Executive Center Director

Stanford University School of Medicine; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

The Stanford Innovative Neurotherapeutics Center (SINC) at Stanford University and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital seeks an Executive Center Director (Academic Operations Manager 2) to oversee administrative and operations functions for a major translational program. You will lead staff and partner with faculty leadership to advance research and teaching.

The role emphasizes budgeting, multi-year planning, grants/contracts management, stakeholder engagement across academia, hospitals, donors,

Qualifications

• Five years of relevant administrative and financial management experience.
• Experience running a center or translational/academic program.
• Proven budgeting and forecasting experience.
• Ability to lead cross-disciplinary teams and engage internal/external stakeholders.
• Familiarity with clinical translation and regulatory workflows (IRB, GCP, FDA).
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.

Responsibilities

• Direct staff and provide leadership to achieve goals and vision of the organization and day-to-day operations.
• Guide faculty supervisors in interpreting HR policies and programs.
• Develop business plans and infrastructure to support research and teaching; review multi-year plans.
• Interpret and ensure compliance with university policies; propose new guidelines.
• Oversee finances across all sources for annual budget cycle; forecast and report.
• Coordinate grants and contracts; ensure compliance with requirements.
• Represent the unit's operations within the organization and to external constituencies.

Skills

Leadership

Budgeting

Fundraising

Stakeholder engagement

Communication

Financial forecasting

Grants administration

Strategic planning

Education

Bachelor's degree

PhD in Neuroscience

MPH

MBA

Job description

Job Description

The Stanford Innovative Neurotherapeutics Center, or SINC, is a new center at Stanford University and the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital dedicated to advancing treatments for devastating neuropsychiatric disorders. Stanford University is seeking an Executive Center Director (Academic Operations Manager 2) to provide management and coordination of administrative and operations-related functions for departments with substantial impact within a school. This position will manage staff to achieve the research and teaching mission, goals and objectives of the unit. They will partner with and/or influence faculty leadership on departmental affairs

Desired Qualifications

• 5–10 years of experience running a center or similarly scaled translational/academic program, with a proven track record in strategic planning, multi-year budgeting, staffing leadership, and operations management.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-disciplinary teams and engage with internal and external stakeholders (faculty, hospitals, industry, donors) to implement large-scale programs.
• PhD or graduate degree in Neuroscience preferred. MPH or MBA strongly preferred to complement scientific leadership with health systems/public health or business administration expertise.
• Clinical translation experience preferred, with familiarity moving research from discovery to clinical application and understanding of regulatory/translational workflows (IRB, GCP, FDA).
• Strong track record of managing budgets, fundraising, grants/contracts, and financial forecasting; experience with donor engagement and external partnerships is a plus.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to influence at multiple organizational levels and represent the center externally when needed.

Responsibilities

Core Duties

:

• Direct staff and provide leadership to achieve goals and vision of the organization and the day-to-day operations. Responsible for hiring and retaining staff, career coaching, personal development for direct reports and accountable for the performance of employees.
• May independently or in collaboration with human resources managers, guide faculty supervisors in the interpretation and implementation of human resources policies, procedures and programs.
• Develop business plans and infrastructure to support research and teaching. Provide analysis and review of multi-year plans, including providing alternative methods for achieving goals when necessary. Influence faculty leadership on specific recommendations for current operation and for future development of the organization and lead process improvement.
• Interpret, implement and ensure compliance with university academic and administrative policies and procedures within an operating unit. Recommend new internal policies, guidelines and procedures.
• Oversee and/or manage the finances across all sources for the annual budget cycle, including developing, monitoring, analyzing forecasting and reporting.
• Manage and coordinate grants and contracts for the department. Ensure compliance with institutional and external requirements.
• Represent the unit’s business and academic operations within the organization. May represent the organization to external constituencies.

Minimum Education

Bachelor’s degree

Minimum Experience

five years of relevant experience in administrative and financial management, or combination of education and relevant experience.

Knowledge, Skills And Abilities

• Demonstrated leadership and supervisory skills including conflict resolution.
• Excellent planning and organizational skills.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Strong financial expertise in accounting, budget planning and financial forecasting.
• Strong expertise in grants and contract administration.
• Strong negotiation and interpersonal skills.
• Attention to detail and accuracy.
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills.
• Strong expertise in business and management computer applications and databases.
• Strong knowledge of industry standards and/or regulatory requirements.
• Subject matter expertise for area(s) of responsibility.
• Ability to multi-task and manage deadlines.