Lead Office of Research Infrastructure Strategy and Operations

Job Summary

Purdue University’s Office of Research is seeking a Lead, Office of Research Infrastructure Strategy and Operations to help shape the systems and operational frameworks that support some of the university’s most significant research facilities and infrastructure initiatives. This senior individual contributor role works at the intersection of strategy, operations, research administration, and organizational improvement, helping translate complex research infrastructure needs into practical solutions that enable discovery and innovation across Purdue’s research enterprise.

In this role, you will collaborate with university leaders, faculty, institute directors, facility personnel, and operational partners to improve processes, governance structures, service models, and decision-making frameworks across Purdue’s research infrastructure portfolio. You will lead initiatives that bring clarity to complex challenges, drive operational excellence, and support strategic investments in research facilities, interdisciplinary programs, and emerging capabilities.

The ideal candidate is a systems thinker who enjoys solving organizational challenges, building relationships across diverse stakeholder groups, and guiding initiatives from concept through implementation. Success comes through analytical insight, thoughtful influence, strong communication, and a commitment to continuous improvement rather than direct supervisory authority.

If you are motivated by creating structure from complexity and want to play a key role in advancing Purdue’s world-class research mission, we invite you to explore this unique opportunity.

• Leading complex cross-functional initiatives from problem identification through implementation, measurement, and transition to sustainable operations
• Evaluating workflows, handoffs, service gaps, recurring problems, and unclear ownership to identify root causes and improvement opportunities
• Developing and implementing operating models, governance structures, decision rights, service expectations, intake procedures, and escalation pathways
• Translating ambiguous needs and incomplete information into practical options, recommendations, implementation plans, and measurable outcomes
• Preparing business cases, options analyses, executive summaries, decision memoranda, project plans, performance measures, and leadership presentations
• Using quantitative and qualitative information to establish priorities, evaluate alternatives, support portfolio-level decisions, and build alignment across organizational boundaries

• Bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering, operations management, business or public administration, organizational leadership, planning, research administration, science, engineering
• Minimum of six (6) years of progressively responsible experience in operations strategy or improvement, process redesign, program or portfolio management, research or technical operations, institutional operations, infrastructure or space planning, service-model design, organizational change, or continuous improvement

• Master’s degree in business administration, engineering management, operations, public administration, organizational leadership, research administration, or a related field
• Experience in higher education, academic medicine, pharmaceutical or biotechnology operations, research institutes, government, or other technically complex organizations
• Experience with research-space governance, laboratory or specialized infrastructure, facility and infrastructure planning, capital or non-capital project development, operational readiness, performance measurement,…