Job Openings >> University of Rhode Island- Founding Director, IT Research Computing Services
University of Rhode Island- Founding Director, IT Research Computing Services
Summary
Title:University of Rhode Island- Founding Director, IT Research Computing Services
ID:1083
Description

Academic Career & Executive Search is pleased to assist the University of Rhode Island in their search for a Founding Director, IT Research Computing Services.

 

This is an extraordinary opportunity for a results-driven strategist and collaborative leader to serve as the Founding Director, IT Research Computing Services within a public R2, land-grant, sea-grant, flagship university serving over 17,000 students.

 

The University of Rhode Island is on the move enjoying over a decade of continued growth and success including a 66+% increase in funded research, 15% increase in graduation rates, 12% increase in retention rates, 80+% increase in faculty publications and enrollment at its highest level. The University was also named by APLU as one of three finalists for their degree completion award.

 

As the Founding Director, IT Research Computing Services the successful candidate will design, develop and lead IT Research Computing Services as the University continues its upward trajectory of engaging in higher levels of research across the University. The successful candidate is highly collaborative, interdisciplinary and possesses both strategic and tactical abilities as they develop a centralized solution to support the diverse current and future needs and interests of all stakeholders.

 

This position requires a skilled team builder and mentor with impeccable communication skills to act as a research computing ambassador across the University. As the University pivots to a centralized model, the Founding Director, IT Research Computing Services will work across campus to understand the underlying data and technology issues and opportunities and help all constituents achieve data consistency, accuracy, and security and achieve continued growth and impact of research and creative work. As a dynamic leader, the successful candidate is comfortable prioritizing and managing multiple operations and competing priorities as they work to accomplish their goals.

 

This position reports to the Chief Information Officer. The new position is well supported and a critical role within the University.

 

Candidates with experience outside higher education will be considered. Preference will be given to candidates with higher education or a combination of experience including higher education.

 

Basic Functions:

  • Lead service delivery for all Research Computing Services.
  • Actively partner with the Deans, Provost and VP of Research to help achieve the Presidential goal of increasing the magnitude and impact of research and creative work at the University of Rhode Island.
  • Maintain a deep knowledge of emerging trends in the field, conduct pilot deployments of new tools and bring best of breed technology to the University.
  • Actively collaborate with distributed IT staff in the colleges and individual scholars to apply computing technology to help solve challenging research problems.
  • Develop and maintain a high-function, financially stable and adaptable research computing infrastructure supporting emerging research areas.
  • As part of the IT leadership team, collaboratively deliver IT Professional Services including consulting, training, analytics and service management as they relate to the primary service groups of the department.
  • Coordinate and mange student worker integration and training efforts both within and beyond IT Services.
  • Actively collaborate and communicate with ITS partners in distributed IT as well as key stakeholders for the department.
  • Lead, inspire, motivate and evaluate the work of the unit while striving for continuous process improvement and staff professional development.

 

Core Responsibilities:

  • Develop research specific roadmaps and technology priorities. Work collaboratively with scholars, governance groups and administrators to execute the roadmaps.
  • Work collaboratively with the VP of Research, members of the Division of Finance and Administration, the Office of the Provost and others to manage and sustain the financial aspects of research computing.
  • Support research computing across all disciplinary areas and seek opportunities to apply computational approaches to both existing areas of study and emerging research areas.
  • Work collaboratively across the University to build cyberinfrastructure solutions that address both computation-intensive and data-intensive activities.
  • Work collaboratively to build and utilize effective shared governance structures as they relate to research computing.
  • Support established scholars as they pursue new sponsored research opportunities and help them effectively and efficiently complete the computational aspects of their work.
  • Encourage, support and empower junior faculty to assist them in establishing strong, sustained funded research programs at the University.
  • Work collaboratively with IT Security to ensure that all confidential research efforts are in full compliance with applicable federal, state and granting agency requirements.
  • Research current trends in the field, exercise informed judgement and advise on new directions.
 

Management and Leadership:

  • Provide leadership, vision and direction to the IT Research computing organization to ensure it will contribute to the University achieving its goals.
  • Work collaboratively with the CIO, other IT leaders and constituent groups to develop overall IT strategy in the context of the Academic Master Plan and President’s goals.
  • Define and enhance methodologies and practices for service delivery in line with best practices and continuous process improvement. Track constituent satisfaction as well as other metrics, publish the results and implement action plans for service improvement.
  • Provide support and facilitate innovative and experimental technology uses to test new ideas with bounded cost and time frames.
  • Ensure that processes (including those of external service providers) are conducted in line with URI social responsibility, environmental and technical policies and applicable standards and legislation.
  • Manage group personnel, developing their skills and capabilities to meet the needs of the organization, as well as building on existing recruiting capabilities to address new needs and skills gaps. Lead group through change as IT approaches and tools evolve.
  • Work to develop a group culture of respect, responsiveness, and mutual support of other team members, other ITS departments, distributed IT and the faculty and staff of other divisions.
 

