Build With Berean · Academic Governance
Academic Board & Program Chairs
Berean is recruiting four PhD scholars to exercise independent academic judgment as its Academic Board. Each member also serves as Program Chair for the program matching that scholar's field.
View Job Duties & Express Interest- Openings
- 4 Academic Board members / Program Chairs
- Qualification
- Direct-field PhD required
- Appointment
- Three-year renewable term
- Authority
- Independent scholarly judgment
Location
Remote. Work and meetings take place online. No routine travel or in-person attendance is required. Any exception will be stated in the opportunity and agreed before you accept. Please review any location or work-eligibility requirements listed for this particular role.
The Responsibility
Exercise genuine academic authority.
The inaugural Academic Board independently examines the academic system it inherits and determines what scholarly changes are required.
The inaugural Academic Board is not being recruited to certify founder-developed curricula. It is being recruited to independently examine the academic system it inherits and make whatever scholarly changes it determines are necessary.
Authority
Academic Board and Program Chair responsibilities are distinct.
The Academic Board exercises final scholarly judgment within delegated academic jurisdiction. An individual Program Chair monitors, evaluates, tests, reports, and recommends rather than unilaterally changing academic policy.
The three-part distinction
Academic Independence
Once the Academic Board assumes control, Keith exits academic governance.
Academic Board members do not report to him or seek his approval for academic decisions.
Qualifications
Direct-field PhD required.
Relevant fields correspond directly to the four programs. Applicants need a PhD relevant to the program and an active record of scholarly work. Publications and higher-education teaching are preferred; prior seminary teaching is not required.
Required
- PhD relevant to the program.
- Active record of scholarly work.
Preferred
- Publications.
- Higher-education teaching.
Not required
- Prior seminary teaching.
Language requirements by chair position
- Program Chair · Biblical Exegesis
- Advanced reading and grammatical analysis of Biblical Hebrew and Koine Greek; working Biblical Aramaic; scholarly reading in German or French appropriate to the field.
- Program Chair · Advanced Biblical Research
- Research-level competence in the chair’s principal biblical language, working competence in the other, and reading competence in German or French; additional language expertise required where the chair directly supervises that research.
- Program Chair · Early Christianity
- Strong research reading in Greek; working competence in Latin; ability to assess translation-sensitive evidence in Hebrew/Aramaic or Syriac with qualified specialist support where needed.
- Program Chair · Black Hebrew Israelite Theology
- Demonstrated ability to evaluate relevant Hebrew and Greek evidence, distinguish linguistic claims from historical/population claims, and identify when specialist review is needed. No blanket demand for fluency in every ancient language.
For every chair, Berean evaluates competence through publications, qualifications and a relevant source-analysis sample, not from ethnicity or denominational membership.
Workload
The heaviest work comes before launch.
Academic Board service is remote, with an expected commitment of about 20–30 hours a month before launch, including weekly meetings, and 8–12 hours a month after launch. Appointments are for renewable three-year terms. Applicants need a PhD relevant to the program and an active record of scholarly work. Publications and higher-education teaching are preferred; prior seminary teaching is not required. The professional-service valuation benchmark is $65.58 per verified hour. This benchmark is not a guaranteed wage or payment commitment; any compensation must be stated in your agreement.
- Location
- Remote. Work and meetings take place online.
- Before launch
- Approximately 20–30 hours/month, including weekly Academic Board meetings.
- After launch
- Approximately 8–12 hours/month average, with regular quarterly meetings and additional work as academic issues require.
- Appointment
- Three-year renewable appointment.
- Hourly benchmark
- $65.58/hour per verified hour. A professional-service valuation benchmark, not a guaranteed wage or payment commitment; any compensation must be stated in your agreement.
Transparent Emphasis
Academic rigor without doctrinal coercion.
Members do not have to affirm Berean's theological emphasis. They uphold evidence-led judgment, fair treatment of competing interpretations, methodological rigor, and no academic penalty merely for doctrinal disagreement.
Academic Board members must formally agree to uphold Transparent Emphasis as an academic-governance standard.
Candidate Preparation
Serious candidates receive the materials needed to evaluate the role.
The role package includes the academic programs, governing academic documents, Program Chair duties, current academic systems, and the materials the incoming Board will independently evaluate.
Professional Service
How Berean Values Professional Service
Berean applies the same compensation philosophy across eligible professional roles. Strong market compensation is not reserved only for executives. Each position is valued according to the market for that work using the same general standard across the organization.
Berean currently values eligible professional service at approximately the 70th percentile of comparable national U.S. compensation. In other words, the benchmark is intended to be higher than the compensation received by approximately 70% of people performing comparable work.
Because many launch positions are part-time, Berean expresses that value as an hourly benchmark applied to documented professional-service hours.
The benchmark represents the professional value of the service performed. It is not a guaranteed wage or payment commitment; any compensation must be stated in your agreement. Actual compensation is determined through Berean's established nonprofit compensation process based on available uncommitted funds after operating expenses and other obligations.
Before service begins, your agreement records how the role is lawfully engaged and any guaranteed amount or rate. Any payment dependent on available funds is distinguished from a guaranteed payment, and no provision waives legally required wages or other mandatory protections.
Next Step
Expression of Interest
Review the published job duties and introduce yourself if the responsibility fits your experience. An Expression of Interest begins a professional conversation; it is not an appointment or commitment to serve.
Initial submission
- Academic CV
- Chair sought
- Doctoral field/institution
- Language preparation
- Publication/research record
- Short disciplinary-fit/interest statement