Job Description:
Executive Summary
Berklee College of Music invites applications and nominations for the Executive Vice President and Provost (Provost). This executive-level leadership role is based in Boston and will report directly to the President. Collaborating with colleagues in the Institution and across Berklee, the Provost will provide vision, strategic and operational leadership, and oversight of the areas outlined below.
The Provost will partner with President Jim Lucchese and other senior administrators to build upon Berklee’s significant strengths in curricular and programmatic innovation, enhancing the unique value of a Berklee education through the continued promotion of artistic excellence, globalization of programs, and integration of professionalizing experiences that can enable Berklee graduates to thrive now and in the future.
The Provost oversees the work of senior academic administrators, including the vice president and executive director of Berklee College of Music, the vice provost, the executive director of the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, the executive director of Berklee NYC, the executive director of Berklee Valencia, and a Senior Project Manager, and will work collaboratively with leadership and the larger Berklee community. The Provost supports a large staff, including the vice provost for academic affairs, vice presidents, associate and assistant vice presidents, deans, chairs, and technology and administrative support staff. As the chief academic officer for Berklee, the Provost is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the president’s vision across each of Berklee’s degree-granting units, ensuring academic standards, and maintaining alignment of Berklee’s curricular offerings with the institution’s overall strategic plan. The Provost will also lead ongoing efforts to develop and maintain a diverse and distinguished faculty, and to grow and strengthen the deep commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusivity at all levels of the institution. Working with leadership, faculty, staff, and students, the Provost will identify and implement initiatives that further strengthen Berklee’s ability to serve as a national and international resource for research and the generation of new ideas, standards, and constructs across the arts, higher education, and industry.
For this role, Berklee is seeking an experienced and forward-thinking educator and leader with a strong record of accomplishment in academic administration, overseeing schools and programs in music, theater, dance, and/or the arts; business and entrepreneurship; creative industries; or other relevant fields. The successful candidate will have experience leading change and be both a strategic and innovative thinker, able to demonstrate the effective design and implementation of new programmatic offerings and initiatives. A strong ability to engage in and promote administrative practices that further Berklee’s educational mission through collegiality, cooperation, and collaboration is essential. Has a deep understanding of and commitment to the success of Berklee’s community of diverse faculty, staff, and students in a rapidly shifting global arts landscape driven by a steady stream of new and emerging creative and information technologies.
To submit a nomination or express personal interest in this position, please see Procedure for Candidacy at the end of this document.
The Provost will have the following overall responsibilities:
- Oversee the implementation of the president’s strategic vision for Berklee’s academic mission with a focus on Affordability, Careers, and Sustainability;
- At the direction of the president, serve as his representative in matters pertaining to the academic strategy and operations of the institution;
- Innovate and establish industry-leading practices in the integration of advanced technologies into teaching, learning, faculty, and student support;
- Oversee and encourage the modernization of curricula by the various degree-granting units with a focus on affordability, career-centricity, and rigor;
- Lead a process of student-centric curricular review that ensures appropriate rigor, alignment of institutionally developed standards, and differentiation of offerings from unit to unit;
- Oversee a process for career-centric industry practitioner review of graduate and undergraduate programs to ensure the continuing excellence and relevance of all academic offerings;
- Oversee efforts to increase collaboration and the development of offerings and degree programs that focus on hybrid skills, individualized career pathways, and real-world, experiential learning;
- Continually seek to improve student learning and success, with special attention to the classroom and studio experience through effective management and oversight of essential faculty-student interactions;
- Support the recruitment and retention of a world-class faculty, with particular attention to increasing diversity and providing an equitable, welcoming, and supportive work environment;
- Create and maintain effective relationships with partner, consortium, and neighbor institutions, serving to further Berklee’s interests in global higher education;
- Maintain an environment of collegiality, collaboration, and shared ownership for the success of Berklee’s students, faculty, staff, and the institution as a whole;
- Meet regularly with Berklee constituencies to foster a culture of listening, support, and cooperation;
- In close collaboration with the president and the SVP for advancement, serve as a front-line participant in Berklee’s ongoing fundraising efforts.
The Berklee Provost search offers an opportunity for dynamic, highly impactful leadership. While no single candidate will embody all the qualities listed, the Berklee leadership and the search committee will prioritize the following:
- Proven ability to build widespread trust built on common experience with a large, diverse group of creative faculty, chairs, deans, and staff who can look to this leader, trust them, and feel "they are one of us; they understand us." An adept and empathetic executive leader who has successfully worked cross-functionally to create a sense of unity, purpose, and shared accountability with academic excellence across a diverse range of disciplines and locations. An active listener. Clearly demonstrated dedication to the Berklee mission.
