Assistant Director of Operations

SSD Knowledge Lab

Knowledge Lab (KLab) is an interdisciplinary research lab in the Social Science Division (SSD) of the University of Chicago working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, complex systems, computational science, and an emerging science of ideas and innovation. KLab collaborates with researchers globally and regularly publishes in Nature, Science, PNAS, NeurIPS, ICLR, ICML, and other leading venues. It is directed by Prof.

James Evans, Max Palevsky Professor of Sociology and Data Science at UChicago.

The job manages a broad range of business operations and academic activities. Develops and implements office procedures and policies and ensures compliance. Prepares and monitors the budget for a unit.

KLab seeks an experienced and entrepreneurial Assistant Director of Operations to serve as the operational backbone of the lab. This is not a conventional administrative role. The ideal candidate brings genuine enthusiasm for KLab’s research mission and organizational ambitions, and the creativity and judgment to take operational and administrative systems to a new level - automating what can be automated, solving problems that seem unsolvable, leveraging technology, and building new systems that enable the lab to move at the speed of discovery.

The Assistant Director reports to and will work most closely with the Director of Strategic Research & Lab Initiatives and will supervise a part-time administrative assistant.

This role is for someone who burns for finding creative organizational solutions, sees the larger purpose of operational work, and brings that energy beyond a 9-to-5 orientation. If work is routine for you while you would rather be doing something else, this is not the right fit. If you are energized by the idea of building the operational infrastructure of a world-class research lab - and doing so in genuinely innovative ways - we would love to meet you.

• Design organizational systems that are ideally invisible, partially automated, and continuously improving - e.g. building on KLab’s AI Virtual Assistant (Chorus) to automatically answer questions about lab operations and research.
• Take a systems perspective to operations: identify patterns in individual needs, develop organization-wide solutions, and create processes that get things done efficiently without generating unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Own the pipeline from needs to fast solutions, including keeping operational tickets organized and ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.
• Dig into operational challenges where others give up - using experience, good judgment and skill to identify institutional solutions to complex problems.
• Anticipate operational needs before they become problems, and develop proactive solutions without waiting for direction.
• Identify and implement automation opportunities for routine administrative tasks - including potential integration with KLab’s AI system (Chorus) - freeing researchers to focus more on discovery.
• Design and maintain automated financial reporting systems that provide real-time visibility across multiple, complex grants to support daily resource allocation and staffing decisions.
• Monitor budgets, manage expenditures, and ensure compliance with grant and institutional requirements.
• Conduct basic analysis and visualization of operational and financial data to surface insights and drive continuous improvement.
• Partner with SSD offices to coordinate fast-paced onboarding of postdoctoral researchers, staff, students, and visiting scholars - navigating university systems and changing national immigration requirements proactively to compress timelines and ensure new members integrate smoothly.
• Maintain real-time HR…