Specialist - Curriculum Dev-Continuing

Specialist - Curriculum Dev-Continuing

Michigan State University's Office of Research Innovation (ORI) seeks a founding Director to relaunch and lead the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA). This is a rare opportunity to build the office and foundational team. The Director will establish programming infrastructure, launch a new cohort-based postdoctoral scholars program, and develop a university-wide career and professional development ecosystem for MSU's approximately 550 postdoctoral researchers.

The Director reports directly to the Associate Vice President for Strategic Initiatives within ORI and works in close collaboration with ORI's Research Development professionals, giving this role an explicit connection to MSUs federal funding competitiveness.

This position is critical to ORI's strategy for rapidly growing research discovery and translational outcomes across the university. Postdoctoral researchers serve as a vital bridge between faculty, graduate students, and external partners, contributing across the full research lifecycle from discovery through translation, and the Director will play a central role in cultivating a postdoc community that advances an outcome-driven research culture consistent with MSU's land-grant mission.

OPA's transition into ORI reflects an institutional commitment to treat postdoctoral training not only as a support function but as a strategic research asset. The Director will be expected to build accordingly. MSU aspires to set the national standard for postdoctoral career and professional development, and the Director will be expected to position OPA as a model program recognized among peer institutions and national organizations such as the National Postdoctoral Association.

The primary responsibilities for this role are:

• Educational Program Leadership (50%)
• Postdoctoral Scholar Support and Career Development (25%)
• Mentorship Program Development and Faculty Engagement (25%)

As an institution of higher learning, Michigan State University is committed to providing a safe environment for its students, faculty, and staff in support of its educational mission. With this commitment, the University conducts criminal background checks and professional misconduct reviews of all applicants for employment in faculty, academic staff, and executive management searches.

Professional Misconduct Review

A professional misconduct review is a prerequisite for a candidate to be selected for this position. Applicants will be asked to disclose whether they are subject to any pending investigation, findings or sanctions related to professional misconduct. Professional misconduct includes misconduct related to a person's employment, including, but not limited to, theft, embezzlement, research integrity, discrimination, or harassment under civil rights laws and policies, including protected identity harassment, sexual harassment, sexual misconduct (sexual assault, sexual exploitation, dating violence, domestic violence, stalking, etc.),

and retaliation. All applicants will be asked to sign an authorization and release, which authorizes the University to contact the candidate's current and former employers, for a period of 7 years prior to the date of application, related to any pending investigations, findings of responsibility and/or sanctions related to professional misconduct. Nothing will be sent to current or former employers unless the candidate reaches the semi-finalist stage.

The existence of professional misconduct history does not automatically exclude a candidate from employment. The University will assess the history, including any information provided by the candidate, in determining whether it is compatible with the position. The University may decline to hire a candidate based on the professional misconduct review. All records obtained from external employers will be kept in a secure location, separate from personnel files.

If an applicant fails to sign the authorization and release, the application will be deemed incomplete and will be withdrawn.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to…