Vice President For Research

Description:

KEY PRIORITIES

Working closely with the Provost and the university community, the following will be key priorities for the VPR:

• Execute UVA’s transformative research vision

Lead a large and complex organization to serve the University’s ambitious research aspirations. The VPR will help cultivate a culture of research, support the continuing growth of extramural funding, and help ensure that UVA’s research has impact. The new leader must be able to continue to support research across all schools and disciplines, articulate and cultivate a collaborative environment where researchers can assemble to pursue large, team focused, multi-disciplinary grants, and retool systems to support their execution.

• Lead a high performing team

The VPR will inherit a dedicated and talented team, as well as significant resources to expand UVA’s research personnel and infrastructure. They will provide inspirational leadership and be an excellent manager to ensure the best talent is attracted, developed, and retained to meet the needs of the university. The next VPR will critically assess the organizational structure and operations, work with faculty, staff, and leadership, to evaluate what is working well and what needs to be improved, and to strengthen the infrastructure to support research excellence and growth. They will seek innovative ways to maximize faculty research productivity and embrace a service-oriented culture that minimizes barriers to success. They will continue to support and enhance UVA’s values as a diverse and inclusive work environment where everyone feels a sense of belonging, value, and respect.

• Ensure high level of trust to serve a diverse university community internally and externally

The VPR will be highly collaborative, inspiring trust with staff, faculty, and administrators across grounds by being visible and an effective communicator. The VPR will have an external presence by engaging with and representing UVA research externally to recruits, agencies, funders, corporations, and the broader scientific and research community.

IDEAL EXPERIENCE

The successful candidate will ideally possess the following professional qualifications, skills, experience, and personal qualities:

• Demonstrated success at a well-run, large, complex research enterprise within higher education or a similarly complex environment where shared governance is honored and valued
• Leadership that inspires and galvanizes faculty and staff to pursue large-scale and multidisciplinary research efforts

• Excellent communicator, superb listener, with ability to build relationships, community, and influence
• Experience with strategic planning, process transformation, and change management
• Innovative, analytical, and creative in problem solving and implementing solutions
• Outstanding leadership ability and understanding of organizational and human dynamics
• Ability to serve as a highly credible external university representative to corporations, agencies, funders, and key stakeholders; deep understanding of the national landscape and UVA’s distinctive contributions
• Ability to attract, recruit, develop, motivate, and retain a high-performing staff
• Proven track record of conducting research and securing major research funding with leading federal funding agencies
• Commitment to expanding research across a broad range of disciplines
• Demonstrated commitment to the importance of compliance as it relates to laws, policies, and procedures in the research enterprise with the right balance of flexibility
• Astute budgeting and financial acumen
• Ph.D. or terminal degree required along with achievements that demonstrate a record of research excellence