Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

NEI, a private, not-for-profit educational institution, in collaboration with MIT, seeks an exceptional and entrepreneurial EVP/COO. The inaugural Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer (EVP & COO)  should bring experience as an agile administrator, familiar with starting new ventures and with  disciplined strategic, financial, and administrative experience at scale. The EVP & COO will join the founding leadership team and will work collaboratively to recruit, welcome, and support a rapidly expanding executive team. They will, in turn, create an entirely new university system, with multiple campuses, that focuses on a high-quality, affordable, technologically-infused education. MIT content will be delivered on NEI’s residential campuses across the United States and taught by NEI faculty trained in the latest pedagogy. NEI’s holistic curricula, with substantive classes in the humanities as well as professional experiences, will provide graduates with the skills needed to effectively work and thrive in society. An experienced and entrepreneurial founding EVP & COO will help build an agile NEI from the ground up.

NEI will build at scale and is designed to meet the shortage of graduates in engineering and computer science in America. NEI will operate as a collaboration with MIT but will develop its own board, leadership, faculty, and staff. To offer a more accessible and affordable education model, NEI will establish a network of campuses in different parts of the US that will combine both in-person learning and digital content, centrally produced and curated in collaboration with MIT. The EVP & COO’s role is critical in NEI’s early stages of development and growth. 

The EVP & COO will report directly to NEI’s inaugural president, Dr. Sanjay Sarma, and will serve as the chief architect of NEI’s operations, leading the design, launch, and scaling of core administrative and physical infrastructure. As a key founding member of the executive leadership team, they will work closely with the inaugural president and members of the Board of Trustees to provide short- and long-term financial decision-making. They will serve as the principal administrative officer of NEI, responsible for financial functions, as well as the planning, organizing, evaluating, and monitoring of all administrative and facilities functions. The successful candidate will bring significant fiscal, operational, and administrative experience in complex settings, strong financial management skills, and collaborative problem-solving abilities.

John Isaacson and Dan Rodas are leading this search with Amy Gillespie and Mindy Cimini.