Vice President of Professional Education

Job Description

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is seeking a dynamic, entrepreneurial and results-oriented leader to serve as its Vice President of Professional Education. Reporting directly to the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, this position will serve as the university's senior executive and single point of accountability for non-credit professional, executive, corporate and workforce education.

The Vice President will lead the development of a coordinated, enterprise-wide professional education portfolio, positioning Embry-Riddle as the global leader in aviation and aerospace professional education and the preferred first call for companies, governments and individuals seeking high-value education and training.

This executive will set university-wide strategy for professional education offerings, determining which programs and products to develop, scale, combine, stack, subsidize or retire. The Vice President will bring greater coordination to professional education across the university, reduce internal competition, strengthen the Embry-Riddle brand and ensure the portfolio responds to evolving industry and workforce needs.

Working across Embry-Riddle's campuses in Daytona Beach, Prescott, Worldwide and Asia, the Vice President will integrate market intelligence, business development, pricing, marketing, digital presence, customer intake, financial management and performance measurement to create an exceptional customer experience and a clear value proposition tied to outcomes and return on investment.

This is an opportunity for an accomplished leader to build and shape a highly visible, growth-oriented professional education enterprise backed by the expertise, reputation and global reach of Embry-Riddle.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Program Development and Leadership

Develop and execute a growth strategy for Embry-Riddle's professional education portfolio, including certificate programs, global executive workshops, high-impact in-person programs, micro-credentials, digital badges and on-demand learning pathways.

Market Development, Sales and Partnerships

Build a disciplined U.S. and global consultative sales approach and develop lasting relationships with corporations, government organizations, associations and individual learners. Identify new markets, cultivate strategic partnerships and expand Embry-Riddle's position as a trusted provider of professional and workforce education.

Portfolio and Product Leadership

Use market intelligence, competitive analysis, enrollment results and customer feedback to guide program development, launches, renewals, stackability, consolidation and retirement across the university's professional education portfolio.

Delivery and Academic Partnerships

Coordinate asynchronous, synchronous, hybrid, online, on-site and campus-based delivery. Partner across Embry-Riddle to leverage academic expertise, online production capabilities, faculty, external practitioners and university resources while determining the optimal campus, unit or partner for each offering.

Financial and Operational Leadership

Provide executive oversight of pricing, contracting, budgets, financial models, registration, CRM and program delivery operations. Manage strategic investments in new program launches, market development, distinctive expertise and pilot initiatives while ensuring financial sustainability.

Customer Experience, Marketing and Digital Presence

Create a seamless experience for professional education customers through a unified digital presence, customer intake process, point of contact, messaging, marketing, outreach, registration, CRM and post-program engagement.

Quality, Talent and Organizational Leadership

Establish expectations for quality, impact and return on investment. Monitor performance, drive continuous improvement and develop effective approaches for engaging and compensating faculty, staff, designers, course leaders and external experts.

The Vice President will directly lead the professional education team while providing matrixed leadership across faculty, staff, subject-matter experts, instructional designers, marketing and sales professionals, and campus and college partners contributing to university-wide offerings.

The role will also represent Embry-Riddle at industry conferences, trade shows, government forums and executive events and remain closely attuned to workforce, regulatory, competitive and technology trends affecting the future of professional education.

Travel and Schedule

This position is based in Daytona Beach, Florida and typically follows standard business hours, Monday through Friday. Because Embry-Riddle's professional education enterprise serves customers and partners across multiple time zones, flexibility will be required, including occasional evening or weekend commitments associated with executive engagement, program delivery and international coordination.

Domestic and international travel is expected to average approximately 20–30% and may include customer and partner visits, business development activities, conferences, program launches and coordination across Embry-Riddle campuses and global locations.

About Us

For over 100 years, Embry-Riddle has been the world's leading aviation and aerospace university, educating more than 30,000 students across residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Florida, and Prescott, Arizona, as well as through a global network of Worldwide locations and online programs. With more than 165,000 alumni around the world, our impact reaches every corner of the aerospace, aviation, defense and technology industries.

Today, our faculty, researchers and professional staff are advancing innovation across aviation, space, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, autonomous systems and next-generation engineering. Working alongside industry leaders, government agencies and innovators, they are solving real-world challenges and shaping the technologies that will define tomorrow.

Whether you are an educator, researcher, administrator, technologist or industry professional, your work at Embry-Riddle will contribute to something bigger than a job. Join a community driven by discovery, purpose and excellence—and help shape the future of aerospace.

Employee Benefits

• Generous Time Off: Enjoy up to 18 days of paid leave in your first year, including 3 days granted upon hire and 15 days accrued throughout the year. You'll also receive 9+ paid holidays, including the day after Thanksgiving and the week between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day.
• Tuition Coverage: Get 100% tuition coverage for yourself for one undergraduate and one graduate degree, and discounted rates for your spouse and dependent children up to age 26.
• Retirement Contributions: ERAU contributes 6% of your base salary to your retirement plan and offers a 4% matching contribution, with no vesting period.
• Personal Leave: Relax with 15 days of personal leave for non-exempt employees or 18 days for exempt full-time employees in your first year.

Current Embry-Riddle employees: Please apply directly through the ERAU Employee Hub Central application within Workday.

Embry-Riddle is committed to fostering a workplace where all individuals are valued and respected. We strive to ensure that all faculty, staff, and students are treated fairly and provided equal opportunities for employment, advancement, compensation, training, and other benefits of employment. Embry-Riddle makes employment decisions — including hiring, promotions, compensation, and other terms of employment — based on individual merit, qualifications, and abilities. Embry-Riddle is strongly opposed to discrimination and harassment, and such behavior is prohibited by university policy. Embry-Riddle does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, disability, veteran status, predisposing genetic characteristics, age, religion, or pregnancy status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law, in its employment, educational programs, admissions policies, financial aid, or other school-administered programs or activities. For further information, please visit our website.

Embry-Riddle is not seeking assistance from staffing or recruitment agencies. All agencies are directed to contact [email protected] and should not reach out to hiring managers or staff.

To preserve the integrity and authenticity of our hiring process, candidates are expected to participate without AI-assisted coaching, real-time response generation, or recording during interviews or assessments. Embry-Riddle does not use AI to automatically screen, rank, or select candidates.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Master's degree in business, education, aviation/aerospace, engineering, workforce development or a related field.
• 10 or more years of progressive leadership experience, including substantial responsibility within professional, corporate, executive or workforce education.
• Demonstrated experience with consultative sales, strategic partnerships and enterprise contracts.
• Experience with pricing, contracting, P&L management, budgeting, marketing, customer acquisition and analytics.
• Experience overseeing multimodal delivery models and working within international or global operations.
• Demonstrated ability to govern a broad portfolio, align distributed stakeholders and make enterprise-level decisions.
• Ability to lead effectively within a complex, matrixed environment and navigate competing priorities and interests.
• Ability to credibly represent Embry-Riddle with corporate executives, government officials, faculty, external experts and prospective learners.
• Exceptional executive presence, judgment, resilience, communication and relationship-building skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Doctorate or MBA.
• Relevant professional or industry credentials.
• Experience developing or scaling professional education, executive education, workforce development or similar revenue-generating educational enterprises.