Program Director

Helping the rising generation develop an entrepreneurial mindset.

POSITION OVERVIEW: Engineering Education & Faculty Development

The Kern Family Foundation seeks a Program Director to lead and scale a national portfolio of faculty and academic leader development initiatives focused on entrepreneurial mindset in engineering education.

This role represents a significant expansion from program execution to portfolio‑level leadership. The Program Director will be responsible for designing, integrating, and scaling multiple faculty development pathways serving faculty, graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and academic leaders — while stewarding the trust, relationships, and impact built over more than a decade of work across higher education.

The Foundation’s faculty development initiatives currently reach hundreds of educators annually and influence tens of thousands of students nationwide. The next phase of work requires a systems‑oriented leader who understands how change happens inside institutions and how to scale that change without losing integrity, relevance, or quality.

WHY THIS ROLE MATTERS

This is a rare opportunity to shape the national infrastructure of faculty development in engineering education to move beyond isolated programs toward coherent systems that endure.

The Program Director will steward not only resources, but relationships, reputation, and momentum built through years of thoughtful work. For the right leader, this role offers the chance to leave a meaningful imprint on how engineers and engineering educators are prepared for the future.

ABOUT THE KERN FAMILY FOUNDATION

Headquartered in southeast Wisconsin, the Kern Family Foundation invests in the next generation of American leaders by advancing engineering education and entrepreneurial mindset. The Entrepreneurial Engineering Program Team has helped to create networks and initiatives that reach 7,000+ faculty members and 120,000+ students across 420+ institutions. These initiatives reinforce the development of an entrepreneurial mindset alongside technical expertise. The ability to envision possibilities, take initiative, and create value for others through the engineering profession is both an individual and societal benefit.

The Foundation sunsets in 2035; by scaling faculty development initiatives the Foundation will significantly increase its impact on engineering education in the next decade.

THE ROLE: SCOPE & RESPONSIBILITIES

As Program Director, you will provide strategic leadership across a growing faculty development ecosystem, including but not limited to:

• Lead the strategic design, integration, and scaling of the Foundation’s faculty and academic‑leader development portfolio.
• In concert with other members of the program team, translate the vision into operational structures and decision‑making patterns that support scale, quality, and learning — while committed to continuous improvement to deliver the best possible experiences and the greatest impact in service of the program’s mission.
• Provide strategic oversight of the Engineering Unleashed Faculty Development (EUFD) portfolio, including national workshops and on‑campus faculty development programs.
• Work alongside faculty on workshop teams, understanding implementation insights, identifying opportunities to expand faculty participation, and refining approaches based on what works in a variety of disciplines and institutional contexts ().
• Build coherent systems that connect multiple initiatives while respecting the distinct needs of different audiences and institutional contexts.
• Document processes and extract strategic learning about faculty team formation, what enables effective scaling, and emerging practices in engineering faculty development, those that inform strategy for expanding our initiatives.
• Guide the evolution of faculty‑led workshop models, ensuring relevance across disciplines, institution types, and career stages.
• Identify leverage points that enable adoption, diffusion, and sustained institutional impact.
• Lead the development and scaling of EMEE (Emerging and Early Engineering Educators) initiatives serving graduate students, postdoctoral scholars,…