Jobs at Member Institutions & APLU

Program Director-Innovation and Entrepreneurship Programs (R23-26)

About RF for SUNY at the University at Albany:
Employment is with The Research Foundation for the State University of New York, a private, nonprofit, educational corporation that provides essential sponsored program administration and innovation support services to SUNY faculty and students whose ideas and research generate ground-breaking discovery and translate to entrepreneurial and economic development opportunities for New York State.

Home to nine colleges and schools, 57 centers and institutes, and close to 700 full-time faculty scholars and researchers, the University at Albany is one of SUNY’s flagship, comprehensive research universities. UAlbany is widely recognized for its long-standing academic and research strengths in atmospheric and environmental sciences, biological sciences, business, computer science demography, economics, education, math, political science and public administration, public health, psychology, sociology, and social welfare. In addition, the University has made significant investments in emerging and new strategic areas of opportunity including engineering and applied sciences, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, emergency management and homeland security, minority health disparities, RNA science and technology, and advanced weather analytics. Since 2005, the UAlbany has been recognized as a Carnegie R1 research institution -one of the “very high research activity” doctoral universities as ranked by the Carnegie Classification of institutions of Higher Education.

Life sciences and public health, especially health equity and health disparities, have been a long-standing signature strength at UAlbany. New Institute for Social and Health Equity (ISHE) launched with an initial $1.7m investment from the University will serve as a hub for research and training that leverages the University’s existing strengths, together with community engagement, to promote inclusivity and address longstanding societal problems related to health disparities and in equity. ISHE will work to increase interdisciplinary and interinstitutional collaborations, across UAlbany’s colleges and schools as well as other SUNY campuses and community and government organizations.

Job Description:
Description of Duties:
The Research Foundation at the University at Albany (UAlbany) is looking for someone who is passionate about innovation and entrepreneurship, and enjoys working with students, faculty, and community-based startups in the Capital Region to explore the broader impacts of their research and inventions.

The Program Manager will work within the Office of Economic Development (OED) at the University at Albany, overseeing the operations of the UAlbany Innovation Center, Innovate 518 – the Capital Region Innovation Hot Spot and the NSF I-Corps program, and student entrepreneurship.

The Program Manager will report to the Director of Economic Development. The successful candidate will work to develop and promote programming throughout the campus and the region, help recruit diverse innovative teams into the program offerings, organize, develop, and promote I-Corps curriculum, and support teams in applying to innovation and entrepreneurship programs at the University.

Responsibilities:
Education and Participation

• Manage and design the implementation of curriculums for entrepreneurship programs.
• Aid in securing the teaching and other resources required to deliver the curriculums.
• Develop and track relevant metrics.

Recruitment & Assessment

• Work with outreach partners (e.g. incubators, accelerators, I-Corps, etc.) to recruit EIRs, mentors, teaching team, etc.
• Interview, assess, and make recommendations regarding new and existing mentors/advisors, etc. candidates ensuring they have the requisite time, experience, and motivation to be able to assist eligible companies.
• Interview, review, assess and make recommendations regarding each startup ensuring they are connected with the right mentoring resources.
• Review each project to ensure that it serves an important need for the startup.
• Facilitate startup, EIR and other candidate assessments.

Relationship Management & Tracking

• Establish relationships with various stakeholders (e.g. marketing partners, technology transfer representatives, entrepreneurs, experienced business professionals, startups, venture investors, etc.).
• Review startups in the programs and actively seek to make matches for projects identified by the startups.
• Follow up with the EIR and startups periodically to assess how the project and relationship is progressing and aid as appropriate.
• Work with database, CRM and other IT tools to track project progress.

Communications & Reporting

• Work with the Marketing Team on all communications, including newsletters, press releases, social media posts, and other ways of communicating the progress and successes of the programs.
• Identify and deliver documents to necessary parties, including providing application materials to EIRs, outreach materials to marketing partners, and agendas to meeting participants.
• Communicate, coordinate, and share best practices with the rest of the team.
• Attend local and regional networking events.
• Design, arrange and conduct EIR and startup training workshops and other events with assistance from in-house marketing resources as appropriate.
• Arrange and manage Info Sessions for EIRs and the broader entrepreneurship communities.
• Assist in educational workshop design and execution.
• Organize and lead networking events.
• Organize and moderate webinars.

Resource Management & Expansion of Services

• Follow guidance in creating and adhering to program budgets.
• Participate in ongoing stakeholder discovery with stakeholders to determine areas for improvement and make recommendations for pilot initiatives to improve the programs.
• Assist in developing and implementing plans for pilot programs for program expansion for all programs, based on the feedback from stakeholder discovery.

Requirements:
Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree from a college or university accredited by the U.S. Department of Education or an internationally recognized accrediting organization
• Program management experience, or ability to plan, develop, coordinate, supervise and organize programs and activities
• Ability to work with a diverse student, faculty, staff, and admin populations
• Minimum of five years of professional experience in program and marketing management
• Experience in social media marketing and community outreach
• Excellent, demonstrable written and verbal communications skills
• Ability to work independently towards specific goals, while engaging the Center’s leadership on an ongoing basis to keep moving projects forward
• Competency in Microsoft applications, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. Experience with Canva is desired

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree from a college or university accredited by the U.S. Department of Education or an internationally recognized accrediting organization, or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience
• Experience in NYS and SUNY RF policies and procedures
• Experience with technology transfer is a plus
• Experience with academic processes and grant management

Additional Information:
Salary: $90,000
Federal law and regulations require notice to all prospective employees regarding crimes that have occurred on campus in the current three year period. Please refer to the following website for the complete Annual Security Report (“Clery Report”): http://police.albany.edu/asr.htm

As an Equal Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer, The Research Foundation for SUNY will not discriminate in its employment practices due to an applicant’s race, color, creed, religion, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, transgender status, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, physical and mental disability, criminal record, genetic information, predisposition or carrier status, status with respect to receiving public assistance, domestic violence victim status, a disabled, special, recently separated, active duty wartime, campaign badge, Armed Forces service medal veteran, or any other characteristics protected under applicable law.

The Research Foundation for The State University of New York offers exceptional benefits such as healthcare, dental, vision, pension plans, competitive pay, generous paid time off, tuition assistance, life insurance and long-term disability insurance. The University at Albany offers a variety of performing arts, world class libraries, and competitive sporting events.

Application Instructions:
Persons interested in the above position should submit a resume, the contact information of three work-related references, along with a letter of application to https://rfhr.interviewexchange.com/jobofferdetails.jsp?JOBID=161461

Review of applications will begin immediately and continue until the position is filled.

Candidates must address in their applications their ability to work with culturally diverse populations.

URL: www.albany.edu/research-economic-development