Assistant Network Director, Pastoral Ministry

The University of Notre Dame, founded in 1842 in Notre Dame, Indiana, is a premier American research university. As a Catholic institution, it uniquely blends faith with intellectual inquiry, striving for excellence in teaching, research, and serving the common good. Notre Dame offers a dynamic and rewarding environment for its diverse community of students, faculty, and staff, who are all dedicated to fostering an inclusive campus and being a force for good in the world. With world-class facilities, acclaimed academic programs, and a strong commitment to innovation and ethical leadership, Notre Dame is an ideal place to make a meaningful impact.

Are you interested in joining a highly collaborative, talented team at an exciting time in the history of Notre Dame? Do you want to help advance a major strategic priority for the University focused on ethics and the common good? If so, please apply to be an Assistant Network Director, Pastoral Ministry (ANDPM) in the Institute for Ethics and the Common Good (ECG), the administrative home of the Ethics Initiative (EI) at the University of Notre Dame.

Emerging from the University’s new Strategic Framework, the Ethics Initiative is a collaborative cross-campus initiative to establish Notre Dame as a premier university for research in ethics, offering superb training for future generations of ethicists and ethical leaders and directing all of our efforts toward guiding and strengthening public understanding of the most significant ethical issues of our time.

Reporting to the Director of the DELTA Network (Dignity, Embodiment, Love, Transcendence, Agency), the ANDPM provides operational leadership for scaling the DELTA Network under a five-year, $50.8M Lilly Endowment award, exercising discretion in program design, stakeholder strategy, and grant implementation. This role also shares responsibility for shaping and executing a global network of scholars, tech leaders, religious leaders, and young people to advance Notre Dame’s reputation in the ethics of AI. The ANDPM has unique responsibility for the day-to-day relationship building with pastoral ministers, leaders, and faith communities as distinct members of the Community of Practice: Pastoral Ministry. S/he also serves as the lead to a national and emerging global network of diocesan partners, catechetical and denominational leaders, and faith-based organizations committed to advancing moral development guided by the DELTA framework. Finally, the ANDPM oversees the strategic design of multi-site formation programs and convenings, manages the dissemination and administration of pastoral-focused sub-grant awards, and serves as a key representative and liaison of the DELTA Network with national and global faith partners such as the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops and the Vatican’s Diacastery for Culture and Education.

This is a five year, limited term, in-person position in South Bend, Indiana. The key duties and responsibilities of this position include:

Network Development and External Partnerships (40%)

• Lead strategic benchmarking and external landscape analysis to inform DELTA’s growth strategy for faith communities, to identify high-impact ecclesial partnership opportunities, and to expand national and global communities of practice for pastoral ministry leaders to assess emerging ethical challenges related to AI, and to ensure alignment with DELTA’s ethical framework and formation priorities. 
• Serve as the primary liaison for the Community of Practice: Pastoral Ministry stakeholders, supporting relationship-building and ensuring seamless and regular communication with this group of Network members.
• With the Director of the DELTA Network, design and execute national convenings for pastoral leaders that advance strategic priorities, deepen member engagement and identify long-term collaboration.
• Curate, align, and disseminate training material, curriculum, and catechetical/formational resources related to DELTA to pastoral leaders and faith communities in the Network.
• Represent the DELTA framework on behalf of Notre Dame at national/global conferences, convenings, and workshops, including giving public presentations.
• Liaise with the Office of Mission Engagement and Church Affairs, leaders from the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education, and denominational entities working to incorporate the DELTA ethical framework into catechetical and formation activities and programs.
• Lead preparation of programmatic reports to the Lilly Endowment and Institute leadership, tracking measurable outcomes, formation impact, and network growth metrics.

