Director of Operations, NSCORE

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Bargaining Unit:
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Standard Work Schedule:
• Building:
• Salary Range: $120,000 - $130,000

Position Summary

Reporting to the Executive Director of the National Synthesis Center for Organismal Resilience (NSCORE), the Director of Operations provides strategic and operational leadership for a federally funded research center by directing all aspects of administration, including financial management, grant administration, human resources, operations, communications, academic governance, and institutional partnerships. Reporting to the Executive Director, the incumbent oversees a $2–5+ million annual operating budget, supervises administrative staff, ensures compliance with federal and University policies, supports executive leadership and governance activities, and leads special initiatives that advance the Center’s research, education, outreach, and broader impact objectives. The Director serves as the primary administrative liaison among faculty, University offices, funding agencies, and external partners, ensuring effective resource coordination, operational excellence, and successful execution of the Center’s strategic priorities.

Based at Columbia University, NSCORE will inspire, unite, and train organismal biologists and computer scientists in a collaborative effort to leverage vast amounts of real-world data utilizing advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques to address the growing challenges in understanding and predicting organismal resilience. In collaboration with academic and research institutions across the greater New York City area, North America, Europe, Asia, and beyond, NSCORE will facilitate interdisciplinary synthesis through working groups and conferences that bring together experts and students. Central to NSCORE’s mission is the education and training of the next generation of computational organismal biologists, to be achieved through a hybrid interdisciplinary education program for students and educators, from K-12 through university. By integrating across diverse disciplines, NSCORE will transform how scientists study and predict organismal responses to change and make recommendations to improve resilience. Ultimately, its innovative programs and collaborations will empower a new generation of scientists to address one of the most critical and growing challenges of our time.

Responsibilities

Finance & Operations

• Work with A&S and University-wide offices to manage and report on a $2-5M annual operating budget, including monitoring subaward agreements and tracking milestones for partner universities and partnering organizations.
• Develop individualized trackers, summaries, and other documents to help facilitate discussions and decision-making on the Center’s budget.
• Review and approve spending and funding requests; designate the appropriate funding source for spending and purchases; and oversee the budget officer's complex daily, monthly, and detailed annual tracking of these expenditures.
• Oversee annual budgeting and re-budgeting activities and report on financial affairs to the federal agency sponsor on an annual and as-needed basis and communicate sponsor requests and other updates to Executive Committee and University partners.
• Manager reporting on the project to NSF in coordination with the Sponsored Project Finance team and the Controller’s office

 Staff & Project Management

• Supervise at least two staff members who support the Center’s financial management requirements and broader impact initiatives, including education, outreach, and knowledge transfer.
• Set performance tasks and objectives, motivate personnel to achieve desired results, review work products, meet regularly for one-on-one check-ins and all-hands staff meetings, and ensure necessary staff support of faculty efforts across research, education, broadening participation, and knowledge transfer.
• Administer the Center’s seed funding program, including overseeing the proposal review process and disbursement of funds to awardees.
• Facilitate the recruitment and supervision of postdoctoral, graduate, and undergraduate researchers, and work-study students.

 Leadership Support

• Staff the Center’s monthly Leadership Team meetings, quarterly Advisory Board meetings, and staff all other advisory and subcommittee meetings.
• Ensure that Center faculty and leadership have the administrative support necessary to achieve excellence in intellectual activities, societal impact, and overall operations.
• Represent the Center Director’s and Leadership Team’s vision and serve as a liaison to faculty, schools, and administrative units of Columbia University, including senior University leadership, as well as to the partnering Universities.
• Coordinate the engagement, integration, and quality of reporting deliverables from all members of the Center’s team of faculty, trainees, non-academic institutional partners, and administrators.

 Communications, Events & Special Projects

• Spearhead special projects as directed by the Center Director and Leadership Team, including but not limited to external communications, partnership development, event planning, new program design, and/or personnel recruitment.
• Manage the Center’s internal and external communications with the Educational/Outreach Coordinator, ensuring alignment with the Center Director and Leadership Team’s strategic priorities.
• Oversee Center-wide events, including the annual meeting, funding-agency site visits, workshops, and outreach, including industry partnership events.
• Other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree and 5-7 years of related experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Graduate degree, preferably in engineering or sciences, data science, business administration, and/or public administration.

Other Requirements

• At least 5-7 years of management and organizational leadership and change management experience, including a strong commitment to supervising and developing staff combined with the ability to plan and manage multiple diverse projects, work collaboratively across functions, levels, and departments toward shared objectives, and integrate resources on a timely and organized basis.
• Experience within a complex and matrixed enterprise.
• Demonstrated operational and financial management experience, including formulating and executing a strategic plan in support of growing and scaling an organization in terms of staff, budget, activity, and impact.
• Experience or familiarity with the federal grantmaking landscape and government funding policies and guidelines.
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically, to anticipate future consequences and trends, and to incorporate them into organizational planning processes.
• Ability to effectively collaborate with diverse personnel and partners, notably those from academia, industry, non-profits, and the city and federal government, with the ability to convey a vision of the Center’s strategic future.
• Exceptional interpersonal, organizational, and oral and written communication skills.
• Ability to consider multiple points of view and to make sometimes difficult decisions.
• A working knowledge of the higher ed environment and academia.
• Track record of handling sensitive information with the highest level of professionalism and confidentiality.
• Strong personal interest in urban technologies.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

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