Assistant Director, Outreach and Engagement, National Synthesis Center for Organismal Resilience

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Salary Range: $78,000 - $85,000

Position Summary

The Data Science Institute (DSI) at Columbia University is a world-leading research and education institute advancing the field of data science and artificial intelligence (AI.) Our mission is to harness the power of data science and AI to drive positive change in society. Through pioneering research and education, we develop cutting-edge solutions and prepare responsible innovators to tackle urgent challenges. By bringing together Columbia’s diverse academic expertise with its advanced data science and AI capabilities, DSI leads interdisciplinary collaboration and cultivates high-impact partnerships across academia, industry, and the public sector. Guided by the principle of Data for Good, we translate data insights into real-world applications that enhance societal well-being and promote sustainable progress.

The grant-funded Assistant Director position for the National Synthesis Center for Organismal Resilience (NSCORE) reports to the NSCORE Director of Education, Outreach and Engagement at the Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub in the Data Science Institute at Columbia University.

The Assistant Director leads, manages, and provides support for all education, outreach and engagement programs of the National Synthesis Center for Organismal Resilience (NSCORE). They leverage the Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub (Hub) and the Hub’s National Student Data Corps (NSDC) for content, community building and outreach channels to accelerate development of the NSCORE community and educational content. The Assistant Director coordinates with NSCORE team members on all forms of community engagement including educational program development, engagement, communications, marketing, website content, social media, virtual and in-person event management, and outreach mechanisms. They work with the NSCORE team to manage participation for events, as well as student employees and volunteers working on related NSCORE projects for education, outreach and engagement. Their efforts will enable the building of a dynamic NSCORE community focused on computational organismal biology globally.

The Assistant Director is focused on designing and building the NSCORE Learning Gateway online infrastructure and related programs including development, organization, communication and delivery of educational materials through the open on-line NSCORE website, leveraging the NSDC platform and community created by the Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub. They will also support in-person events such as Computational Organismal Biology bootcamps. They will develop the NSCORE outreach and engagement strategy including identifying and attracting target NSCORE community members across academia, industry, nonprofit and government organizations. They will also leverage tools including Handshake to invite a broad set of constituents to NSCORE virtual events, increasing intellectual outreach and broader impact of NSCORE. They will work with local and global partner organizations to develop engagement models to build a broad and inclusive NSCORE community.

The successful candidate will be a trusted colleague possessing excellent collaboration, communication, leadership, and organizational skills to effectively interface with NSCORE’s numerous stakeholders and to grow the NSCORE community in size, value and impact.

The top criteria for this role is pertinent experience in leadership roles related to education, outreach, engagement, and communications, including skills to develop and grow communities of engagement, serving researchers, students and professionals from around the world. The Assistant Director will engage academic, nonprofit, and industry partners to develop and deliver pertinent content for the NSCORE community.

Responsibilities

Education, Outreach and Engagement

The Assistant Director will be dedicated to building the NSCORE online infrastructure for development, organization, communication and delivery of educational materials through the open on-line NSDC platform created by the Northeast Big Data Innovation Hub, and for virtual and in-person events such as Computational Organismal Biology (COB) Bootcamps.

Working with the NSCORE Director of Education, Outreach and Engagement, the Assistant Director will collaborate with an ecosystem of leaders, partners, experts and students to design, develop and deploy educational content and programs to bring pertinent curriculum and outreach programs to students and educators across the U.S. and around the world. They will also work with NSCORE postdocs, predoctoral fellows, student scholars, and experts to develop new valuable curriculum including videos, presentations, and hands-on projects that can be disseminated virtually through the NSCORE Learning Gateway online platform, complemented by content for in-person boot camps and community workshops.

They will develop the NSCORE outreach and engagement strategy including identifying target users across the country and around the world, including learners and educators at large as well as smaller and less resourced institutions, with a focus on biology, computer science and data science department chairs and their students. They will leverage engagement tools including Handshake to invite a broad set of constituents to NSCORE virtual events, increasing intellectual outreach and broader impact of NSCORE. Specific activities include:

