Title: Associate Director for Data & AI Investigations and Partnerships Location: University of Maryland College Park Full-time Job Description: Job Description Summary & Additional Information Organization's Summary Statement The Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, consistently ranked among the world's top journalism schools, develops journalists and media scholars with rigorous reporting, research and analytical skills, a commitment to ethics, and an appreciation for the First Amendment’s key role in a free society. Located a few miles from the United States capital, Washington, D.C., the college employs acclaimed researchers and repeat winners of journalism’s top awards — including the Pulitzer, Peabody, and Emmy awards — and prepares students to join a dynamic profession. Merrill College students — who enjoy small classes but also have access to the resources and opportunities available at one of the nation's top public universities — leave Maryland with strong writing and visual skills, a command of technology, and a nuanced understanding of data analysis and audience engagement. The college has approximately 500 undergraduate and graduate students and about 50 faculty and staff. The college is housed in Knight Hall, located on the UMD College Park campus. The college also runs news bureaus in Annapolis and Washington, is the home of the award-winning Howard Center for Investigative Journalism and The Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism, and hosts the national office of the National Association of Black Journalists. Several online services rank Merrill College among the top journalism schools in the country, including No. 2 by Course Advisor (2023), No. 3 by College Rank (2024), No. 4 by Universities.com (2024), No. 5 by CollegeVine (2024), No. 5 by Transizion (2024), No. 6 by College Factual (2025), No. 6 by CollegeRanker (2024), No. 6 by Successful Student (2024), No. 7 by AP Guru (2021) and No. 8 by College Transitions (2025). Merrill College is fully accredited by the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. Overview The Howard Center for Investigative Journalism is seeking an innovative and collaborative data journalist to serve as Associate Director for Data & AI Investigations and Partnerships. The Howard Center is an investigative reporting unit and journalism training program based at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism. Funded by the Scripps Howard Foundation, it regularly partners with major national newsrooms — such as NPR, PBS NewsHour, The Associated Press and FRONTLINE (PBS) — to produce deeply reported investigations. The center specializes in investigative reporting that requires complex data and digital document analysis, advanced computational methods, open source intelligence (OSINT), applied machine learning, large language models and other forms of artificial intelligence. The center is also launching a new program to maintain a curated set of newsworthy data and document collections for use by other journalists. The center, working with AP and FRONTLINE, was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Investigative Reporting in 2025 for an in-depth, data-driven investigation into police custody deaths. The investigation employed large language models to sift through hundreds of thousands of digital documents acquired through more than 7,000 public records requests. The team built an original database — shared with partner newsrooms — documenting more than 1,000 deaths after police used “nonlethal” restraint methods. Responsibilities The Associate Director for Data & AI Investigations and Partnerships will: - Launch and manage a new initiative to gather and maintain a curated set of newsworthy data and document collections for journalists and researchers to use. - Assist the Howard Center director in establishing and managing data-driven reporting collaborations with professional and academic newsroom partners. - Manage selected student-driven investigative data journalism projects in collaboration with professional news organization partners. - Work to responsibly incorporate large language models and other forms of artificial intelligence into the investigative reporting workflow. - Oversee the work of a Howard Center staff member and graduate fellows specializing in investigative data journalism. - As a member of the Merrill College faculty, teach one hands-on class per year tied to Howard Center data investigations. Preferred Experience We expect successful candidates to bring some of the experiences listed below. No candidate is expected to have all of them. We are looking for someone who can demonstrate relevant experience in some of these areas, while articulating a clear interest in the others. - Experience producing investigative data journalism as a reporter. - Experience managing investigative data journalism projects as an editor, project manager or similar role. - Experience building and maintaining newsworthy databases or document collections for internal newsroom or external partner use — or managing people engaged in that work. - Experience experimenting with — or a demonstrated interest in learning — new approaches to investigative reporting using large language models, agentic systems, machine learning or other forms of artificial intelligence. - Experience establishing or managing editorial collaborations with internal or external newsroom partners. - Teaching and mentoring experience (which could include university-level teaching, running a workshop at a professional conference like IRE or NICAR, or informally teaching newsroom colleagues). - Management experience (which could include experience managing professionals or experience managing early career journalists, interns or students). - Experience with – or a demonstrated interest in learning – storytelling forms tailored to reach new audiences. Minimum Requirements Applicants must have a bachelor’s degree and a minimum of four years of post-college experience working as a professional journalist, including data journalism experience. Application Materials Please provide: - A resume. - A cover letter. Please explain your interest in the position and how your prior work aligns with the list of responsibilities and preferred experience posted above. - Links to three examples of your work, along with a brief explanation of your role in their production. The work could be data-driven investigative stories, data products (databases or document collections), tools (web applications, software libraries, GitHub repositories), or other materials (documentation, white papers, teaching or presentation materials, fact-checking notebooks). BENEFITS The position has excellent State of Maryland benefits, including: - 41 days of leave per year (22 vacation days, 3 personal days, 16 holidays) and 15 days of sick leave. - A choice of an excellent defined-benefit retirement