Chief Research Officer

• Oversees University research administration and operations and engages in effective and transparent decision-making in consultation with key stakeholders including the Office of Innovation and Engagement and the Chancellor, Provost, Deans, faculty, and other university leaders.
• Promotes highest standards of safety, ethics, security, research integrity and export control to ensure operations and practices are fully compliant with federal, state, local, and University laws, regulations, and policies, including compliant and ethical grant administration for grants, contracts and clinical trials.
• Leads and continues to advance support systems for research development within the university research enterprise. Responsible for exploring potential new areas for research and creative pursuit at the institutional level.
• Promotes and sustains financial management and accounting structures and systems to meet campus pre-award, post-award, IT infrastructure, and compliance needs, and works with key stakeholders and partners to ensure effective systems for each. Helps steward the physical and computational infrastructure necessary to support research operations and programs.
• Charged with fostering increases in external funding to support research and creative works, strengthen scholarly dissemination; foster promotion, growth, and collaboration in research and scholarly endeavors; and engage students in appropriate undergraduate and graduate research experiences.
• Helps foster a culture that attracts world-class scholars, and ensures they remain vibrant and productive members of the University community.
• Leads strategy, coordination, and review of interdisciplinary research programs, including overseeing University research centers, institutes and shared/core facilities - especially those able to drive national and international recognition for ECU's research expertise.
• Leads University-wide efforts to strengthen the research ecosystem and communicate the state and impact of the University's research enterprise.
• Develops and stewards relationships and linkages between ECU and federal and state funding agencies, and expands research opportunities with partners in industry and external institutions.
• Identifies, allocates, and leverages resources to enhance and sustain a vibrant University research culture. Builds and promotes institutional investments to support proposals for achieving higher levels of extramural funding, especially in University-identified priority areas
• Creates programs to support and educate faculty (at every career stage) and research personnel to support pursuit of sponsored activities
• Facilitates interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary collaborations to address complex societal challenges
• Evaluates and provides support for research infrastructure for a broad range of faculty and staff.
• Promotes and sustains a service-oriented research administration culture including providing professional development opportunities for research administration and compliance staff to remain current with trends in practice as well as the regulatory environment.

• An earned doctorate or other appropriate terminal degree from an accredited university and a record of distinction in scholarship sufficient for appointment as a tenured full professor within one of the university's academic disciplines
• Leadership, operational and administrative experience in a comparably complex setting
• 5 years progressively responsible experience in a combination of research leadership and administration in a large, complex environment in higher education, or in the context of a large research institute or national laboratory
• Experience working with government agencies
• Documented research accomplishments including as a recipient of major grants and author of peer-reviewed scholarly publications
• Experience leading teams and developing organizational structures including budgeting, financial oversight, compliance, and in supervising and managing personnel

• Experience leading relevant national research network(s) with experience in translating knowledge of national research priorities to home institution or organization
• Prior leadership experience in developing or improving a university research ecosystem including experience with research administration, compliance or another relevant area
• Ability to lead change effectively in a complex and evolving research university
• Experience with external sponsor policies, procedures, and systems (e.g., Grants.gov, Research.gov, NIH eRA Commons, SciENcv, eGMS Reach, ORCID)
• Experience in developing large and complex interdisciplinary grants
• Demonstrable experience in developing strategic research areas and teams, and in sustaining research programs
• Demonstrated knowledge of academic research processes in a competitive funding environment, with strong knowledge of national research priorities and networks
• Record of working successfully with a varied array of stakeholders and partners in the development and implementation of complex and interdisciplinary research grants or contracts
• Strong interpersonal and organizational skills with a demonstrated ability to collaborate with a broad set of stakeholders and lead teams to achieve desired outcomes

If you experience any problems accessing the system or have questions about the application process, please contact the Department for People Operations, Success, and Opportunity at (252) 328-9847 or toll free at 1-866-489-1740 or send an email to employment@ecu.edu. Our office is available to provide assistance Monday-Friday from 8:00-5:00 EST.