AIR Associate Director for Professional Education

The Arizona Institute for Resilience (AIR) at the University of Arizona invites applications for an AIR Associate Director for Professional Education (Academic Program Manager III) with experience in professional graduate education to lead the design and development of an exciting new initiative to create and launch a professional graduate degree program focused on providing students with knowledge, skills, and understanding to work collaboratively toward solutions for resilient and sustainable environments and societies.
AIR is an inter- and transdisciplinary institute that engages partners from varied knowledge systems and societal sectors to address complex challenges related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, water scarcity, natural climate solutions, thriving ecosystems, renewable and sustainable energy, and healthy built environments and communities. We are seeking a candidate with a strong spirit of innovation, collaboration, and vision for professional graduate education across a range of issues related to environmental and societal resilience. The candidate will be a creative problem solver with compassion for students and their professional aspirations and will be responsible for leading the design and development of a new professional graduate degree program that provides new educational and career pathways for a wide array of students.
The candidate will work closely with the AIR leadership, the Graduate College, and AIR faculty and staff to lead the process for developing the curricular, programmatic, and budgetary elements of the degree program. The candidate will develop marketing and student recruitment strategies, identify and recruit teaching faculty for the program, develop budgets and revenue projections, and manage resource flows. The candidate will build out the necessary human and financial resources to support a self-sustaining professional graduate degree program. The position will be supported by AIR's operations team and RII's business and HR teams.

Outstanding UA benefits include health, dental, and vision insurance plans; life insurance and disability programs; paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays; UA/ASU/NAU tuition reduction for the employee and qualified family members; state and optional retirement plans; access to UA recreation and cultural activities; and more!

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Duties & responsibilities:

• Provides leadership and guidance in the development and delivery of a new professional graduate program in AIR.
• Collaborates with AIR leadership, faculty, and staff to design and develop AIR professional graduate program strategies, goals, and core curricular components.
• Recruits and manages program staff and identifies instructional needs.
• Develops budget model and funding plan consistent with the University of Arizona Graduate College formula for graduate program revenue and expense distributions.
• Designs and directs program marketing and student recruitment to ensure high quality and robust applicant pool and admitted students.
• Manages and directs the administration and operation of the AIR professional graduate program, including policy development, staff supervision, budgeting, expenditure and income forecasting, communication with internal and external constituents, and the acquisition and allocation of resources.
• Manages the revenues and expenses associated with the professional graduate program.
• Analyzes and evaluates effectiveness of the professional graduate program and develops strategies for improvement and expansion in response to market and student demands.
• Additional duties may be assigned.
  

Knowledge, skills, & abilities:

• Skills in collaborative instructional design and knowledge of professional education programs in an academic setting.
• Ability to coordinate the design and delivery of innovative professional graduate education related to environmental and societal resilience.
• Ability to develop and manage revenues and expenses associated with delivery of high-quality professional graduate education.
• Ability to prioritize and delegate work to meet deadlines, objectives, and quality metrics.
• Strong familiarity with key aspects of starting a new professional education program, including student recruitment and enrollment management, analysis of market and student demand, and assessment of competitive landscape.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Knowledge of and practice with successfully fostering a workplace culture of inclusion and belonging.
• Skills in solving strategic and operational problems that may require investigation and analysis to develop alternative and innovative approaches.

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent advanced learning attained through professional level experience required and a minimum of 7 years of related work experience, including 3 years of managerial experience, or equivalent combination of education and work experience.

• Master's degree in relevant field.
• Experience working directly with undergraduate and/or graduate students.
• Experience hiring, training, managing, motivating, and evaluating team members.
• Experience building effective strategic partnerships with external partners.