Director, Research & Impact - Planetary Solutions

Position Focus :

The newly created office of the vice provost for planetary solutions is responsible for accelerating and coordinating research, training, and activities in climate and sustainability across University boundaries.

The goal of the office is to promote and transform Yale’s capacity to produce, transmit, advance, and operationalize knowledge to realize solutions to the planet’s most pressing challenges.

This work spans Yale’s academic mission and operations.

The Director, Research & Impact for planetary solutions will report to and work closely with the vice provost for planetary solutions.

The person will contribute to building and managing relationships with faculty and staff across the University to promote and accelerate and coordinate the translation of planetary solutions-related knowledge from inquiry to positive impact both on and off campus.

This person will facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations, supporting synergistic opportunities for knowledge generation, advancement, and implementation across the wide range of topics relevant to planetary solutions.

The person in this role will identify leading research teams and stakeholders relevant to planetary solutions and work closely with them to shape strategies to achieve transformative and impactful generation, advancement, and implementation of their efforts, particularly in the seed grant proposal development stage and when seeking external support leveraging seed grant funds.

Working with both the broad community of Yale researchers and external partners, this individual will ensure tailored application of proven Innovation and Implementation Sciences methods and tools where applicable.

Internal partners will include all Yale research groups, and external partners will include industrial entities, non-profit, and governmental organizations.

Develops, administers, and manages the seed grant process including refining the request for proposals, proposal team formation and proposal development, and peer review process.

Identify internal and external partners with planetary solutions-relevant needs for project seeding. Facilitate and support seed grant project implementation and advance impact through planetary solutions partnerships and networks using the proven Innovation and Implementation Sciences methods and tools.

In collaboration with Yale Ventures, establish and support Industrial Roundtable(s) on planetary solutions-relevant topics.

Identify relevant external funding opportunities for planetary solutions research and develop necessary relationships with program managers at federal agencies or philanthropic organizations.

Develop and assess quantitative and qualitative metrics to evaluate the impact of planetary solutions research. Support the development of proposals in response to funding opportunities that will support the interdisciplinary work of planetary solutions.

Prepare stewardship reports for gifts that support planetary solutions research and research-related activities as well as materials that contribute to annual report creation for the planetary solutions office.

Contribute to development of promotional articles and news releases highlighting the research content produced through seed grants.

Manage specific budgeting needs for this work in collaboration with the Vice Provost for Planetary Solutions.

Essential Duties

1. Develops, supervises and oversees the execution and implementation of detailed project plans in concert with stakeholders.

2. Manages several major projects simultaneously and ensures that the design, testing, training, documentation and prioritization objectives are met.

3. Refines and re-sequences during the implementation and execution phases of multiple projects, as needed. 4. Works closely with senior business analysts, technical professionals, end users and project stakeholders during the requirements, solutions design and implementation phases to develop detailed project plans for implementation.

5. Supervises risk assessment, communication planning, development of performance metrics and project entry criteria. Creates detailed project plans including timelines, budgets, and resource allocation to ensure successful project completion.

6. Manages stakeholder expectations through all phases of the project and ensures stakeholders, senior management and staff are working towards successful completion.

Manages client expectations and provides issue / risk identification and escalation pathways. 7. May supervise and train junior project managers in developing detailed project plans.

8. Leads the implementation team of cross-functional project and technical resources. 9. Designs, develops, and executes communication systems to ensure effective exchange of information between project stakeholders, senior management, and staff.

10. Resolves complex project issues that involve representatives from multiple organizations. 11. Complies with and enforces standard policies and procedures.

12. May perform other duties as assigned.

Required Education and Experience

Bachelor’s Degree in a related discipline. Eight or more years of experience in a related area or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Required Skill / Ability 1 :

Demonstrated experience leading administratively and politically complex projects, requiring the coordination of multiple participants and stakeholders at both senior faculty and staff levels.

Required Skill / Ability 2 :

Demonstrated experience in sustainability and environmental policy.

Required Skill / Ability 3 :

Proven experience in finance and budgeting.

Required Skill / Ability 4 :

Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including presentations to senior-level audiences.

Required Skill / Ability 5 :

Proven experience in facilitating and managing interdisciplinary research in higher education settings.

Preferred Education, Experience and Skills :

Master’s degree in a field relevant to planetary solutions. Demonstrated experience managing staff. Proven experience in research administration and project management, with a preference for higher education research settings.

Drug Screen

Health Screening

Background Check Requirements

All candidates for employment will be subject to pre-employment background screening for this position, which may include motor vehicle, DOT certification, drug testing and credit checks based on the position description and job requirements.

All offers are contingent upon the successful completion of the background check. For additional information on the background check requirements and process visit "Learn about background checks" under the Applicant Support Resources section of Careers on the It's Your Yale website.

COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement

The University maintains policies pertaining to COVID-19. All faculty, staff, students, and trainees are required to comply with these policies, which may be found here :

Posting Disclaimer

The intent of this job description is to provide a representative summary of the essential functions that will be required of the position and should not be construed as a declaration of specific duties and responsibilities of the particular position.

Employees will be assigned specific job-related duties through their hiring departments.