Skip to main content

This job has expired

Executive Director, Data Driven Social Science Initiative

Employer
Princeton University
Location
Princeton, New Jersey

View more

Executive Administration Jobs
C-Level & Executive Directors
Administrative Jobs
Institutional & Business Affairs, Institutional Research & Planning
Employment Type
Full Time
Institution Type
Four-Year Institution

Job Details


Executive Director, Data Driven Social Science Initiative

US-NJ-Princeton

Job ID: 2020-12074
Type: Full-Time
# of Openings: 1
Category: Institutional Research and Planning

Princeton University

Overview

Reporting to the Faculty Director of the Data-Driven Social Science Initiative (DDSSI) and working closely with deans, chairs, faculty, and senior administrators within Princeton’s social sciences, the executive director will take a leading role in the development of Princeton University’s Data Driven Social Sciences Initiative. The executive director will serve as the public face of the DDSS in building a durable, sustainable, state-of-the-art infrastructure—including computing resources, processes, guidelines, administrative and legal support, secure data analysis environments, etc.—to encourage and support the use of data in academic and scholarly research at Princeton.

The executive director will lead the initiative, identifying challenges, garnering information and resources, and developing a strategic framework for future planning. The executive director will collaborate with a wide range of campus partners—including faculty in the social sciences, the offices of the Provost, Dean for Research, Information Technology, General Counsel, Finance and Treasury—to articulate and expand the initiative’s vision, long-term goals, short-term objectives, and measurements for success.



Responsibilities

Responsibilities

Specific Duties Include:

  • Develop, maintain, and advance a strategic agenda for the initiative.
  • Canvas the national and international academic environments for specific institutional models that Princeton should emulate or avoid; remain abreast of trends in data-centric research in higher education.
  • Widely solicit Princeton’s social sciences faculty for information regarding the challenges faced when working with data with a focus on a) how faculty currently use data, b) what problems are encountered, c) what work-around solutions have been developed, and d) what an ideal solution might look like.
  • Identify area-specific challenges in terms of data acquisition, analysis, curation, sharing, searching, storage, transfer, querying and develop.
  • Identify and address process-bottlenecks in the acquisition, analysis, sharing, storage, and transfer of data sets.
  • Identify specific infrastructure needs for supporting social science data acquisition and analysis.
  • Identify specific infrastructure needs for supporting social science field experiments.
  • Design and implement a communications strategy (website, e-newsletter, online symposia, etc.) to engage social science faculty and university partners.
  • Communicate directly with government agencies, corporations, and non-profits to aid faculty and researchers in the establishment of data-sharing agreements; together with the office of the Dean for Research, Office of the General Counsel, and Princeton Library, streamline and facilitate the technology and infrastructure related to these processes.
  • Form partnerships with other institutions, associations, and groups to ensure that Princeton is actively employing best-practices with data stewardship and governance.
  • Advise on technology, privacy, and security requirements for the use of data sets on campus.
  • Proactively identify opportunities for the University to effectively use data, where applications could be of interest to social science scholars.
  • Serve as an internal consultant to faculty in the social sciences who are interested in expanding the use of data in their research.


Qualifications

Qualifications

Essential Qualifications:

A PhD in a pertinent field strongly preferred.

At least ten years of relevant and progressively responsible work experience is required.

Enterprising, resourceful, and highly entrepreneurial work style; ability to actively expand the scope of an initiative like the DDSSI.

Demonstrated familiarity with the goals, nature, and process of academic, data-intensive research, especially using data relevant to the social sciences.

Demonstrated understanding of issues and challenges relating to data governance, privacy, and security.

Experience with high-performance computing infrastructure.

Experience acquiring, securing, and managing data feeds and APIs.

Excellent interpersonal, communication, and organizational skills; ability to work productively and efficiently in a dynamic environment with a high degree of ambiguity and limited structure; ability to interact and function in a cross-disciplinary academic environment.

Proven ability to work independently and achieve goals; strong personal initiative; highly self-motivated; active listening skills to develop and maintain relationships and build trust and credibility with a diverse set of stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience at a Tier 1 research institution.

Demonstrated expertise in founding and managing start-up organizations within academic settings, particularly those that support faculty research and related enterprises.


Experience leading strategic planning exercises and developing strategic frameworks.

Experience acquiring, securing, and managing data sets in the support of academic research.

Experience managing a team of data scientists and/or software engineers.

Experience with enterprise software used for design, management and control of large-scale databases

Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. EEO IS THE LAW

PI127676463

Organization

Princeton entrance

Princeton University is a vibrant community of scholarship and learning that stands in the nation's service and the service of humanity. As a world-renowned research university, Princeton seeks to achieve the highest levels of distinction in the discovery and transmission of knowledge and understanding. At the same time, Princeton is distinctive among research universities in its commitment to undergraduate teaching.

Princeton University facultyOpportunity and Impact

At Princeton, every member of our community plays an important role in our mission of teaching and research. That mission provides every faculty and staff member with the opportunity to make an impact bigger than oneself. Learn about working at Princeton and meet some of our wonderful employees.

 

Services and Resources

When you make a commitment to our teaching and research mission, you will have access to the University’s world-renowned resources to help you succeed at work and in life. Discover the exceptional benefits and unique opportunities we offer as part of our commitment to you.

Work-Life Integration

Life is complicated. At Princeton, we recognize that and are sensitive and responsive to the challenges our employees face. The University offers a broad array of benefits and services that help our staff in a variety of ways.

Explore Our Job OpeningsPrinceton students and prof

Whether you’re already part of our community or just getting to know us for the first time, we invite you to imagine the meaningful difference you can make while working at Princeton. For faculty member and academic professional opportunities, visit the Dean of the Faculty website. For staff member job openings and to join our Talent Network, visit our Careers website.

Connect With Us
LinkedIn
Instagram
Facebook
Snapchat
YouTube

Get job alerts

Create a job alert and receive personalized job recommendations straight to your inbox.

Create alert