CITRIS is hiring for the position of Managing Director i4Energy Center (MD/i4E).
Job Title: Academic Program Mgt Officer 5
Job ID: #11669
Departmental Overview
The Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) creates information technology solutions for many of our most pressing social, environmental, and health care problems.
CITRIS was created to “shorten the pipeline” between world-class laboratory research and the creation of start-ups, larger companies, and whole industries. CITRIS facilitates partnerships and collaborations among more than 300 faculty members and thousands of students from numerous departments at four University of California campuses (Berkeley, Davis, Merced, and Santa Cruz) with industrial researchers from over 60 corporations. Together the groups are thinking about information technology in ways its never been thought of before.
CITRIS works to find solutions to many of the concerns that face all of us today, from monitoring the environment and finding viable, sustainable energy alternatives to simplifying health care delivery and developing secure systems for electronic medical records and remote diagnosis, all of which will ultimately boost economic productivity. CITRIS represents a bold and exciting vision that leverages one of the top university systems in the world with highly successful corporate partners and government resources.
Responsibilities
Manages significant, independent academic and/or research program. Formulates program strategies and goals. Plans, directs and controls program budget and other related resources.
With support from industry and private gifts, the State of California has invested in the establishment of four Governor Gray Davis Institutes for Science and Innovation. As one of these institutes, the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) is a $300 M university, industry, and government partnership charged with having, through its research in information technology, a highly-visible, profound impact on the quality of life of the people, the growth of California-based industry, and the improved effectiveness of many agencies of the State. CITRIS is a four-campus institute comprising the Berkeley, Davis, Santa Cruz, and Merced campuses of the University of California. In addition to the Colleges of Engineering on these campuses, numerous other academic departments (e.g., The Information School, the School of Architecture, Boalt School of Law, the Haas School of Business and many others) are involved in the research of the Institute. Berkeley is the lead campus for the institute and all operational, administrative, and financial matters for the Institute are provided or coordinated from that campus.
The Director will lead and provide funding for a program as the Managing Director i4Energy Center (MD/i4E). i4Energy is an interdisciplinary research initiative and an instructional program that combines research stewardship, educational stewardship, outreach activities, and relevant program building in Energy and the Environment. i4Energy is a joint effort involving CITRIS, the California Institute for Energy and Environment (CIEE) and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL). The Managing Director will develop plans for securing financial resources to support the program and its activities, and will lead in the process of securing approval for research as part of the program. Connections to educational programs are also expected. The incumbent will also be responsible for the coordination among other schools/colleges on CITRIS campuses on development of any cooperative activities at the graduate level. The position involves coordinating the energy and environment efforts at all of the four CITRIS campuses – thereby creating an integrated energy “focus” on IT and energy.
In addition, the incumbent will also be part of the development team for other CITRIS initiatives with leading companies such as IBM, Sun, Infineon, BT, and HP. These companies may change over time in consultation with the Director of Development (Dr. Anthony St. George at the time of writing) and the CITRIS Director (Professor Wright at the time of writing).
Important: These APMO positions in CITRIS are all governed by an over-arching principle that is quite common in private Universities all over the country for senior colleagues that are supported on colloquially-described “soft-money.” A main goal of the APMO-level Program Director is to bring in large “group-grants” that can support the core research a number of faculty, post-docs, and graduate students. These grants are expected to be large enough that a fraction of the APMO-level Program Director’s salary can genuinely be supported as a line item in the budget of the grant in order to carry out tasks such as Project Facilitation or Project Coordination. In addition to these “group-grants,” other smaller grants can be obtained to support the salary of the APMO-level Program Director. It is expected that the MD/i4E will support a significant portion of his/her own salary with a combination of such grant-incomes. Nevertheless an important nuance should be emphasized: the main goal remains as securing major funding, “group-grants,” for the faculty, post-docs, and graduate students. The APMO-level salaries should not be supported by a myriad of tiny grants that are time consuming to chase-down and are merely obtained to maintain the bare-minimum of the salaried position. Program growth and significant funding for faculty/student research are the governing principles.