Service Governance, Strategy and Delivery:

  • Work with stakeholders and governance groups to define a prioritized set of functional outcomes and service work to accomplish those outcomes within the limitations of the budget.
  • Work with stakeholders to accomplish this service work in a way that improves service delivery and minimizes its ongoing support costs.
  • Oversee the unit’s successful delivery of these outcomes in partnership with colleagues.
  • Oversee support activities in conjunction with infrastructure and operations to ensure that applications perform well in production.
  • Work with the leader and team members of IT Security to ensure that the organization's applications are effectively secured and that risks are mitigated.
 

Required Qualifications:

  • Graduate degree in a field related to research computing
  • Minimum of eight years of experience supporting computationally oriented research and scholarly activity
  • Proven group management experience in higher education with a demonstrated ability to develop and manage a high-performing, cohesive team
  • Demonstrated commitment to process improvement and client support
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
  • Outstanding interpersonal and verbal communication skills including proficiency in written communication skills
  • Successful track record of working with diverse groups/populations.
 

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Higher education experience
  • Terminal degree in a field related to research computing
  • Funded research utilizing computational methods
  • Track record of scholarly work that utilizes computational methods
  • Proven experience building collaborations with key partners to build new computationally-enhanced research services
  • Demonstrated experience leading teams through change as technology and organizational needs evolve through the application of guidance, advice and nonjudgmental leadership techniques
  • Ability to collaborate, build relationships and influence individuals at all levels in a distributed responsibility environment to ensure effective service delivery
  • Deep understanding of strategic university objectives and a track record of aligning services to support those objectives
  • Skill in dealing with rapid change in University needs, processes and technologies
  • Demonstrated ability to manage multiple competing priorities with limited resources
  • Adept in understanding the key concepts and communicating effectively with technical staff, application stakeholders and senior leadership, many of whom are in non-technical roles
  • Demonstrated experience managing external IT service providers, including the risk and cost implications of contracts and contract negotiations
  • Evidence of membership in professional organizations, trade or user groups with a pattern of regular attendance at industry conferences to enhance knowledge of current technology.

 

About the University of Rhode Island:

T
he University of Rhode Island, commonly referred to as URI, is the flagship public research as well as the land grant and sea grant university for the state of Rhode Island. Its main campus is located in the village of Kingston in southern Rhode Island. Smaller campuses include the Feinstein Campus in Providence, the Rhode Island Nursing Education Center in Providence, the Narragansett Bay Campus in Narragansett, and the W. Alton Jones Campus in West Greenwich.

URI’s world-class faculty has 346 new faculty members in the last eight years. URI is the only major research institution that can boast a 47% increase in new fulltime faculty.

URI has invested $900M in campus capital projects and improvements in the last 12 years including the construction of these new facilities:

  • $125M Engineering complex
  • $94M 500-bed Brookside Apartments complex
  • $75M Pharmacy Building, Paramaz Avedisian '54 Hall
  • $54M Center for Biotechnology and Life Sciences
  • LEED Gold-certified $68M Beaupre Center for Chemical, Forensic Sciences
  • $15M Ocean Science and Exploration Center


With more than 17,000 students representing 48 states and 76 countries, URI continues to grow and offers bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and doctoral degrees in 90+ undergraduate, 73 graduate areas of study and 22 certificate and non-degree programs through eight academic colleges. These colleges include Arts and Sciences, Business, Education and Professional Studies, Engineering, Health Sciences, Environment and Life Sciences, Nursing, and Pharmacy. Another college, University College for Academic Success, serves primarily as an advising college for all incoming undergraduates and follows them through their first two years of enrollment at URI.

Living in the Area:

Rhode Island, nicknamed the Ocean State, packs every amenity into an area only 48 miles long and 37 miles wide. The University is minutes from the beach and scenic Newport is right across the bay. The area offers a relaxing New England country setting just 30 miles south of Providence, 75 miles from Boston and 160 miles from New York City.

 

The area brings an excellent quality of life, strong school systems and lower commute times with amenities for everyone including outdoor and water activities, restaurants, shopping, world class jazz festivals and outdoor concerts, farmers markets, and galleries and museums.

 

Transportation is easy with the Kingston Amtrak Station down the road from campus and T.F. Green Airport only 20 minutes away.

 

Applications:

Applications will be reviewed as they are received and should include a cover letter and CV. Please do not email applications. 
Inquiries, referrals, and nominations are treated confidentially and can be sent to Jennifer Muller, Managing Partner at Academic Career & Executive Search at Jennifer@acesrch.com.


The University of Rhode Island is an AA/EEOD employer. Women, persons of color, protected veterans, individuals with disabilities, and members of other protected groups are encouraged to apply.

 

This opening is closed and is no longer accepting applications
ApplicantStack powered by Swipeclock