Strategic Formation Programming and Convenings (30%)

The Assistant Network Director, Pastoral Ministry will provide strategic leadership and operational oversight for DELTA’s national, regional, and global convenings related to pastoral ministry and faith communities, ensuring that all events advance the Network’s mission and reflect the DELTA ethical framework. Specifically, the ANDPM will:

• Provide strategic leadership and operational oversight for campus, regional, national, and global convenings for faith leaders, ensuring programs advance the DELTA framework’s theological depth, practical relevance, and measurable impact.
• Design and lead educational, formation opportunities and retreats guided by the DELTA framework for Network members, including the Pastoral Innovation Fellowship program, inclusive of Catholic and Protestants contexts.
• Support the planning and execution of large-scale gatherings (150–250+ participants), including program design, speaker selection, facilitation strategy, and budget management.
• Design and standardize, in collaboration with the operations team, event playbooks and hospitality standards across all pastoral programming to ensure consistency, scalability, and excellence.
• Oversee event expenditures, vendor management, and program logistics within approved budget parameters.

Rapid Response and Impact Grant Administration (20%)

The Assistant Network Director, Pastoral Ministry will oversee the administration and coordination of the DELTA Network’s Rapid Response and Impact grant programs specific to pastoral ministry in close collaboration with the DELTA Network Director, Notre Dame Research (NDR), and the Institute Operations team. Responsibilities include:

• Coordinate the full grant lifecycle for Rapid Response and Impact grants supporting pastoral ministry, including proposal solicitation, application intake, review coordination, award notification, and closeout processes.
• Provide strategic guidance to grantees to ensure funded initiatives align with DELTA’s stated goals and outcomes, and ensure appropriate timelines, requirements, and expectations for reporting.
• Monitor grant progress, evaluate impact, and recommend adjustments to strengthen formation outcomes.
• Track expenditures and maintain documentation of multi-year funding allocations under the Lilly Endowment award for pastoral ministers.

Ethics Initiative and Institute Support (10%)

• Provide high-level support to the Faculty and Managing Directors, and the Institute for Ethics and the Common Good (ECG) on University-wide ethics initiatives and special projects.
• Represent the pastoral communities of practice portfolio within broader Ethics Initiative planning and Institute-wide initiatives.
• Collaborate and liaise with colleagues to align DELTA’s pastoral and formation activities with other related education and formation activities as appropriate.

 

RESUME & COVER LETTER ARE REQUIRED to be considered for this position. Please add in the attachments section of your application. 

Required:

• Master of Theology, Master of Divinity, or a closely related graduate degree from an accredited institution.

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in Christian ministry, pastoral formation, ministerial leadership development, and/or faith-based network building; demonstrated fluency in Catholic Social Tradition strongly preferred.

• Substantial experience collaborating with pastors, ministry leaders, diocesan and denominational leadership, seminaries, and/or faith-based institutions, with evidence of trusted relationship-building and influence.

• Proven track record of designing, leading, and scaling complex, multi-stakeholder and/or grant initiatives across ecclesial, academic, and organizational environments.

• Strong organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines.

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills to work with diverse teams.

• Adaptable and effective in a fast-paced environment.

• Collaborative, team-oriented, and mission aligned.

• Experience in data collection and synthesis is a plus.

Preferred:

• Experience designing formation curricula or theological education programming.

• Experience with grant management,  philanthropic reporting, and/or academic project management.

• Partnerships with denominational or diocesan structures.

• Experience leading peer learning among ministers and formators, particularly related to artificial intelligence.

 

RESUME & COVER LETTER ARE REQUIRED to be considered for this position. Please add in the attachments section of your application. 

Pay range: Up to $72,000, commensurate with experience

Please submit your application by March 30th.

The University of Notre Dame seeks to attract, develop, and retain the highest quality faculty, staff and administration. The University is an Equal Opportunity Employer, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, sex, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or age in employment. Moreover, Notre Dame prohibits discrimination against veterans or disabled qualified individuals, and complies with 41 CFR 60-741.5(a) and 41 CFR 60-300.5(a). We strongly encourage applications from candidates attracted to a university with a Catholic identity.