Chief Digital, Information, and Technology Officer

About the Organization
Since its founding in 1946, the Culinary Institute of America has been widely recognized as the world’s premier culinary college – setting the standard for excellence in professional culinary, food, beverage, and hospitality education for almost eight decades. Originally created as a cooking school to train returning World War II veterans in a vocation, the CIA has over the years evolved into a mature, special focus college, with multiple locations in the US and internationally, including its flagship campus in Hyde Park, NY, two campuses in the Napa Valley, one in San Antonio, TX, and one in Singapore.
CIA’s motto, “Cibus Vitae Est,” meaning both “food is life” and “life is food” in Latin, reflects the essential fact that food is the heart of the CIA’s existence and is fundamental to shaping cultures and communities. The CIA has been at the center of understanding and promoting food’s relationship to health, the environment, and a vibrant equitable economy. The college’s 60,000 alumni worldwide—many of whom have become household names—have transformed the food, beverage, and hospitality industries, not only as chefs, but as entrepreneurs, business owners, global F&B leaders, R&D scientists, educators, writers, content creators, and more.
The CIA’s student-run restaurants serve as an incubator for tomorrow’s top chefs and restaurateurs and garner visitors from far and wide. Its recreational classes and immersive boot camps (CIA Foodies) help novice and confident home cooks get a taste of what it’s like to learn in a commercial kitchen, taught by CIA professionals.

Role Summary
As the Culinary Institute of America embarks on a generational transformation toward Vision 2035, the Chief Digital, Information, and Technology Officer (CDITO) will step into a unique opportunity: to lead digital and technology strategy across a global institution that sits at the intersection of education, innovation, and the global food and hospitality industry. This executive will shape how the institution leverages digital innovation, data, and emerging technologies to realize its long-term ambition: to be the world’s leading institution for food, beverage, and hospitality—distinguished by academic excellence, global reach, industry leadership, and societal impact.
Reporting directly to the President and serving on the Leadership Team, the CDITO will lead the development and activation of a cohesive, forward-looking digital, information, and technology strategy that enables growth and innovation across CIA’s entire ecosystem. This includes the College, Academy, B2B and B2C platforms, industry-facing programs, global campuses, advancement, and public-facing venues such as restaurants and retail.
The CDITO will champion a vision in which technology is a strategic enabler of excellence, helping CIA unlock new modes of teaching and learning, deepen engagement with students and alumni, strengthen operational agility, and position the institution as a living, learning, and working lab for digital transformation in the global food and hospitality industries.
This is more than a technology role; it is a rare and defining leadership opportunity to help guide a globally influential institution through a period of extraordinary transformation. The Chief Digital, Information and Technology Officer will shape the future of food, education, and innovation on a global stage by enabling new revenue models, digital products, and scalable platforms that support non-degree, professional, executive, and industry-facing education, while extending the CIA’s impact far beyond its physical campuses.

Ideal Qualifications
Master’s degree in a relevant field (e.g., Information Technology, Computer Science, Business Administration, Data Science, Educational Technology) or equivalent experience.
Minimum 10+ years of progressive executive leadership in digital strategy, information technology, data, or enterprise innovation, with a strong record of leading institution wide transformation at scale.
Proven ability to lead across diverse, matrixed organizations and stakeholder groups, engaging effectively with academic, operational, advancement, and industry-facing leaders.
Demonstrated success guiding complex, multi-year change—modernizing platforms while reimagining how technology empowers people, operations, and mission.
Strong entrepreneurial mindset, with the agility, creativity, and enterprise thinking required to thrive in fast-evolving environments and translate vision into sustained execution.
Experience operating in mission-driven, brand-led environments where technology, innovation, and purpose are tightly intertwined (e.g., higher education, hospitality, wellness, food systems, or adjacent sectors).
Key Responsibilities
Enterprise Technology & Infrastructure Oversight
Team & Talent Management
Financial Management
Digital Learning & Education Innovation
Data Strategy & Institutional Intelligence
AI Strategy & Emerging Technology Integration
Digital Advancement, Alumni & Industry Engagement
Digital Investment, Procurement & Governance
Target salary of $265,000 per year.

Learn more about our client partner, Culinary Institute of America, online at ciachef.edu

Search Team
To explore this opportunity, please apply via our talent profile portal: https://talent-profile.dsgco.com/search/v2/22846

JEANNINE SOMMER
Executive Vice President, Search Operations & Quality and Managing Associate

LAVONNE MOON
Practice Leader, Technology, AI & Cyber Security

NANCY REESE
Senior Executive Assistant & Office Manager, Miami

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