Executive Director, Human-Robot Co-Adaptation Center

University of Texas; Austin, Northern (TX, KY); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Texas at Austin, UT MAIN CAMPUS, invites applications for the Managing Director of the Center for Human and Robot Co-Adaption. As the senior-most staff member, you will partner with the Center Director and Leadership Team to execute the strategic vision across six universities and NSF-funded HERO initiatives.

You will oversee operations, governance, and cross-center coordination, build programmatic processes, and guide staff across engineering, outreach, and education,

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and five (5) years of program management, operations, and/or support of strategic initiatives.
• Experience managing a team of staff with distinct roles and expertise to achieve a joint large project mission.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with personnel with a wide range of backgrounds and different stakeholders.
• Ability to strategically manage, assess, and lead efforts to meet long-term goals.
• Ability to connect, structure, and track short- and intermediate- term activities to long-term goals.
• Self-motivation to acquire new skills and knowledge, and to form strong interpersonal connections.
• Familiarity with, and willingness to assess and adapt the latest tools and technologies as may be helpful for the work.

Responsibilities

• Center Leadership and Strategic Coordination Represent the team in presenting the vision, activities, and achievements of the Center to visitors, university leadership, members of NSF, news and media, and government representatives
• Assist Center Director and Leadership Team in garnering cross-center coordination, alignment, and ownership of the vision of the Center.
• This will involve getting to know the team, facilitating connections between members as needed, identifying unique interest- and expertise- based opportunities for the Center
• Assist in best matching Center resources and personnel to the activities, so as to best meet the goals of the Center
• Center Operations and Execution Provide oversight for of Center activities, supporting cross-program alignment with key Center goals and objectives, milestones and deliverables, reporting, and dissemination.
• Establish Center-wide processes that maximize cross-center coordination and synergies and connect functions with processes
• Help boards and committees operate effectively, including the External Advisory Committee, the Industry Advisory Board, the HERO Facility Board, the Ethics Board, and the Strategic Growth Council.
• Support committee leadership, goal and agenda setting, cross-project communication, and membership turnover.
• Organize major Center events including annual strategic planning, site visits, panels, meetings, and other Center-wide activities.
• Provide operational direction and oversight to Center Staff: Hardware engineer, Software engineer, Outreach coordinator, Education coordinator
• Program and Project Management Build the project management infrastructure to track progress, identify risks that require additional supports or would result in project delays, and maintain visibility and ownership of all major activities
• Track commitments, milestones, risks, decisions, and action items across teams and activities
• Identify opportunities and needs for engaging Center staff, including engineers, education and outreach coordinator, with research teams to facilitate progress
• Assist Center leadership with assessing whether activities are progressing towards Y1/Y3/Y5 goals
• Identify programmatic problems and challenges, and facilitate resolution with the appropriate groups and members of the leadership team
• Financial, Contractual, and Resource Coordination Work with the Financial Analyst, UT sponsored-projects offices, and partner institutions on coordinating budgets, subawards, expenditures and contracts.
• Support forecasting and management of Center-wide resources.
• Coordinate administrative aspects of strategic reallocations and new initiatives.
• Compliance, Reporting, and Institutional Coordination Coordinate NSF reporting and collection of Center-wide metrics/outcomes.
• Coordinate IRB/research-compliance processes across HERO sites and institutions.
• Maintain records and documentation needed for annual reviews, advisory committees, and public dissemination.
• Coordinate with legal, sponsored-projects, research-compliance, communications, and other administrative offices as necessary.

Skills

Program management

Team leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic planning

Adaptability to new tools and tech

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

The University of Texas at Austin, UT MAIN CAMPUS, invites applications for the Managing Director of the Center for Human and Robot Co-Adaption. As the senior-most staff member, you will partner with the Center Director and Leadership Team to execute the strategic vision across six universities and NSF-funded HERO initiatives.

You will oversee operations, governance, and cross-center coordination, build programmatic processes, and guide staff across engineering, outreach, and education,