Executive Director, Learning Science and Applied AI

About ETS:

ETS is a global education and talent solutions organization enabling lifelong learners worldwide to be future-ready. For more than 75 years, we've been advancing the science of measurement to build benchmarks for fair and valid skill assessment across cultures and borders. Our worldwide impact extends through our renowned assessments including TOEFL, TOEIC, GRE and Praxis tests, serving millions of learners in more than 200 countries and territories.

Through strategic acquisitions, we've expanded our global capabilities: PSI strengthens our workforce assessment solutions, while Edusoft, Kira Talent, Pipplet, Vericant, and Wheebox enhance our educational technology and assessment platforms across critical markets worldwide.

Through ETS Research Institute and ETS Solutions, we're partnering with educational institutions, governments, and organizations globally to promote skill proficiency, empower upward mobility, and unlock opportunities for everyone, everywhere. With offices and partners across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas, we deliver nearly 50 million tests annually. Join us in our journey of measuring progress to power human progress worldwide.

Summary:

The Executive Director, Learning Science & Applied AI, serves as the senior learning science and AI strategy lead for ETS' Future Nav products across higher education and high school. While operating as an individual contributor, this role provides matrixed leadership across applied scientists, data scientists, engineers, research staff, and product teams. The Executive Director ensures Future Nav's evidence foundations, learning science frameworks, and AI/ML capabilities are coherent, rigorous, and actionable.

This position functions as the learning science architect, AI product strategist, and cross-functional integrator, translating research, learner needs, institutional use cases, and technical opportunities into a unified product vision and roadmap.

Responsibilities:

Learning Science Strategy & Framework Development

* Lead the development and refinement of Future Nav's learning science architecture, including competency models, readiness indicators, behavioral pathways, and underlying evidence frameworks.

* Translate theoretical and empirical research into product-ready structures and implementation guidance.

* Ensure coherence across high school and higher education learner journeys, institutional needs, and workforce relevance.

Applied AI & Data Science Leadership (Matrixed)

* Provide strategic direction to applied scientists, ML engineers, and data scientists on experimentation, model design, validation, and deployment.

* Function as the AI product owner, defining functional and technical requirements for personalization, recommendations, predictive analytics, and generative capabilities.

* Guide integration of LLM-enabled features and data-driven insights into Future Nav workflows

Cross-Functional Product & Engineering Integration

* Partner with product, UX, research, and engineering teams to embed learning science and AI strategy into roadmap planning, feature scoping, and release execution.

* Work closely with institutional partners to validate assumptions, shape use cases, and refine frameworks across both high school and higher education versions of Future Nav.

* Support evaluations and integration planning for external partners and vendors as needed.

Thought Leadership & Research Translation

* Develop briefs, design frameworks, validation plans, and strategic documentation that articulate Future Nav's evidence base and technology approach.

* Represent ETS in presentations, conversations with partners, and strategic engagements with systems, funders, and cross-sector collaborators.

Skills:

* Experience designing for both education and corporate spaces and familiarity with those learner journeys.

* Expertise in competency frameworks, human capital taxonomies, and skill-based education or hiring ecosystems.

* Experience operationalizing learning science and AI models at scale within digital products or platforms.

* Prior success in matrixed organizations spanning research, engineering, product, and partner-facing functions.

Education and experience:

* Ph.D. or equivalent experience in learning sciences, cognitive science, educational psychology, data science, AI/ML, or a related field.

* 10+ years of experience applying learning science, research, AI, or analytics to product or platform development.

* Demonstrated ability to lead and influence cross-functional technical and nontechnical teams without direct managerial authority.

* Deep familiarity with modern AI/ML methods including LLMs, recommender systems, behavioral modeling, or psychometric approaches.

* Strong communication, synthesis, and strategic thinking skills.

ETS is mission driven and action oriented

* We are passionate about hiring innovative thinkers who believe in the promise of education and lifelong learning.

* We are energized by cultivating growth, innovation, and…