Senior AVP Research and Innovation
texas southern universityHouston (TX)
Senior AVP Research and Innovation
Posted today
texas southern universityHouston (TX)
SENIORITY
Manager
About the role
Senior AVP Research and Innovation The Senior Associate Vice President for Research & Innovation (SAVP-R&I) serves as a senior member of the university's research leadership team and provides strategic, operational, and administrative leadership for the institution's research and innovation enterprise. The position supports the Vice President for Research & Innovation in developing and executing the university's research strategy, strengthening sponsored research activity, expanding external funding, advancing interdisciplinary research, fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, and enhancing the university's national research profile. The SAVP-R&I provides leadership across research development, sponsored programs, research administration, compliance, research infrastructure, faculty research development, technology and innovation initiatives, strategic partnerships, and institutional research priorities. The position works closely with academic deans, department chairs, faculty, research center directors, external partners, government agencies, foundations, corporations, and other stakeholders to increase the scale, competitiveness, and impact of the university's research portfolio. The incumbent will play a critical role in advancing institutional priorities associated with achieving and sustaining Texas University Fund (TUF) eligibility and R1-level research activity and competitiveness. The position will strengthen the University's research infrastructure, expand extramural funding opportunities, enhance institutional research capacity, and foster an environment that promotes high-impact scholarship, innovation, and research excellence.
Essential duties include:
Assisting the Vice President for Research & Innovation in developing and implementing the university's comprehensive research and innovation strategy.
Providing strategic oversight and leadership for the development and expansion of the university's externally sponsored research portfolio.
Leading strategies to strengthen faculty competitiveness for external funding.
Collaborating with university leadership to strengthen research administration systems, policies, procedures, and infrastructure.
Developing and advancing strategies that connect university research with innovation, entrepreneurship, technology development, and commercialization.
Providing strategic oversight and support for university research centers, institutes, laboratories, and interdisciplinary research initiatives.
Developing and maintaining relationships with federal agencies, state agencies, corporations, foundations, academic institutions, research organizations, and community partners.
Establishing systems for tracking and evaluating institutional research performance.
Assisting with the development and management of the Division of Research & Innovation's operating and strategic budgets.
Providing leadership, supervision, mentoring, and professional development for assigned staff.
Required education:
Earned doctorate or terminal degree from an accredited institution in a relevant academic or professional discipline. Required knowledge, skills, and abilities include: knowledge of relevant legal and regulatory requirements, federal auditing standards, research policies, procedures, and practices, conflict of interest and ethics requirements, other job-related software and systems, research security, international research collaborations, and emerging federal research requirements; skilled in both verbal and written communication, securing high levels of research grants and awards, academic leadership and team building, sustaining high performing and effective teams, managing staff and their performance, training and development of early career academics, strategic and operational management and planning, financial planning and resource allocation, leading and successfully initiating and implementing change; ability to maintain the security or integrity of critical infrastructure.
Core competencies include:
executive leadership and strategic vision, research development and sponsored programs, institutional transformation, strategic planning and implementation, external funding development, faculty research development, research administration, research compliance and integrity, innovation and entrepreneurship, partnership development, budget and resource management, data-informed decision-making, change management, team leadership and talent development, communication and relationship management. Success in this position will be evaluated based on measurable progress in areas including growth in total sponsored research funding and research expenditures, increased federal and foundation funding, growth in competitive proposal submissions and awards, increased faculty participation in sponsored research, development of interdisciplinary and large-scale research initiatives, growth and performance of research centers and institutes, strengthening of research infrastructure and administrative systems, increased research productivity and scholarly impact, expansion of industry, government, foundation, and academic partnerships, advancement toward institutional TUF and R1-level research goals, improved efficiency, compliance, and customer service within the research enterprise.
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