Program Coordinator

Stanford University; Palo Alto (CA); Hybrid; USD 83,000 - 98,000; Full time

Job summary

The Stanford University Doerr School of Sustainability's Sustainability Accelerator seeks a full-time Program Coordinator on its Operations team. You will back two Managing Directors and four flagship research portfolios, coordinating calendars, travel, meetings, and cross-team communication.

We value curiosity, adaptability, entrepreneurial spirit, and strong stakeholder management as you help move research from lab to policy. Hybrid work with several in-office days is available.

Qualifications

• Administrative experience provides foundation for this role.
• Curiosity and adaptability are essential.
• Ability to manage shifting priorities with incomplete information.

Responsibilities

• Manage complex calendars across time zones and scheduling; resolve conflicts and coordinate needs of Accelerator members, leadership, and faculty researchers.
• Support domestic and international travel by providing policy guidance and coordinating logistics.
• Serve as primary administrative contact for two Managing Directors and four flagship research projects.
• Participate in Flagship team meetings: build agendas, capture decisions, and track next steps.

Skills

Curiosity

Adaptability

Entrepreneurial mindset

Proactive approach

Solutions oriented

Interpersonal skills

Stakeholder management

Cross-functional work

Sustainability interest

Job description

This position has been deemed critical by the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability Dean’s Office and is exempt from the hiring pause.

This position is a full-time position based on Stanford’s main campus with consideration given to the option for a hybrid work schedule (partially onsite 3 or more days a week), subject to operational need.

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S.We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa.

About Us

The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability strives to create a future when humans and nature thrive in concert and in perpetuity. The school is made up of a three-part structure to drive global impact: Our academic departments and programs educate students and create new knowledge across areas of research that are crucial for advancing the long-term prosperity of the planet and people; Institutes bridge scholarship at Stanford and beyond, bringing multiple viewpoints to bear on urgent challenges; The Sustainability Accelerator drives new policy and technology solutions through a worldwide network of partners who work with our teams to develop solutions at a global scale. The school is dedicated to creating and supporting a community with the richness of experience and background needed to create solutions that benefit all people, particularly those most affected by environmental damage and climate change.

For more information on the school, click here.

The SDSS Sustainability Accelerator (the Sustainability Accelerator) serves as a launchpad for sustainability solutions, turning innovative ideas into transformative and scalable technologies and policies that will substantially improve the quality of human life and our planet. The Sustainability Accelerator is rooted in the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and works across the University and with external partners to drive solutions from the lab into the world.

The Accelerator is seeking a full-time Program Coordinator to join our operations team and serve as the primary administrative and programmatic partner to four portfolios of faculty research projects (“Flagships”). The role supports two Managing Directors, each responsible for two Flagships, with time allocated roughly evenly between the two portfolios. The role is a member of the Accelerator Operations team, and works in close partnership with the Managing Directors to understand and support the day-to-day needs of their portfolios, while its manager provides overall supervision, workload prioritization, professional development, and coordination across the four Flagships. Success in this role comes from building close, proactive partnerships with the Flagship teams—keeping coordination moving, anticipating project needs, and making it easier for faculty, researchers, and Accelerator staff to do their work.

We care not only about what you have done, but how you work. Administrative experience provides an important foundation, while curiosity, adaptability, and sound judgment will be equally important for success. The strongest candidate will be comfortable with shifting priorities and incomplete information, will look for opportunities to improve processes and reduce unnecessary manual work, and will pick up and apply new tools, including AI and automation tools, to problems that do not yet have a defined process. The research portfolios change as the science and the partnerships change, and the role changes with them.

What We’re Looking For:

• Curiosity and adaptability above all. Experience is helpful but not the primary requirement; we care more about how quickly you learn, how you handle changing priorities, and how you exercise judgment when information is incomplete.
• An entrepreneurial, proactive, and solutions-oriented approach.
• Strong interpersonal and stakeholder-management skills, with the ability to support team members and external partners with professionalism and empathy even as priorities shift.
• Comfort working across four distinct research portfolios at once, managing day-to-day priorities independently and escalating competing demands when needed.
• Interest in the substance of the work: sustainability research, and the process of moving it from the lab into policy and practice.

Your Responsibilities will include:

• Managing complex calendars with limited consultation; resolving scheduling conflicts; negotiating and managing the needs of individuals or groups requesting time with the Accelerator members, Stanford leadership, and faculty researchers; including running scheduling polls across large groups and time zones.
• Support domestic and international business travel by providing policy guidance, coordinating complex logistics when needed, and processing associated travel reimbursements.
• Serving as the primary administrative support contact for two Managing Directors and their four flagship(s) of faculty research projects at the Accelerator.
• Participate actively in Flagship team meetings: build agendas with Flagship leads, capture decisions and owners, track next steps, and facilitate timely follow-through.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS*:

• Constantly perform desk-based computer tasks.
• Frequently sitting.
• Occasionally stand/walk, reach/work above shoulders, grasp lightly/fine manipulation, grasp forcefully, use a telephone, sort/file paperwork or parts, lift/carry/push/pull objects that weigh up to 10 pounds.
• Rarely twist/bend/stoop/squat, kneel/crawl.

* - Consistent with its obligations under the law, the University will provide reasonable accommodation to any employee with a disability who requires accommodation to perform the essential functions of the job.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

WORK STANDARDS:

• Interpersonal Skills: Demonstrates the ability to work well with Stanford colleagues and clients and with external organizations.
• Promote Culture of Safety: Demonstrates commitment to personal responsibility and value for safety; communicates safety concerns; uses and promotes safe behaviors based on training and lessons learned.
• Subject to and expected to comply with all applicable University policies and procedures, including but not limited to the personnel policies and other policies found in the University's Administrative Guide, http://adminguide.stanford.edu.

The expected pay range for this position is $83,404 to $97,850 per annum.