Executive Center Director

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

Job summary

Stanford University’s SINC seeks an Executive Center Director (Academic Operations Manager 2) to lead the administrative and operational functions for a translation-focused center within Stanford University and the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. This role manages staff, guides HR processes, and partners with faculty leadership to advance research and teaching objectives.

The ideal candidate will have 5+ years in center-level management, strong budgeting and fundraising experience, and the

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree as a minimum education.
• Five years of relevant experience in administrative and financial management.
• Experience leading cross-disciplinary teams and managing staff.
• Ability to influence faculty leadership and external stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Direct staff and provide leadership to achieve goals and day-to-day operations.
• Guide faculty supervisors in interpretation and implementation of HR policies and programs.
• Develop business plans and infrastructure to support research and teaching; review multi-year plans and lead process improvement.
• Ensure compliance with university academic and administrative policies and procedures.
• Oversee finances across all sources for the annual budget cycle, including forecasting and reporting.
• Manage and coordinate grants and contracts for the department; ensure compliance with requirements.
• Represent the unit’s business and academic operations with internal and external constituencies.

Skills

Leadership

Budgeting

Strategic planning

Communication

Stakeholder engagement

Grants & contracts administration

Process improvement

Analytical thinking

Education

Bachelor's degree

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 visionof the organization and the day-to-day operations. Responsible forhiring and retaining staff, career coaching, personal development fordirect reports and accountable for the performance ofemployees.

• May independently or in collaboration with human resourcesmanagers, guide faculty supervisors in the interpretation andimplementation of human resources policies, procedures andprograms.

• Develop business plans and infrastructure to support research andteaching. Provide analysis and review of multi-year plans, includingproviding alternative methods for achieving goals when necessary.Influence faculty leadership on specific recommendations for currentoperation and for future development of the organization and leadprocess improvement.

• Interpret, implement and ensure compliance with universityacademic and administrative policies and procedures within an operatingunit. Recommend new internal policies, guidelines andprocedures.

• Oversee and/or manage the finances across all sources for theannual budget cycle, including developing, monitoring, analyzingforecasting 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 theorganization. May represent the organization to externalconstituencies.

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree

Minimum Experience:

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

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Demonstrated leadership and supervisory skills including conflictresolution.

• Excellent planning and organizational skills.

• Excellent communication skills.

• Strong financial expertise in accounting, budget planning andfinancial 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 applicationsand databases.

• Strong knowledge of industry standards and/or regulatoryrequirements.

• Subject matter expertise for area(s) of responsibility.

• Ability to multi-task and manage deadlines.