Career Center

Associate Director for Competitive Intelligence

Application Procedure:

Apply for this position by visiting the UT Dallas jobs site: https://jobs.utdallas.edu.
Direct link to the job position: https://jobs.utdallas.edu/postings/31334

Job Duties

Strategy, Environmental Scanning, and Executive Support

Develop a university CI function and operating framework—including ethics and compliance guardrails aligned with the Strategic Consortium of Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) and applicable state, federal, and UT System requirements.
Lead comprehensive environmental scans aligned to UT Dallas’s three strategic pillars; proactively identify market gaps, emerging opportunities, and attendant risks; craft thematic syntheses to inform the strategic plan and institutional priorities.
Contribute to preparing OISDS executive briefs for the broader Strategic Initiatives office, Cabinet, and President by providing regular CI-specific reports and ad hoc decision support analyses to respond to targeted inquiries from deans and administrative units.
Perform SWOT and TOWS analyses for institutional strategies, research areas, academic programs, and market-facing initiatives; translate findings into accessible reports and actionable recommendations.

Competitive and Market Intelligence Delivery

Support core functions in the Office of Strategic Initiatives, Office of Research and Innovation, Office of Admission and Enrollment Services, Curricular Services in the Office of the Provost, and Office of Development and Alumni Relations.
Produce a standard portfolio of CI deliverables, including:
- Competitor dossiers and benchmarking (research strengths, funding portfolios, faculty recruitment, partnerships, facilities).
- Market scans for new and existing programs (demand, pricing, modality trends, regional/national competition).
- Research funding landscape assessments (federal, industry, philanthropic), bibliometrics analyses, and positioning opportunities.
- Rankings/brand diagnostics and variance analyses; narrative insights to improve visibility and reputation.
- Regular CI briefings, issue spotlights, and risk/opportunity watch lists.
Synthesize and communicate insights in clear narratives, dashboards, and decision memos tailored to executive audiences.

Collaboration, Data, and Methods

Partner closely with departmental teams, such as the OISDS Institutional Research and Data Warehouse, and business intelligence colleagues to ensure data quality, harmonize data sources and definitions, and align CI outputs with institutional KPIs.
Audit existing data sources, subscriptions, and tools upon onboarding; recommend and justify additions to build a robust CI toolkit (e.g., bibliometrics, research funding databases, labor market analytics, competitor monitoring platforms, state and federal datasets).
Build relationships across schools/units to surface intelligence needs and ensure CI findings are embedded in planning and decision cycles.

Operating Model and Maturation

Create an annual CI plan and cadence (e.g., quarterly environmental scans, monthly situation briefs for Cabinet, annual competitive landscape report); define intake and prioritization for ad hoc requests aligned with OISDS processes and strategic goals.
Develop CI-specific artifacts that augment the OISDS production of templates, dashboards, and communications; coach stakeholders on interpreting and sharing CI outputs.

Job Qualifications

Minimum Education & Experience:
Bachelor’s degree in a related field; 5-7 years related professional experience; or any equivalent combination of education and experience.

Preferred Education & Experience:

5+ years of progressively responsible experience in competitive/market intelligence, institutional research/analytics, strategy, consulting, or related fields.
Demonstrated record of delivering high impact CI or strategy projects for executive stakeholders.
Advanced degree preferred (e.g., MBA, MPP/MPA, MS in Analytics/Data Science, MS in Information/Library Science with research intelligence focus, or related).
Higher education experience preferred (research universities strongly preferred).
Relevant analytics/BI certifications (Tableau, Power BI) and/or research analytics credentials (InCites/SciVal) a plus.
Experience establishing a new CI function or maturing a nascent capability; familiarity with university governance and decision processes.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities (KSA)

Expertise in environmental scanning, competitor analysis, market sizing, SWOT/TOWS, scenario planning, and thematic synthesis for strategic planning.
Advanced analytic and presentation skills; adept at translating evidence into clear recommendations and compelling executive narratives.
Proficiency with qualitative and quantitative methods; ability to use or oversee tools such as:
- BI/Visualization: Tableau, Power BI.
- Statistical/analysis: R, Python, or equivalent.
- Research intelligence: Clarivate InCites/SciVal, Dimensions, Web of Science/Scopus; NIH RePORTER, NSF Award Search.
- Market/labor analytics: Lightcast (Emsi/Burning Glass) or equivalent.
- CI monitoring: Competitor monitoring platforms (e.g., Crayon, AlphaSense) and ethical web research.
Exceptional written and oral communication; facilitation skills; ability to build trust and social capital across diverse stakeholder groups.
Strong organization and project management; manages multiple priorities and delivers on tight timelines.
Mission‑driven and institutionally committed; takes visible pride in advancing UT Dallas’s objectives.
Ability to work in a highly collaborative environment that requires prioritizing communication across the departmental and university hierarchy while executing directives with autonomy.

Other Qualifications:

To the extent this position requires the holder to research, work on, or have access to critical infrastructure as defined in Section 117.001(2) of the Texas Business and Commerce Code, the ability to maintain the security or integrity of the critical infrastructure is a minimum qualification to be hired and to continue to be employed in the position.

Institution Description

UT Dallas seeks an Associate Director for Competitive Intelligence to establish and lead a new, institution-wide, proactive competitive intelligence (CI) function. Embedded within the integrated institutional research and effectiveness unit in the Office of Institutional Success and Decision Support (OISDS) and working alongside multiple partners across the university, this role will systematically monitor, analyze, and communicate information about competitors, markets, and external trends to support strategic decision‑making in a variety of mission-critical areas, such as research development, academic program development, and enrollment management. The role will deliver environmental scans tied to UT Dallas’s strategic pillars, synthesize emerging themes for the strategic vision, and produce actionable insights for executive leaders. The successful candidate will be a critical thinker who is intellectually curious, strategically insightful, and able to effectively convey information and insights to a wide range of audiences. This is a high‑visibility individual contributor role with the opportunity to shape and grow a modern CI capability at UT Dallas.

Benefits

UT Dallas is an Equal Opportunity Employer with an employee-friendly and supportive work environment. Our comprehensive compensation and benefits package that is effective as of your hire date includes:

Competitive Salary
Tuition Benefits
BCBS PPO Medical Insurance Options – including 100% paid employee medical coverage for full-time employees
AD&D Insurance
Dental & Vision Plan Options
Long and short-term disability
TRS Retirement Plan
Fertility Benefits
Paid time off

All UT Dallas employees have access to various professional development opportunities, including a membership to Academic Impressions, LinkedIn Learning, and UT Dallas Bright Leaders Program.

Visit https://hr.utdallas.edu/employees/benefits/ for more information.

Application Due Date: 2026-03-16

Job Start Date: 2026-04-01

Salary: $115000 - $115000

City: Richardson

State/Province/Region: TX

Institution: The University of Texas at Dallas

Remote Work: Regular in-person presence on campus expected; flexible/hybrid work permitted as project intensity allows

Reports To: Assistant Vice President for Policy and Process Improvement

Staff # Reporting to Position: 0

Reports In Office: Office of Institutional Success and Decision Support

Search for openings in IR, effectiveness, assessment, planning, and related fields at higher education institutions in the U.S. and abroad.