Associate Director for Data & AI Investigations and Partnerships

About the role

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

Additional Information

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.

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