plan (a State of Maryland pension) or a defined-contribution retirement plan — the public sector equivalent of a 401(k) — with a generous employer contribution (employer contributes an extra 7.25% of salary, with no employee contribution required to receive it). - Great State of Maryland insurance for healthcare, prescription drugs, dental, vision, term-life, accidental death and long-term disability. - Tuition remission at the University of Maryland, College Park and other University System of Maryland schools for you and your dependents. - Up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave. - Additional benefit details here: https://uhr.umd.edu/benefits-and-wellness JOB TYPE DETAILS This position is a 12-month, full-time, professional track faculty position, based in the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland’s Philip Merrill College of Journalism. The internal university title is Lecturer. The position does not carry tenure. This is a five-day-per-week, in-person position based at the University of Maryland campus in College Park, Maryland. The position reports to the Howard Center director. The position is not eligible for a permanent, fully remote or hybrid schedule, but occasional remote work is allowed with the approval of the Howard Center director. College Park is located three miles from Washington, D.C., inside the Capital Beltway, and is easily accessible by car, bike and public transportation (Metro, bus, campus shuttles). Physical Demands: N/A. Application Details - Best Consideration Date: June 18, 2026 - Posting Close Date: N/A - Open Until Filled: Yes Department JOUR-Philip Merrill College of Journalism Worker Sub-Type Faculty Non-Regular (Fixed Term) Salary Range $155,000 - $180,000 Background Checks Offers of employment are contingent on completion of a background check. Information reported by the background check will not automatically disqualify anyone from employment. Before any adverse decision, the finalist will have an opportunity to provide information to the University regarding disclosable background check information. The University reserves the right to rescind the offer of employment or otherwise decline or terminate employment if the information reported by the background check is deemed incompatible with the position, regardless of when the background check is completed. Employment Eligibility The successful candidate must complete employment eligibility verification (on Form I-9) by presenting documents that establish identity and work authorization within the timeframe required by federal immigration law, and where applicable, to demonstrate renewed employment authorization. Failure to complete employment eligibility verification or reverification within the timeframe set forth by law may result in suspension or termination of employment. EEO Statement The University of Maryland, College Park is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment. Please read the University’s Equal Employment Opportunity Statement of Policy. Title IX Non-Discrimination Notice Resources - Learn how military skills translate to civilian opportunities with O*Net Online Search Firm Managed Recruitment There are some positions that are not advertised on this career site as the search is being managed by a Search Firm. Please visit the link below to see these available opportunities: Search Firm Managed Vacancies

Role Description Performance Management Expert (AI & Modern Frameworks) - Role Type: Project (6 to 10 weeks, around 20 to 30 hours per week) - Location: Remote - Start: ASAP JH helps people find jobs and be happier in their careers. Our goal is to double ARR per employee within 12 months without growing headcount linearly. In our People & AI strategy, performance management is one of the five key blocks for the next two quarters. Today we have ABC analysis on every person and we measure TDI (talent density index). It works, but it's manual and runs on a quarterly cycle. We want someone to turn this into continuous performance management: a monthly auto-graded system on three axes (results, skills and AI leverage, teamwork), with a dashboard for every person, a clear track from B to A, and clear boundaries for C players. The goal is not to build a classic HR process. The goal is a system that works in a tiny team mindset: minimum rituals, maximum automation, AI as an operating layer. Key Responsibilities - Design the continuous performance management system, not to ship the code. - Main deliverable: v1 of the continuous performance management system, live across the full team of 38, with a monthly grade refresh and individual dashboards. - Methodology: Finalize the three axes (results / skills and AI leverage / teamwork), their weights, scales, and the thresholds for moving between A, B, and C. - Signal sources: Map out where the system pulls data for each axis. - Monthly cycle: Design the monthly loop, including what runs automatically and what needs a manager's confirmation. - Dashboards: Create dashboards for individuals, managers, and C-level executives. - Tracks for B and C players: Templates for individual plans with measurable criteria and ETAs. - Launch: Run a pilot on two competencies, collect feedback, refine, and roll out to the full team. What we don't want - Classic quarterly performance reviews with long forms and self-assessment essays. - Multi-step approval chains. - Trainings, retention bonuses, formal 8-level career ladders. - Buying and rolling out an off-the-shelf HR tech platform. - Any process that won't survive in a team of 25 a year from now. Qualifications - Built performance systems for teams of 30 to 150 people, ideally in product startups at late Seed or Series A stage. - Understand the difference between performance management in a traditional company and in a tiny team. - Comfortable in data: Excel, SQL, Notion API at a level to build prototypes. - Experience building grading systems, talent review, 9 box or similar is a plus. - Experience turning a manual Excel process into a working automated one is a big plus. - Working English; Russian is nice to have but not required. How we work - Clear expectations: measurable outcome and a deadline. - Minimum rituals: no status meetings. - Direct access to the CEO and HRD throughout the project. - Skills first, low ego, high trust. Process - A short note: 1 or 2 cases closest to our situation. - A call with the HRD (60 minutes) to align on context and expectations. - A test task: looking at how you think, not for a final answer (unpaid). - A final call with the CEO+HRD (45 minutes) to go through the test, project plan, and terms. Terms - Pay: a fixed project fee plus a bonus tied to the definition of done (v1 live and adoption of 80% or higher one month after launch). - Format: work trial. The first 2 weeks are a paid pilot on one competency. - Contract: B2B or equivalent depending on your jurisdiction.