- Proven track record of innovation in higher education: innovation to the higher ed operating model that improves access and affordability, boldness in career-centric curricular design, technology-driven innovation that enhances the student experience, and empowers faculty to perform at the highest level. Clearly not content with the status quo, it leads as a catalyst for positive, student-centric change with urgency.
- Experienced administrative leader and operator, with the ability to lead, develop diverse teams, and optimize a complex, multi-location global operation of the size and scale of Berklee in ways that deliver a market-leading student experience, move at a market-leading pace, motivate and retain exceptional talent, and deliver top-quartile efficiency and effectiveness in higher education. Ability to envision the future and build an organizational structure that is uniquely suited to Berklee’s singular culture, strengths, and needs.
- Progressive, outstanding, inclusive, and collaborative academic leadership in a stand-alone or university-based arts environment or commensurate professional experience.
- Proven track record of success in leading within a global operation.
- Union experience is preferred.
- Strong financial acumen required to oversee complex budgets and the ability to prioritize funding for academic initiatives.
- A bachelor’s degree is required; an advanced or terminal degree in a field relevant to Berklee’s academic disciplines is preferred.
Affordability: The next Provost will ensure that an affordable Berklee education provides innovative domestic and global learning opportunities of the highest caliber.
Careers: The successful candidate will collaborate with faculty to expand experiential learning across degree programs, preparing students for career-readiness and enhancing placements.
Sustainability: Berklee's next Provost will bring the requisite budget experience to enhance academic vitality through transformative technology in teaching and learning, ensuring the College's academic sustainability well into the future.
Berklee is the world’s leading institution for the study of music, dance, and theater, offering transformative educational programs ranging from performance, production, and composition to business, education, music therapy, music and culture of the African diaspora, and other disciplines. Its innovative curriculum blends contemporary and classical training with emerging technology and creative entrepreneurship, providing students with unparalleled resources to excel in their creative pursuits. Since its founding in Boston, Berklee has evolved into a global community, now home to over 8,000 students from more than 100 countries and connected by a network of 84,000+ alumni.
Berklee offers undergraduate, graduate, pre-college, summer, and continuing education programs across its campuses in Boston, New York City, and Valencia, Spain, and through its award-winning online platform, Berklee Online. Berklee Global provides educational opportunities worldwide via the Berklee Abu Dhabi Center and an extensive network of partner schools located in 20 countries across five continents. Its youth outreach initiative, Berklee City Music, provides tuition-free music education to 4th–12th graders in underserved communities, partnering with organizations in more than 45 communities across America and abroad to serve 53,000+ students each year.
Berklee's campuses serve as cultural centers, enriching their communities through thousands of performances, clinics, master classes, and other events each year. Across Boston campus venues such as the Berklee Performance Center, Red Room at Cafe 939, and the Boston Conservatory Theater, and at its institutional hubs in Valencia and Abu Dhabi, Berklee creates opportunities to experience just about any genre or style of performance imaginable, produced by exciting emerging artists and world-class talents — the students, faculty, alumni, neighbors, and distinguished visiting artists who step onto Berklee stages every night.
The institution's dedication to empowering the world's most inspired artists and creative entrepreneurs through arts education is reflected in the work of Berklee's students, faculty, and alumni, who have earned more than 3,000 award nominations, received more than 300 Grammys and 100 Latin Grammys, and won numerous Oscars, Emmys, and Tonys.
Berklee is proud to have cultivated the largest, most accomplished, and most diverse global alumni network in the creative industry. Berklee graduates lead, innovate, and inspire across every corner of the global arts and entertainment landscape. Notable Berklee alumni include Quincy Jones, Gary Burton, Esperanza Spalding, Juan Luis Guerra, Terri Lyne Carrington, Charlie Puth, and Danilo Pérez. Prominent Boston Conservatory at Berklee alumni include Gabriella Reyes, Ebony Williams, Jonathon Heyward, and Mike Mosallam, to name only a few.
Berklee is celebrated as the unrivaled global leader in music and performing arts education, consistently earning top honors from the Hollywood Reporter, Billboard, Newsweek, and Playbill. From its world-renowned campuses to its innovative online programs, Berklee sets the standard for excellence, creativity, and influence in the industry.
Berklee’s YouTube channel is the most viewed college/university channel in the world, with more than 430 million views and over 1.65 million subscribers.
Berklee has experienced significant growth over the past decade. The institution currently serves 7,549 undergraduate and 820 graduate students. This community is guided by 407 full-time and 794 part-time faculty members, supported by a staff of 939.
