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Executive Director, Fralin Life Sciences Institute

Employer
Virginia Tech
Location
Virginia, United States
Salary
Salary Not Specified
Date posted
Apr 19, 2022


Job Description

About the position
Virginia Tech is seeking an outstanding experienced leader to serve as the Executive Director of the Fralin Life Sciences Institute (FLSI). This is an extraordinary opportunity to join the senior research and innovation leadership team at Virginia Tech. Reporting to the Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation, the Executive Director will have the opportunity to shape the Institute’s strategic direction through establishing priorities and leveraging existing strengths and resources including its talented faculty and cutting-edge facilities. The successful candidate must be a compelling leader whose passion for the Institute’s research and scholarly missions will energize faculty, students, and staff to achieve excellence in research, education, and outreach. The new Executive Director must be a highly respected scholar who is operationally savvy and knowledgeable about cutting-edge research, funding opportunities and trends, and understands what it takes to continue to sustain and enhance a thriving research enterprise that supports Virginia Tech’s Beyond Boundaries vision.

Executive Director, FLSI - VT.pdf

As a member of Virginia Tech’s senior leadership, the Executive Director closely collaborates with senior leaders of the University, establishing priorities and executing initiatives through regular engagements as a member of the President’s Council, the Academic Affairs Council, and the Research and Innovation Council. As one of four investment institutes at Virginia Tech, FLSI’s collaborations and partnerships, within and across colleges and other areas of the university are essential to the success of the Institute and its affiliated faculty.

About the Fralin Life Sciences Institute
The FLSI is an instrument of strategic university investment in research whose mission is to enhance the quality, quantity, and competitiveness of life and environmental science research, education, and outreach within Virginia Tech. The Institute creates and facilitates opportunities for cooperative and productive research among faculty across the university through targeted investment of seed funding, shared research facilities, and laboratory space. FLSI has approximately 350 faculty affiliates across all nine Virginia Tech colleges, and supports hundreds of graduate students and postdocs. Among the Institute’s major investments are four research centers: Global Change Center; Center for Coastal Studies; Center for Emerging, Zoonotic, and Arthropod-borne Pathogens; and the Translational Plant Sciences Center. With approximately 40 full time employees, the Institute currently manages five major research facilities. The Institute is responsible for enabling cutting-edge research through identifying, obtaining, operating, and coordinating core services that include mass spectrometry, genomics, imaging, and state-of-the-art high-performance computing. New investments are expected to embrace systems approaches that take full advantage of the interface of theoretical, experimental, and computational science. Major initiatives, like the growth in health and biomedical sciences, including growth at the Roanoke Health Sciences and Technology Campus and new partnerships with Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC; the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus; the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative; and the Virginia Tech National Security Institute, promise to accelerate growth in Virginia Tech’s research enterprise.

About Virginia Tech
Located in Blacksburg, Virginia, with growing campuses in Roanoke and the Washington D.C. metro area, Virginia Tech is a top 30 public research institution. With over $556 million in annual research expenditures, including rapidly expanding research and innovation capabilities across Research Frontiers, Virginia Tech is a national leader in research that is diverse, dynamic, and impactful. Major initiatives, like the growth in health and biomedical sciences, including growth at the Roanoke Health Sciences and Technology Campus and new partnerships with Children’s National Hospital in Washington, DC; the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus; the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative; and the Virginia Tech National Security Institute, promise to accelerate growth in Virginia Tech’s research enterprise. Embodying its motto of Ut Prosim (That I may serve) and delivering on its land-grant promise, Virginia Tech’s research enterprise spans medicine to physics, engineering to humanities, and agriculture to the arts. It is broad in its sponsorship, partnership, discipline, and impact. Virginia Tech is a just and inclusive community that welcomes, encourages, and supports individuals who desire to contribute to and benefit from the institution’s missions of learning, discovery, and engagement.

Required Qualifications

An earned doctorate is required. The successful candidate must possess a record of recognized achievement in research, scholarly and educational pursuits, and service meriting appointment at the rank of Professor at Virginia Tech.

Desired experience and qualifications of the successful candidate include:
● Served as a visionary, inspirational, and strategic leader with knowledge and experience leading research organizations, for example in academic institutions, research institutes, and/or centers or their equivalent.
● Proven ability to work across organizational boundaries with a variety of stakeholders to build and maintain relationships.
● Demonstrated commitment to diversity that supports a culture of inclusion and climate of respect coupled with an enthusiasm to foster and promote a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment.
● High level of diplomacy, discretion, and problem-solving skills.
● Ability to develop, communicate, and execute a vision for a research organization to grow its portfolio, reputation, and impact.
● History of significant and well-funded research, scholarly achievement, and distinguished international reputation in the candidate’s specific field.
● Proven track record in management and budgetary responsibility.
● Demonstrated clear communication and negotiation skills.
● Appreciation for, and experience in, faculty mentoring, particularly supporting junior faculty in engaging in sponsored research.
● Experience managing research resources, including seed funding, faculty support, laboratory, and office space.
● Respect for shared governance and experience advocating for faculty, staff, and students.

Appointment Type

Regular

Salary Information

Commensurate with experience

Review Date

June 6, 2022

Additional Information

Required application materials (please upload documents to the application)
● Full length curriculum vitae
● Application letter describing interests in the role, and addressing why the applicant is well qualified for the position (no more than four pages)
● Diversity statement describing the candidate’s awareness and philosophy toward DEI, including examples from their past positions and thoughts on future ways to advance DEI (no more than two pages)
● Names of a minimum of four references (will not be contacted without the applicant’s permission).

The successful candidate will be required to have a criminal conviction check.

About Virginia Tech

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech pushes the boundaries of knowledge by taking a hands-on, transdisciplinary approach to preparing scholars to be leaders and problem-solvers. A comprehensive land-grant institution that enhances the quality of life in Virginia and throughout the world, Virginia Tech is an inclusive community dedicated to knowledge, discovery, and creativity. The university offers more than 280 majors to a diverse enrollment of more than 36,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in eight undergraduate colleges , a school of medicine , a veterinary medicine college, Graduate School , and Honors College . The university has a significant presence across Virginia, including the Innovation Campus in Northern Virginia; the Health Sciences and Technology Campus in Roanoke; sites in Newport News and Richmond; and numerous Extension offices and research centers . A leading global research institution, Virginia Tech conducts more than $500 million in research annually.

Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants on the basis of age, color, disability, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, or military status, or otherwise discriminate against employees or applicants who inquire about, discuss, or disclose their compensation or the compensation of other employees or applicants, or on any other basis protected by law.

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Sandra Burks at sburks@vt.edu during regular business hours at least 10 business days prior to the event.

Advertised: April 19, 2022
Applications close:

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