Role Description Performance Management Expert (AI & Modern Frameworks) - Role Type: Project (6 to 10 weeks, around 20 to 30 hours per week) - Location: Remote - Start: ASAP JH helps people find jobs and be happier in their careers. Our goal is to double ARR per employee within 12 months without growing headcount linearly. In our People & AI strategy, performance management is one of the five key blocks for the next two quarters. Today we have ABC analysis on every person and we measure TDI (talent density index). It works, but it's manual and runs on a quarterly cycle. We want someone to turn this into continuous performance management: a monthly auto-graded system on three axes (results, skills and AI leverage, teamwork), with a dashboard for every person, a clear track from B to A, and clear boundaries for C players. The goal is not to build a classic HR process. The goal is a system that works in a tiny team mindset: minimum rituals, maximum automation, AI as an operating layer. Key Responsibilities - Main deliverable: v1 of the continuous performance management system, live across the full team of 38, with a monthly grade refresh and individual dashboards. - Methodology: Finalize the three axes (results / skills and AI leverage / teamwork), their weights, scales, and the thresholds for moving between A, B, and C. Build on our current ABC framework, don't start from scratch. - Signal sources: Map out where the system pulls data for each axis. What gets collected automatically (Notion, Slack, GitHub, analytics, OKR tracking), what comes from managers, what comes from peer reviews. Keep manual input to a minimum. - Monthly cycle: Design the monthly loop: what runs automatically, what needs a manager's confirmation, and how each person sees their grade and track. - Dashboards: For the individual (my grade, my track, what to work on). For the manager (my team, who we're growing, who we're parting with). For C-level (TDI, A-player density by competency, risks). - Tracks for B and C players: Templates for individual plans. B to A with measurable criteria and an ETA. C to A with performance based and time based boundaries. No fuzzy language. - Launch: Run a pilot on two competencies (for example, Engineering and Product), collect feedback, refine, and roll out to the full team. What we don't want - Classic quarterly performance reviews with long forms and self-assessment essays. - Multi-step approval chains. - Trainings, retention bonuses, formal 8 level career ladders. - Buying and rolling out an off the shelf HR tech platform. For a 40 person team that's overkill. - Any process that won't survive in a team of 25 a year from now. Who we're looking for - Human fit matters more than a polished resume. At a minimum: - You've built performance systems for teams of 30 to 150 people, ideally in product startups at late Seed or Series A stage. - You understand the difference between performance management in a traditional company and in a tiny team. If your resume is all Fortune 500, this is probably not the right fit. - You're comfortable in data. Excel, SQL, Notion API at a level where you can build prototypes yourself instead of waiting on an analyst. - Experience building grading systems, talent review, 9 box or similar is a plus. Experience turning a manual Excel process into a working automated one is a big plus. - Working English. Russian is nice to have but not required. How we work - Clear expectations. You get a measurable outcome and a deadline, same as everyone else on the team. - Minimum rituals. No status meetings. - Direct access to the CEO and HRD throughout the project. - Skills first, low ego, high trust. Process - A short note: 1 or 2 cases closest to our situation. What you built, the outcome, what you'd do differently. - A call with the HRD (60 minutes) to align on context and expectations. - A test task. We're looking at how you think, not for a final answer. unpaid. - A final call with the CEO+HRD (45 minutes) to go through the test, project plan, and terms. Terms - Pay: a fixed project fee plus a bonus tied to the definition of done (v1 live and adoption of 80% or higher one month after launch). Exact number gets discussed on the call. The benchmark is a senior People Ops consultant market rate. - Format: work trial. The first 2 weeks are a paid pilot on one competency. If we click, we move to the full scope. - Contract: B2B or equivalent depending on your jurisdiction.

• Create high-quality, clear, actionable, “must-have research” content based on research best practices and methodologies in analytics, AI and data science • Identify the root cause of a client’s barriers or overall needs and reframe thinking to drive the strategy forward • Cover specific Analytic & AI topics and adjacent areas while maintaining a view across a broad spectrum of the market, and produce innovative, thought-leading, impactful, analytically-deep, fact-based research • Provide clients and prospects with actionable analytics & AI-centric advice via virtual or face-to-face interactions • Create and deliver presentation materials for Gartner events, industry and professional association conferences, webinars and client briefings • Provide high-quality and timely research peer review • Provide mentorship and support to team members • Predict how specific markets are developing, help clients in their selection process and assist vendors in overall positioning • Actively participate in innovation, ideation, and research discussions and collaborate effectively with peers in the analytics & AI research community