Under the leadership of President Jim Lucchese, the institution draws on his rich history of championing artists to drive student growth and foster innovation. In this transformative era, he is committed to realizing Berklee's strategic vision and reinforcing its status as a global leader in music education.
Mission
Founded in Boston, Berklee is a global community of musicians, artists, and educators who cultivate professional excellence and develop innovative fields and practices. Anchored in a vision of contemporary performing arts education that centers diversity in all its forms and the artistic traditions of the African diaspora, Berklee fosters an equitable and inclusive culture of teaching and learning. Our transformative educational experiences prepare students for purposeful lives and careers as creative leaders in a rapidly changing world.
Vision
Berklee is building the future of arts education—borderless in its availability and influence, pioneering in its embrace of innovation, and committed to empowering artists and creative leaders for lives of inspiration and impact.
Values
Berklee provides the highest-quality educational experience in music, dance, and theater to prepare students to fully realize their creative and career potential, and to promote the power of the arts to better our world.
At Berklee, we believe that an education in the arts deepens cultural awareness and empathy, enhances self-confidence and personal growth, and develops the openness and curiosity essential to creativity.
Our ability as a community to bring these beliefs to life is built on a shared commitment to uphold these fundamental values:
We learn from the past to create the future.
We respect the rights, dignity, and creative expression of all.
We expect honesty and integrity in all interactions.
We have the courage to be authentic.
We take responsibility for our actions.
We care for each other and for the well-being of our community.
"Cultural diversity is integral to the mission of Berklee simply because cultural diversity is integral to music itself. Innovators from diverse backgrounds and cultures have created the music studied here. An essential part of a Berklee education is gaining an appreciation of the rich variety and interdependence of the cultural traditions from which the music that students explore originates.
We must be a community in which every member’s voice is valued and respected. A diverse, inclusive work and learning environment is essential to maintaining our role as a leader in contemporary music education. It is imperative that we take specific steps to attract and retain the widest array of talented musicians and provide an environment that supports and nurtures their creative process. The fulfillment of our mission—to educate, train, and develop students to excel in music as a career—will be demonstrated in their influence both on the future of music and on the larger culture.
We view diversity holistically, understanding that the definition is constantly evolving. Our definition of diversity includes race, color, nationality, ethnicity, class, religion, disability, age, sex, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation. We also know that a diversity of ideas, approaches, disciplines, and learning and musical styles are essential to inclusion and equity. The integration of myriad cultural values and perspectives into what we do at all levels, from teaching to decision-making, is critical.
Many challenges lie ahead in all areas. We believe that increased diversity will support our strategic objective of attracting the highest-quality students, faculty, and staff to Berklee. To accomplish this, we must create a welcoming and supportive multicultural atmosphere for all members of our community. This focus is not the work of any one individual or office; it is the work of everyone. In this spirit, we will encourage a campus-wide climate of respect, openness, and awareness that celebrates and values our diversity.”
7,549 undergraduate students enrolled
$426M FY2024 endowment
820 graduate students enrolled
Over $115M Scholarships awarded annually
Over 1 Million digital library resources
Over 350 ensemble and practice rooms
Over 105 countries represented
332 Alumni Grammy wins
5:1 Boston Conservatory at Berklee undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio
Affordability: ”We will make a Berklee education substantially more affordable to attract the world’s most exceptional students through lower-cost partner pathways, growing scholarships, and student supports that increase retention and completion.”
Career: ”We will prepare students for creative careers through the most innovative, flexible, and rigorous music-centric arts education, deeply integrating technology and experiential learning to connect careers to the classroom while setting new standards for alumni career support.”
Sustainability: ”We will ensure the sustainability of Berklee’s mission and singular role in the world by launching next generation programs that model the future of learning and creativity and developing technology to support and tell the stories of our community.”
Berklee offers undergraduate and graduate degree programs; summer and international college and pre-college programs; and online degrees, certificates, and individual online courses.
Undergraduate Programs
Music study (36 instruments), music business, dance, or theater from dozens of undergraduate programs leading to a B.A., B.M., B.F.A., B.P.S., or artist diploma.
Graduate Programs
Thirty-two programs leading to an M.M., M.A., M.B.A., M.F.A., or diploma.
Berklee College of Music-Boston
Berklee College of Music-Valencia, Spain
Berklee NYC
Boston Conservatory at Berklee
Berklee Online
Non-degree Programs
Students of all ages can experience Berklee through programs worldwide without applying to a degree program.