• Engage with academic, industry and non-profit institutions and collaborators related to events, content development, resource listings, website, outreach, and collaboration tools including Slack, Handshake and social media.
• Work directly with the NSCORE Director of Education, Outreach and Engagement  (EOE) to provide updated content for websites and resource listings.
• Develop and implement an overall ongoing project and program management plan for all NSCORE EOE activities working with NSCORE leadership teams, including collaborations, events, community meetings, webinars, NSF and other reporting requirements, including work with students and collaborators.
• Manage and provide support for all NSCORE events including in-person events, webinars, collaborative events with partners, student research symposiums, mentoring, collaboration calls with industry, academia, government, and other data science and education colleagues. These may include evening and weekend events, meetings, and related activities, including potential travel.
• Work with NSCORE volunteers to ensure volunteers are aligned and assigned to tasks and programs appropriately, and for excellent delivery of events and programs.
• Ensure prompt, effective, professional interactions with external and internal contacts by email and telephone; use independent judgment and initiative in preparing draft replies to correspondence.
• Maintain appropriate tracking logs of critical documents and resources, compiling data and developing reports as needed, including community membership and educational participation numbers, and other membership information.
• Complete ad hoc administrative and other projects related to the NSCORE EOE activities.

Communications

• Develop effective marketing communications and outreach plans, with target dates and execution milestones, for targeted audiences customized for specific programs and events, constituencies, cohorts, and activities, leveraging the NSCORE website, webinars, channels, and social media including LinkedIn, X/Twitter, BlueSky, Instagram, YouTube, Handshake, and other channels, as appropriate.
• Provide timely strategic and tactical direction for Education, Outreach and Engagement activities and content, and ensure timely updates, for the development and maintenance of the NSCORE website, working with the NSCORE team as well as other partners, as appropriate.
• Develop and distribute NSCORE newsletter(s) in collaboration with the NSCORE team.
• Proactively develop and maintain lists of sources and outlets for content relevant to the NSCORE mission and programs, and maintain ongoing correspondence with partners to cross-promote news, events, and opportunities of interest to the broader community.
• Develop and review data science projects and other educational content for NSCORE. This requires the ability to do data analysis, visualization, develop and manage google colab notebooks, and python programming.
• Regularly audit all materials to ensure relevance and accessibility to the community.
• Maintain ongoing correspondence with NSCORE leadership, teams, and committees to ensure no surprises in activities or outcomes.
• Develop digital and print templates for presentations, webinars, and collateral.
• Work with the NSCORE Director of Education, Outreach and Engagement and student casuals on social media posts and newsletter items for NSCORE.
• Collect, analyze, and act upon data related to community participation in NSCORE events and website use.
• Edit and upload video recordings to the NSCORE YouTube channels.
• Add creative content to the NSCORE Slack channel to boost community engagement.

Program Membership, Affiliations and Operations

• Effectively manage the student team engaged in NSCORE Education, Outreach and Engagement activities and projects to develop project plans and ensure completion of projects in a timely and high-quality manner, with target due dates, milestones, and confirmation of tasks being completed. Coordinate with the NSCORE Director of EOE to manage the NSCORE student casuals’ workflow, including managing time sheets and pay periods.

Supervision

• Supervise student casuals working with NSCORE, including working with the Director of EOE to draft job requirements, review applications, interview, onboard and train individuals, develop and manage work assignments, and provide ongoing support and guidance.
• Oversee recruitment and onboarding, as well as offboarding, for student casuals and volunteers participating in NSCORE programs.
• Manage volunteers for NSCORE events, including drafting job requirements, recruitment, scheduling, training, work assignments, providing support and guidance.

Other

• Other projects and tasks as assigned

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required, and a minimum of 3 years of related experience.
• Strong organizational, communication, operational and interpersonal skills required.
• Must be able to work independently and exercise good judgment and discretion, and to prioritize and manage multiple tasks.
• Experience in project management, communications, and people management preferred.
• Knowledge of personal computer systems; webpage and website development and maintenance; Zoom webinar skills; Canva; WordPress, Mailchimp; Drupal; Google Suite; Google colab; word processing; and spreadsheets.
• Knowledge and experience in data analysis, data science, Python programming, SQL programming, and Excel to support development NSCORE educational content and related data science projects.
• Financial aptitude is a plus.

Preferred Qualifications

• Enthusiasm for education, outreach, community development and engagement.
• Motivated self-starter who takes initiative, enjoys working with people, and has a customer-service orientation.
• Strong project management skills with the ability to set priorities among multiple competing objectives and tasks; strong commitment to execution and follow-through.
• Able to professionally engage with a broad student, faculty, and staff population and membership, partnership and volunteer community.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.