in the Tidewater and Richmond regions.
• Develop strategic partnerships with industry, government agencies, military organizations, health systems, and nonprofit organizations to expand workforce education and professional learning opportunities.
• Advance workforce education and professional learning as a strategic component of Virginia Tech's research enterprise by partnering with principal investigators and research institutes to integrate workforce development into major sponsored initiatives.
• In partnership with the Division of Enrollment Management, establish enrollment goals, evaluate market opportunities, prioritize new program development, and monitor portfolio performance using shared institutional metrics.
• Serve as the primary academic partner to VCE, establishing a collaborative division of labor for VCE-related non-credit training and professional certifications and for-credit graduate and certificate programs.
• In partnership with OIA, establish a collaborative transition plan and division of labor to transition contract credit programs and other credentialling programs that may lead to professional graduate degrees.
• In partnership with the Graduate School, academic colleges and departments, and research institutes, identify, evaluate, and prioritize opportunities for new and expanded professional master's programs and develop formal non-credit-to-credit pathways that allow students to complete training and certifications to stack, articulate, or ladder into credit bearing graduate certificates and degrees.

Academic Programs and Operations

• Provide executive oversight for the operational infrastructure supporting workforce education and professional learning programs, including admissions, enrollment, learner records, instructional delivery, student support, and compliance.
• Partner with Enrollment Management to develop recruitment, marketing, enrollment, and student success strategies that support sustainable program growth.
• Navigate university governance and collaborate with academic leaders to secure academic approval for new and revised programming.
• Establish dashboards and performance metrics for academic leaders to monitor enrollment and program effectiveness.
• Maintain compliance with regional accreditation bodies regarding relevant academic standards.

Financial Leadership

• Develop self-sustaining financial models for workforce education and professional learning initiatives, including incentive structures that encourage academic units to participate in these initiatives.
• Identify and pursue new revenue streams through sponsored programs, state initiatives, corporate partnerships, philanthropy, and self-supporting educational programs.
• Recommend institutional investments and resource allocations.
• Oversee budgets and financial performance.
• Establish financial performance metrics and accountability measures.

Required Qualifications
• Education: Master's degree
• Significant, progressively responsible academic leadership experience.
• Specific, demonstrable success launching credential- and/or credit-bearing programs for working professionals.
• Management of large-scale professionally oriented education programs, workforce development programs, and/or online programs.
• Experience managing a self-supporting or revenue-generating unit.
• Experience leading change with prior history of navigating traditional university structures while maintaining agility.
• Proven ability to manage multi-stakeholder curriculum rollouts and instructional design resources.
• Experience monitoring and tailoring programming to market demands.
• Demonstrated record of strategic leadership resulting in significant organizational growth or transformation.
• Demonstrated ability to build consensus and lead through influence across decentralized academic organizations.
• Demonstrated understanding of faculty governance, academic decision making, accreditation, and institutional policy.
• Excellent communication and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to travel across the Commonwealth of Virginia on a regular basis. The position will be based either in Blacksburg or the Greater Washington, D.C. area, with regular time spent in both locations regardless of which campus site is the primary location.

Preferred Qualifications
• Education: Doctorate
• Experience working with and supporting faculty principal investigators on extramural research proposals.
• Management of modern learning management systems and student information systems.
• Success in securing workforce education and development grants, federal training allocations, or philanthropic gifts.

Questions about the position should be directed to search chair, David Knight at [email protected]

Overtime Status

Exempt: Not eligible for overtime

Appointment Type

Regular

Salary Information

Commensurate with Experience

Hours per week

40+

Review Date

October 21, 2026

Additional Information

The successful candidate will be required to have a criminal conviction check.