Virginia Tech is a public land-grant research university located in Blacksburg, VA. Founded in 1872, the university is widely recognized for its strong programs in engineering, agriculture, business, architecture, and computer science. Virginia Tech emphasizes hands-on learning, innovation, and research, serving more than 39,000 students across undergraduate and graduate programs. The university is also known for its motto, Ut Prosim (“That I May Serve”), which reflects its commitment to community service and leadership.

Beyond academics, Virginia Tech has a vibrant campus culture and a strong sense of school spirit. The campus features scenic limestone buildings, extensive research facilities, and a collaborative environment that attracts students from across the United States and around the world. Virginia Tech is consistently ranked among the top public universities in the nation for research, innovation, and student experience.

About Virginia Tech Athletics

Virginia Tech Athletics competes at the highest level of collegiate sports as a proud member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). With more than 500 student-athletes across 22 varsity sports, the Hokies are committed to excellence in competition, academics, and the broader university mission. Positioned at the intersection of a world-class research university and a fiercely passionate fan base, Virginia Tech Athletics is entering a pivotal era, one defined by evolving revenue models, conference dynamics, and the transformation of the college athletics landscape.

The Vice President and Director of Athletics (AD) will serve as the senior executive overseeing the athletic department. In this new and rapidly evolving environment the AD must be a leader who can operate with the gravitas of a seasoned enterprise executive while deeply understanding the unique complexities of collegiate athletics.

Through “Invest to Win” and the hiring of James Franklin, Virginia Tech has committed to excelling at the highest level of college athletics. This in turn elevates institutional visibility, enhances alumni engagement, and strengthens national brand recognition.

About the Position

Virginia Tech is seeking a proven leader who brings operational excellence, commercial sophistication, institutional credibility, and the political acuity to thrive in the complex environment of major college athletics. This position demands operational excellence, strategic vision, and financial savvy. The AD will bring strategic vision, collaborate with the institution’s most influential stakeholders, and position Virginia Tech as a rising and relevant brand in the national college athletics conversation. Virginia Tech is not looking for a caretaker. This is a builder’s role, for a leader who sees the transformation of college athletics not as a threat to manage, but as an opportunity to seize.

Duties and Responsibilities

The Vice President and Director of Athletics will report directly to the President of Virginia Tech and work closely with the Board of Visitors.

Strategic Direction & Leadership for the Athletic Department

•Strategic Vision: Set and communicate a bold, forward-looking vision for Virginia Tech Athletics that positions the program for sustained relevance, competitiveness, and financial growth.

•Institutional Alignment: Serve as the primary liaison to the University President, Board of Visitors, and senior administration to ensure athletics strategy is tightly integrated with the broader university mission.

•Conference Membership & Competitive Structure: Represent Virginia Tech’s interests in ACC governance and broader competitive structure questions, leveraging deep knowledge of how media, brand strength, and institutional fit shape positioning.

Sport Program Stewardship & Leadership

•Coaching Talent & Retention: Serve as an advocate and leader to head coaches, including setting clear expectations, providing resources, and making difficult decisions about continuity or change when performance demands it. When necessary, lead head coach searches with the rigor of executive-level talent acquisition.

•Recruiting & NIL Environment: Constantly monitor the recruiting landscape and NIL ecosystem to make informed resourcing decisions, evaluate the program’s competitive positioning, and protect the institution from compliance exposure.

•Program Investment: Advocate effectively for the resources (facilities, staffing, support services) that keep Virginia Tech competitive in the ACC and nationally relevant in recruiting.

•Crisis Readiness: Be prepared for the moments when the program is under fire, whether from a coaching failure, player incident, or competitive collapse, and lead through those moments with composure, decisiveness, and clear communication.

Student-Athlete Experience & Welfare

•Athlete-Centered Culture: Ensure that the department’s pursuit of competitive excellence and commercial growth never comes at the expense of the student-athlete experience. Set the standard and hold staff accountable to it.

•Mental Health & Support Services: Invest in and actively champion the mental health, academic, and personal development resources available to student-athletes, particularly as the pressures of NIL, revenue sharing, and public visibility increase.

•Direct Athlete Access: Maintain genuine, regular contact with student-athletes across programs.