Jim Lucchese, President
Jim Lucchese joined Berklee on January 1, 2025, as the institution's fifth president. Lucchese is a pioneering music industry executive who came to Berklee with over two decades of experience in artist advocacy and innovation. He began his career as an artist-side music attorney at Greenberg Traurig in New York, where he represented artists on matters ranging from recording and publishing deals to music production and new digital businesses.
In 2007, Lucchese became the CEO of The Echo Nest, a musician-founded company that aimed to improve music discovery. Under Lucchese's leadership, the platform supported over 35,000 independent developers and major music and media companies. In 2014, after Spotify acquired the Echo Nest, Lucchese served as the founding global head of the Creator team, now known as Spotify for Artists, which supports artists in understanding, growing, engaging, and monetizing their fan bases. Under his leadership, Spotify for Artists reached hundreds of thousands of artists monthly, and the Fans First program generated over $100 million in direct artist revenue from ticket and merchandise sales.
In 2017 and 2018, Lucchese was a fellow at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School, where he focused on artists' rights to terminate exclusive copyright grants. During this time, he also served as an advisor to music companies Splice, Sofar Sounds, and Superpowered.
In 2019, Lucchese was named the CEO of Sofar Sounds, a global live music community that has curated over 30,000 live performances across 78 countries. Shortly after joining Sofar, Lucchese launched a new artist services division, helping thousands of artists manage their fan relationships, own their fan data, and generate more revenue. During his tenure, Sofar Sounds paid artists over $40 million directly and facilitated an additional $600 million in ticket sales, merchandise, and other offers.
Lucchese holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College and a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University (magna cum laude). He has served on several Berklee advisory committees since 2009, including the Presidential Advisory Council, the Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship Advisory Board, and the Pre-College, Online, and Professional Programs Advisory Committee.
A drummer since high school, Lucchese is an active member of the Boston music scene and often collaborates with Berklee musicians. His relationship with Berklee began in 1989 when he participated in the school’s five-week summer performance program. When he’s not working, Lucchese enjoys spending time with his wife and three kids or sitting behind a drum set trying to figure out what Tony Williams is playing on Miles Davis records.
Berklee's Boston campus, home to Berklee College of Music and Boston Conservatory at Berklee, pulses with music, theater, dance, and artistic energy. Located in the city's vibrant Back Bay neighborhood, the campus is an ideal place to begin building your lifelong professional network with artists and creative thinkers who come to this diverse, international hub from around the world.
Boston is large enough to draw the world's best talent to its stages but small enough to foster strong bonds within its artistic community. Berklee students are central to that community and are the driving force behind popular annual events such as the Boston Art & Music Soul (BAMS) Festival and the expansive Summer in the City concert series, in which they provide the soundtrack to summer in the area.
Beyond campus, Boston offers a wealth of opportunities for outdoor recreation, dining, shopping, sports, and nightlife. Boston is also home to extraordinary art and science museums, historic houses of worship, vibrant theater, unique galleries and markets, and countless opportunities for exploration and adventure on land, sea, or both (via one of Boston's popular "duck boat" tours).
Attractions and opportunities aside, Berklee students and alumni often note that Boston's people make this such a special place to learn and grow. Consistently ranked "America’s smartest city" by Forbes, Boston is at the forefront of innovation in education, technology, and the arts, so, as a Berklee student, opportunities for inspiration, collaboration, and personal growth are all around you.
All applications, nominations, and inquiries are invited. Applications should include, as separate documents, a CV/resume and a letter of interest. Review of applications will be done on a rolling basis until the position is filled.
Please direct all applications, nominations, and inquiries to: [email protected]
Berklee expects to pay the successful candidate in the range of $385,000 to $425,000.
Berklee is deeply committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, ancestry, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical disability, mental disability, marital status, veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic which may be specified by law or institutional policy. For more on Berklee’s commitment to diversity and inclusion, please see the Diversity Values Statement and visit Human Resources the Office for Diversity and Inclusion.
This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an “at will” employment relationship.
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Equal Employment Opportunity at Berklee:
We support an inclusive workplace where everyone excels based on personal merit, qualifications, experience, ability, and job performance. Berklee affirms that inequality is detrimental to our faculty, staff, students, and the communities we serve. Our goal is to make lasting change through our actions. Berklee is committed to providing fair and equitable consideration of all employees and applicants without regard to race, color, religion, ancestry, age, national origin, place of birth, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, genetic information, or status as a member of the armed forces or veteran of the armed forces, or any other category protected by federal, state, or local law.
As part of this commitment, Berklee will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations. If reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and/or to receive other benefits and privileges of employment, please contact the Human Resources Team at [email protected] or call 617-747-2375.
*Currently enrolled Berklee students are not permitted to apply for staff or faculty positions.*
Executive
