Founding Executive Director, Center Trans

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Full-Time Exempt Staff Palo Alto, CA, US

Salary Range: $ To $ Annually

Department:
Academic Affairs

Reports to:

Assistant Provost for Research, Assessment, and Institutional Effectiveness

Location:

Residential, In-person
Employment Status:
Full-Time Exempt Staff
Compensation: $140-$180K

About Palo Alto University (PAU)

Palo Alto University is a private, nonprofit university dedicated to advancing human understanding through innovative education, groundbreaking research, and impactful practice in behavioral science.

Founded in 1975 and located in the heart of Silicon Valley, PAU offers graduate and undergraduate programs in psychology, counseling, social work, and behavioral science, including the PAU-Stanford PsyD Consortium with Stanford Medicine. Grounded in human dignity, PAU’s scholars, clinicians, educators, and learners share a single conviction: that understanding how people think, feel, behave, relate, heal, and make meaning is among the most essential work of our time.

The university enrolls over 1,200 students, has a network of more than 4,200 alumni, and employs over 150 faculty and staff who are united by a mission-driven commitment to advancing human understanding. PAU enters its sixth decade at a defining moment: a new president, a new provost, a bold new vision and strategic plan, and an urgent opportunity to shape how behavioral science responds to the challenges of an increasingly changing world.

You will join a mission-driven community with the ambition to make a measurable impact on the human condition.

The Founding Executive Director of the Center for Translational Research in Behavioral Science will establish and lead a university-wide hub that expands PAU’s research capacity, advances faculty and student research development, increases external funding, fosters interdisciplinary and strategic partnerships, and accelerates the translation of behavioral science research into meaningful real-world impact.

The successful candidate will be an entrepreneurial and collaborative leader who can build the Center from the ground up while developing innovative approaches to strengthen PAU’s research culture, visibility, partnerships, and impact.

SPECIFIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Establish and lead the Center, including its strategy, programs, operations, budget, partnerships, and measures of success.

Supervise research-related functions including the library, IRB, grants, writing support, and research design and data analysis services.

Develop signature research initiatives that translate PAU scholarship into meaningful applications in practice, policy, technology, and communities.

Engage faculty across the University as Center affiliates, collaborators, and research leaders.

Build strategic partnerships with universities, healthcare organizations, community organizations, government, foundations, and industry.

Support Presidential initiatives and University advancement priorities by identifying and developing research opportunities, partnerships, and external engagement aligned with PAU’s strategic goals.

Actively build and expand PAU’s research enterprise and generate meaningful external revenue through grants, sponsored research, contracts, and strategic partnerships.

Establish and achieve measurable research growth and revenue targets aligned with PAU’s Strategic Plan, while ensuring that all activities advance the University’s academic mission, research priorities, and long-term…