Operational Execution

•Internal Leadership: Directly lead the athletic department’s senior staff including sport administrators, compliance, communications, student-athlete services, and facilities with clarity about roles, accountability, and performance expectations.

•Decision Velocity: Model and encourage a culture of commercially-driven, data-informed decision making with emphasis on analytics, speed, and accountability.

•Financial Stewardship: Manage the overall athletic department budget with discipline and transparency, ensuring resources are allocated to support competitive priorities while meeting institutional financial expectations.

Financial Strategy

•Revenue Literacy: Maintain meaningful expertise across key revenue streams including ticketing, sponsorships, multimedia rights, NIL monetization, and emerging revenue-sharing models.

•Capital Strategy: Demonstrate fluency in private capital, fundraising, debt instruments, and other financial mechanisms necessary to fund rising expenses in an era of revenue sharing and NIL obligations. Work with university leadership to develop financial strategies that support a long-term, financially sustainable program.

Communications & Brand Leadership

•Public Voice: Serve as the chief spokesperson and brand ambassador for Virginia Tech Athletics, articulating a compelling narrative to media, fans, recruits, and the broader college athletics community.

•Narrative & Messaging: Shape and steward the Virginia Tech brand with consistency and intentionality, ensuring all communications reflect the program’s ambitions and values.

•Media & Content Strategy: Champion an approach to storytelling and progressive content that maximizes viewership, brand perception, and conference media value.

Compliance, Title IX & Risk Management

•Program Culture & Integrity: Ensure all coaching personnel and student-athletes operate with the highest standards of integrity, student athlete welfare, and institutional values. The AD sets the cultural tone from which every program takes its lead.

•Compliance & Risk Anticipation: The best ADs don’t just manage crises, they prevent them through culture, communication, and proactive oversight. Identify potential problems before they become major issues.

•Title IX, College Sports Commission (CSC) and NCAA Oversight: Maintain oversight of Title IX, CSC, and NCAA commitments across all programs, including equitable resource allocation, staff hiring, and response protocols when incidents arise. Understand that this is both a legal and a reputational risk area.

•Risk Management: Exercise sound judgment in a high-stakes environment, balancing bold commercial moves with appropriate institutional risk management.

Application Process

Virginia Tech invites nominations and applications or expressions of interest to be submitted to the search firm assisting the University. Applications must include a cover letter, resume, and list of references. For full consideration, application materials should be submitted to Parker Executive Search’s website by June 19th, 2026. Confidential review of materials will begin immediately and continue until the appointment is made.

For additional information, please contact:

Daniel Parker, Vice President and Managing Director

Grant Higgison, Principal

Gray McGee, Associate

Parker Executive Search

danielparker@parkersearch.com | ghiggison@parkersearch.com | gmcgee@parkersearch.com

770-804-1996 ext. 116 | 770-804-1996 x. 118 | 770-804-1996 x. 132

Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants on the basis of age, color, disability, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, ethnicity or national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, or military status, or otherwise discriminate against employees or applicants who inquire about, discuss, or disclose their compensation or the compensation of other employees or applicants, or on any other basis protected by law.

For inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies, contact the Office for Civil Rights Compliance and Prevention Education at 540-231-2010 or Virginia Tech, 220 Gilbert Street, Suite 5200, Blacksburg, VA 24061.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible senior leadership experience in collegiate athletics administration, higher education leadership, professional sports administration, or a related field.
• Experience navigating player recruitment and roster management strategy, media rights, conference governance, and modern collegiate athletics transformation, is preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to lead a large, complex athletic department with multiple sports programs, coaches, administrators, and support staff.
• Extensive knowledge of NCAA Division I governance, compliance, and student-athlete regulations.
• Experience in fundraising, donor cultivation, and external revenue generation.
• Demonstrated ability to recruit, develop, and retain high-performing coaches, senior athletics administrators, and department staff.
• Exceptional interpersonal, communication, and public leadership skills.
• Commitment to student-athlete welfare, holistic student-athlete development, academic success, and inclusive excellence.
• Proven record of ethical leadership, integrity, and sound judgment.
• Ability to build collaborative relationships across university, conference, and external constituencies.
• Strategic planning expertise with success implementing long-term institutional and athletic department goals.