Orange, California
Ithaca, New York
Orange, California
Fullerton, California
St. Cloud,
Winston Salem, North Carolina
New Brunswick, New Jersey
Posted: 05-Jun-26
Location: Baltimore, Maryland
Categories:
Internal Number: 121417-en_US 1
The Whiting School of Engineering at Johns Hopkins University seeks a strategic, collaborative, growth-oriented, and high-impact leader to serve as Assistant Dean for Engineering for Professionals, one of the nation’s premier platforms for graduate engineering education for working professionals.
As the #6-ranked online engineering master’s degree program in the nation, Johns Hopkins Engineering for Professionals (EP) is a flagship expression of the Whiting School’s commitment to academic excellence, innovation, and global impact. EP serves more than 6,500 working engineers, technical leaders, and applied scientists worldwide, offering 26 rigorous and flexible master’s degree programs and 32 graduate certificates designed to meet the evolving needs of industry, government, and society.
Reporting to the Associate Vice Dean for Professional Education, the Assistant Dean will play a highly visible leadership role in shaping the next phase of EP’s growth and distinction. This individual will help advance a portfolio that is central to the Whiting School’s mission and reputation-expanding access to Johns Hopkins engineering education while ensuring that EP continues to set the standard for quality, relevance, and academic rigor in professional graduate education.
The Assistant Dean will provide senior-level leadership across new degree and certificate development, faculty affairs, academic policy, program governance, rankings strategy, and academic quality assurance. Working closely with the Dean’s Office, academic program leadership, and partners across Johns Hopkins University, the Assistant Dean will identify new opportunities for growth, strengthen program excellence, and ensure that EP remains responsive to emerging fields, workforce demands, and the needs of ambitious technical professionals.
The successful candidate will bring sound academic judgment, strong data fluency, operational discipline, and financial acumen, along with a demonstrated ability to scale complex academic programs without compromising quality. They will be an ambitious, forward-looking, and execution-oriented leader who can elevate standards, build consensus, and deliver results in a dynamic and highly collaborative academic environment.
Specific Duties & Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership and Program Development
- Leads the identification, evaluation, and launch of innovative new degree and certificate programs that expand Engineering for Professionals’ market reach. This includes assessing program viability through market and financial analysis, making clear go/no-go recommendations, and driving proposals through school, university, and state governance processes.
- Oversees the end-to-end program development lifecycle, partnering with faculty and program leaders to ensure offerings are academically rigorous, differentiated, and responsive to evolving workforce needs.
Rankings, Reputation, and External Positioning
- Leads the strategy and execution for Engineering for Professionals’ participation in the U.S. News & World Report online master’s degrees rankings process, with support from the WSE Office of Institutional Research. This includes setting rankings strategy, overseeing data quality, conducting thorough reviews of final submissions, and holding final approval authority for submission materials.
- Improves rankings while also maintaining the utmost ethical standards.
Academic Policies, Handbooks, and Governance
- Oversees the development, maintenance, and implementation of key Engineering for Professionals policies and academic documents. This includes the Instructor Compensation Policy, Program Chairs Handbook, Faculty Handbook, Advisor Handbook, and the EP Academic Catalog.
- Ensures that policies are clear, consistent, current, equitable, and aligned with school and university standards.
Faculty Affairs and Instructional Quality
- Supervises the EP Faculty Affairs Lead and provides strategic oversight of all efforts to increase both the quality and quantity of EP faculty.
- Oversees the faculty appointment process and approves all EP faculty appointments.
- Oversees midterm and end-of-term course evaluations, including evaluation questions, processes, and use of results.
Additional Duties
- May support the Associate Vice Dean for Professional Education in advancing other aspects of Engineering for Professionals based on need and the candidate’s strengths and interests (e.g., recruitment strategy, enrollment projections, financial aid, finance and budgeting).
Minimum Qualifications
- Master’s Degree in Engineering, Science, Education, Business, or a related field.
- Six years of relevant experience in professional or online education.
- Additional education may substitute for required experience, and additional related experience may substitute for required education beyond a high school diploma/graduation equivalent, to the extent permitted by the JHU equivalency formula.
Preferred Qualifications
- A Doctoral Degree in Engineering, Science, Education, Business, or a related field.
- Ten years of relevant experience in online professional education with a strong track record of leadership experience operating at scale.
- Experience with U.S. News & World Report rankings submissions.
- Experience developing, revising, or reviewing course evaluations from an administration’s perspective.
- Familiarity with enrollment strategy, including the strategic use of financial aid to strengthen recruitment and student success.
- Familiarity with ABET, Middle States, or other accreditation processes.
- Proven experience developing and launching new academic degree or certificate programs, from concept through approval and implementation.
- Exceptional communication skills with the ability to translate complex ideas into clear, compelling proposals and to effectively engage senior leaders and governance bodies.
- Demonstrated ability to work across complex organizations, building productive partnerships with faculty, academic programs, administrative teams, and institutional leadership.
- Strong analytical and operational skills, with careful attention to detail and the ability to manage high-stakes processes (e.g., program proposals, rankings submissions, academic policy).
- A commitment to academic excellence and integrity, coupled with a drive for innovation, continuous improvement, and measurable impact.
Expected Level of Proficiency - Leadership Attributes
- The Assistant Dean will be a high-judgment, action-oriented leader who can drive growth while upholding the highest standards of academic excellence. This individual will balance competing priorities-quality, scale, financial performance, faculty engagement, and student outcomes-without compromising rigor or integrity.
- The successful candidate will have the ability to move complex, cross-functional initiatives from concept to execution, building alignment and momentum across diverse stakeholders. They will be a credible and trusted partner to faculty and institutional leadership, able to engage with confidence, clarity, and professionalism across the Whiting School and Johns Hopkins University.
- This role requires sound judgment, discretion, and a collaborative leadership style, combined with a strong bias for execution. The Assistant Dean must be able to translate strategy into action-developing policies, programs, and operational practices that enable sustainable growth, elevate quality, and strengthen Engineering for Professionals’ long-term impact and reputation.
Please be aware that our employment offer is contingent upon the successful completion of our pre-employment process, including criminal background, education, employment, and reference checks. This will require you and your references to answer questions regarding substantiated findings of serious misconduct.
The expected base pay salary range for this position is $130,000 - $160,000.
This salary range does not include all components of the Engineering for Professionals compensation program. This position may be eligible for a discretionary bonus. Therefore, the actual compensation paid to the selected candidate may vary slightly from the salary range stated herein. For more information, please contact the hiring department.
