The Clark Center for Geospatial Analytics (Clark CGA), a multidisciplinary research center within the School of Climate, Environment and Society at Clark University, seeks an Assistant Director to help lead the programmatic and operational growth of the Center.

Reporting to the Director, the Assistant Director plays a key leadership role in shaping strategy, overseeing budgets and operations, advancing programs and partnerships, and supporting high-impact research and academic initiatives. This position works closely with faculty, researchers, university partners, and external collaborators to expand the Center's reach and effectiveness.

This is an excellent opportunity for a strategic, operationally minded professional who enjoys building programs, improving systems, and supporting mission-driven research and education.

Position Responsibilities

Financial and Budget Management

Run annual budgeting and re-budgeting activities and prepare reports on financial affairs every quarter.
Innovate and create individualized trackers, summaries, and other documents to help facilitate discussions and decision-making on Clark CGA's budget.
Prepare financial reports to funders and the University budget office on an annual and as-needed basis and communicate sponsor requests and other updates to the University partners.
Facilitate the recruitment and hiring of staff, and postdoctoral, student researchers.
Proactively troubleshoot financial and budget issues as they arise.
Lead the preparation of Clark CGA Annual report.

Leadership Support

Proactively ensure that Clark CGA staff and leadership have the administrative and operational support necessary to achieve excellence in intellectual activities, societal impact, and overall operations including paperwork and administrative processes related to research collaborations and grant activities.
Proactively execute operational changes and policies to improve and streamline operations.
Provide Clark CGA leadership with strategic recommendations, where appropriate.
Facilitate integration and engagement from all Clark CGA staff, student researchers, University faculty, and non-academic institutional partners, and administrators.
Represent Clark CGA at relevant committee meetings within and outside CES to, and act as the liaison to the University administrators, faculty and staff in coordination with Clark CGA Director.

Marketing and Communication

Serve as internal focal point for marketing and communication activities of Clark CGA.
Partner with the CES Communications Manager to develop a marketing and communications plan for Clark CGA in consultation with University Marketing & Communications team.
Implement Clark CGA's marketing and communication activities in alignment with the CES communications strategy and deliver a monthly calendar of communication efforts including but not limited to social media posts, articles and blogs on Clark CGA website and ClarkNOW, a quarterly newsletter and promotion of Clark CGA's work across the university marketing and communication initiatives.

Special Operations, Events, and Projects

Spearhead special projects as directed by the CGA Director, including but not limited to Annual Retreat, Annual Open House, partnership development, event planning, new program design, and/or personnel recruitment.
Oversee the administrative component of Clark CGA professional degree programs.
Facilitate joint initiatives and expand impact through strong and productive relationships with key business, academic, and government leaders both locally and globally.
Represent Clark CGA at meetings and other events. In coordination with other staff members, develop new initiatives to foster collaborative inter- and transdisciplinary programming (e.g., networking, seminars), including broadening Clark CGA's activity across underrepresented disciplines.

General Operations

Working with University administration, proactively address and manage ad-hoc operational tasks and issues as they arise, and assign these tasks to other staff to meet needs. These tasks may be related to: budget, office and space management; equipment and supplies; catering management; travel management; and more.

Requirements:

Required Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree required, Graduate degree highly preferred.
Minimum 3 years of professional experience, including experience with planning and managing multiple diverse projects, working collaboratively across functions, and levels, toward shared objective, and with a strong commitment to supervising staff.
Demonstrated operational and financial management experience.
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 federal government.
Demonstrated ability to work autonomously and efficiently manage quick-turnaround tasks, often on short notice, with a proactive, hands-on approach.
Demonstrated project management experience.
Strong interpersonal, organizational, and verbal and written communication skills.
A working knowledge of the higher education environment and federal granting mechanisms is essential.
Ability to learn new concepts and technologies beyond the area of core knowledge.
Demonstrated proficiency in Microsoft Office 365.
Demonstrated proficiency with commonly used productivity software and digital collaboration platforms (e.g. Slack, Zoom), as well as the ability to efficiently utilize a wide range of web-based applications and task management tools (e.g. Asana).

Clark Center for Geospatial Analytics jobs

Assistant Director