Takes leadership role in independently developing the position of the MD/i4E, which manages a large, complex research program of high visibility. Develops vision and establishes agenda to achieve research objectives. Oversees all elements of program administration. Collaborates across multiple research groups to bring together the ongoing work in the more established fields of computer science, operations research, mechanical engineering, energy-depleted economy. Provides leadership in identifying outreach services. Collaborates with the development of an instructional program to train professional degree students to understand the simultaneous development (and transformation) of business methods, legislation and the energy related technology that supports reduced dependence on fossil fuels. With faculty, formulates program strategies and goals that will plan and guide the curriculum and courses in the Program.
Is a subject matter expert on campus in terms of the integration of energy technology, business and policy. i4Energy will also be structured to involve corporations, non-profit organizations, and government agencies with a special interest in the use of information technology to improve the energy programs of the State and beyond. International visits, especially to Denmark, host of the Copenhagen Climate Council are anticipated
50% Facilitate participation in the i4Energy Center at CITRIS. Ensures the ongoing sustainability of this key program at CITRIS and its connections to other parts of the Berkeley and the sister campuses. At the time of writing, some of the main sub-projects in energy and the environment within CITRIS include: the Demand Response project; the Secure Underground Cable project; the LoCal Project; the Programmable Communicating Thermostat project; PRiME; and energy efficiency in Data Centers and computing in general. Acts as the liaison between CITRIS and all four campuses, CIEE, and LBNL in all aspects of the program. Also acts as the liaison between CITRIS and the Berkeley College of Engineering’s energy programs (including EECS, ME, IEOR, MSE, CE and NE). Generally speaking, the role of the CITRIS APMO for i4Ener
gy is to identify “IT-based-energy” projects that can be funded for faculty/student research activities. This necessarily involves the identification and securing of funding from multiple external sources.
20% Independently plan, develop and execute i4Energy projects in keeping with mission and vision of CITRIS, appropriate engagement with energy industry, and faculty interest and capability.
10% Maintain real-world knowledge developed in the course of on-going faculty research on various aspects of energy, information technology, the environment, and the changing national and international economies
10% Assess program’s effectiveness and recommend changes to program’s content, policies and strategic goals accordingly. Develop and maintain liaisons with an external advisory board. Represent the program to governing boards, outside agencies, and the public.
10% Mentors students; authors or co-authors academic and/or trade articles, manuscripts, etc. as appropriate with faculty and students.
Required Qualifications
Knowledge and Skills (typically required of the position)
• Demonstrated expertise building collaborations between academia, industrial and/or governmental agencies.
• Recognized expertise in research management.
• Expert fundraising experience.
• Ability to communicate effectively (both written and oral)
• Demonstrated and excellent ability to persuade and influence without the need to invoke authority.
• Leadership experience in industry or professional energy and the environment field.
• Executive experience with corporate strategy and organizational management of technology investments in business and professional services
• Demonstrated expertise with program building within a leading academic institution and administrative, budgetary, human resources and financial principles and practices.
• Ability to coordinate the varied and sometimes competing requirements associated with managing an innovative program in a university environment.
• Ability to respond to short term, often unexpected, opportunities for program development provided by faculty participants or external supporters or advisors
• Expert ability to develop materials (slide presentations and public relations literature, for example) to clearly and effectively communicate the goals and vision of the program to potential student’s supporters, and advisors
• Expert ability to work with dynamic and diverse group of faculty, staff and students in a university environment.
• Expert negotiation skills.
Education/Training
• PhD in an engineering or scientific discipline and/or an MBA from a leading business school.
• Domain expertise in operations, quality, measurement, design, and/or innovation.
• Industry status as domain subject matter expert, as evidenced by references, speeches, accomplishments, etc…
Salary & Benefits
For information on the comprehensive benefits package offered by the University visit:
http://atyourservice.ucop.edu/forms_pubs/misc/benefits_of_belonging.pdf
Annual Salary: $89,800-$161,600 DOE
Criminal Background Check
This position has been designated as sensitive and may require a Criminal Background Check. We reserve the right to make employment contingent upon successful completion of a Criminal Background Check.
Equal Employment Opportunity
The University of California, Berkeley is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
How to Apply