Director of Operations and Outreach - SkAI (5-year Term)

Department: SkAI Institute
Salary/Grade: EXS/10

For full consideration, please provide a cover letter and resume with your application.

Job Summary:

The Director of Operations and Outreach (DOO) leads the strategic business management and tactical operation of the NSF-Simons AI Institute for the Sky (SkAI). The Director innovates, implements and continually enhances the center's/institute's programs and plans to ensure excellence at all levels. Proactively interfacing with center senior management, executive committee and advisory board, the DOO manages current initiatives and long-term planning in support of the center's/institute's education, research and outreach mission. The DOO fosters the collaborative spirit of the center/institute with alliances both internal and external to the University.

The SkAI Institute will unleash the discovery potential of revolutionary sky surveys and solve fundamental and emerging multi-scale problems at the forefront of astrophysics and foundational AI. SkAI will deliver Astro-AI innovations that intrinsically incorporate physics knowledge to produce trustworthy outputs for rigorous inference from data, transform the speed and reliability of simulations, and optimize the design of instruments and surveys. This Astro-AI nexus is an inclusive, collaborative culture that seeds and nurtures an ethically-cognizant and diverse generation of interdisciplinary leaders and empowers astronomers to use cutting-edge AI tools to address the fast-evolving challenges ahead.

The Director of Operations will play a key role in establishing the Institute and promoting the Institute's mission and goals. Specific responsibilities include high-level administration, overseeing day-to-day operations and communications, managing Institute personnel, budget and finance management (including development, monitoring, and implementation of budgets, forecasts, expenditures, payroll, and contracts), reporting, and proactively supporting Institute faculty leadership in achieving the Institute's strategic goals. The DOO will foster strong communications and shared administrative approaches with the University of Chicago and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, major partners in this Institute.

This is a term position ending on September 30, 2029. Opportunity for renewal will be based on performance and available funding.

Please note: Occasional work outside of normal business hours is likely required.

Specific Responsibilities:

Management of Operations

• Develops the vision, mission and operating principles of institute.
• Creates and maintains the infrastructure operating plan and process to enable efficient operations and compliance with University and funding agency policy.
• Orchestrates and coordinates activities of many people in various departments to provide seamless support for the Institute's operations and research programs.
• Determines the staff organization structure and supervises the recruitment, hiring, training and performance management of any new administrative staff. Continually stays abreast of external regulations.
• Manages capital and operating budget planning, purchasing and payroll expenditures, and regular reconciliation and reporting to ensure sound financial/fiscal management.
• Manages administrative aspects of space planning and other resource deployment.
• Coordinates with other budgeting units within the University.

Internal and External Relations

• Works with the Director and leadership team to support the Institute's growth, development, and expand internal and external relationships
• Interacts with faculty and administration at NU, funding agencies, and university collaborators to ensure smooth execution of the center's/institute's initiatives.
• Serves as liaison to Northwestern's upper administration and central offices throughout the university; engages partners at other universities as needed.
• Initiates and nurtures regular, productive communication with faculty directors, executive committee, advisory board and sponsors.
• Assists the Director in the preparation of information reports, analyses, financial statements and programmatic presentations as required sponsor, federal government, Director, Advisory Committee, and participating Universities .
• Serves as liaison and primary point of contact with the sponsor organizations in regard to the reporting and oversight requirements necessary as part of the cooperative agreement with these independent organizations.

Strategic Planning

• Manages & implements strategic operation plans.
• Reviews plans, meets with leadership & key faculty & staff, & recommends changes & improvements to administrative operations to better meet organizational needs & objectives.
• Fulfills reporting requirements of various NU, Univ. of Chicago, and UIUC offices
• Facilitates translational opportunities and develops relationships involving industry partners in coordination with COI and INVO

Research Development, Proposal and Award Management

• Provides high level research administration and oversees an extensive and complex sponsored research portfolio.
• Manages ongoing administrative relationships with funding agencies and many external sponsored research partners.
• Oversees compliance for the Institute's awards
• Ensures reporting requirements of sponsors are fulfilled.

Supervisory:

• Supervises staff &/or provide work direction to others.
• Interfaces with staff in other University Research Centers and Institutes as well as in academic departments to coordinate efforts.

Miscellaneous

Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's in business, accounting or a related field with 5 or more years' experience in administrative or supervisory capacity with exposure to a combination of budgets, finance, grant administration, facilities, staff supervision, &/or human resources.
• 5+ year's management experience with progressively larger responsibilities.
• Interest in the business of higher education and research.
• Knowledge of Word, Excel and PowerPoint or similar packages; familiarity with web development.

Minimum Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities.)

• Proven communication, interpersonal and analytic skills.
• Adept at project management. Ability to work under pressure, prioritize and meet deadlines.
• Demonstrated competency in organization management and financial stewardship.
• Proactive, energetic, innovative.
• Ability to work independently and yet is an accomplished team player.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master's degree in Business Administration or a PhD in a relevant science, technology, or engineering discipline.
• Previous management experience in a university environment.
• Experience in grant functions including proposal development, award management close-out.
• Supervisory and hiring experience
• Experience with coordinating administration between more than one academic institution.

Preferred Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities)

• Working knowledge of Northwestern University systems such as NUFinancials, Cognos, CERES, financial forecasting, basic intellectual property principles, granting agency policies and processes.

Target hiring range for this position will be between $85,000-$110,000 per year. Offered salary will be determined by the applicant's education, experience, knowledge, skills and abilities, as well as internal equity and alignment with market data

Benefits:
At Northwestern, we are proud to provide meaningful, competitive, high-quality health care plans, retirement benefits, tuition discounts and more! Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/index.html to learn more.

Work-Life and Wellness:
Northwestern offers comprehensive programs and services to help you and your family navigate life's challenges and opportunities, and adopt and maintain healthy lifestyles.
We support flexible work arrangements where possible and programs to help you locate and pay for quality, affordable childcare and senior/adult care. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/benefits/work-life/index.html to learn more.

Professional Growth & Development:
Northwestern supports employee career development in all circumstances whether your workspace is on campus or at home. If you're interested in developing your professional potential or continuing your formal education, we offer a variety of tools and resources. Visit us at https://www.northwestern.edu/hr/learning/index.html to learn more.

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