Assistant Director, Postdoctoral Affairs

Postdoctoral Affairs in Office of Research & Partnerships at the University of Arizona is seeking an experienced Assistant Director to help shape and guide the daily operations of the program. Working closely with the Director, this role is central to creating meaningful opportunities that will strengthen the professional growth and success of postdoctoral scholars. The Assistant Director will design innovative career programs, cultivate partnerships across campus and with regional organizations and industry to expand funding opportunities, and build dynamic training initiatives to address the evolving needs of postdocs. They will also develop training opportunities that enhance professional development, and career competitiveness.

The ideal candidate brings insight from academia, industry and/or startup career paths, thrives in a collaborative environment, and is comfortable working with a high degree of independence. Success in this role requires strong communication and analytical skills, along with the flexibility to adapt to a variety of systems and applications.

The University of Arizona Office of Postdoctoral Affairs was established in 2017. It is housed under the Office of Research & Partnerships (ORP), receives additional support from the Graduate College, and serves the approximately 500 postdoctoral scholars on the Tucson and Phoenix campuses. Its mission is to advance postdoctoral scholars by providing career and professional development resources, fostering an inclusive academic community, and promoting excellence in research, discovery, and innovation across campus and support faculty in their role as postdoctoral mentors. University of Arizona Postdoctoral Affairs offers postdoctoral scholars (postdocs) a broad range of resources and workshops to support their professional development and career advancement.

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

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• Guide postdocs in identifying emerging career trends and opportunities in biomedical and STEMM fields.
• Build connections between postdocs, regional industry partners, and grantee institutions to create new career and entrepreneurial pathways.
• Coordinate workshops to educate postdocs on funding sources across government agencies, industry, foundations, and nonprofit organizations.
• Develop trainings that strengthen networking skills and support the growth of professional relationships.
• Foster faculty mentor networks to enhance postdoc success in interview preparation, salary and contract negotiations and job talks.
• Measure program success through surveys and tracking postdoc career outcomes.
• Analyze data on career paths to refine program priorities and focus.
• Create and develop ad hoc reports as requested.
• Coordinate delivery of programs focused on essential research skills, including grant writing, manuscript preparation, and peer review, to strengthen postdocs' ability to secure funding and publish their work.
• Develop publication planning sessions in collaboration with faculty experts, providing postdocs with guidance on effective strategies for writing, submitting, and disseminating scholarly publications.
• Connect with postdocs as they join the University community, ensuring a smooth transition into their roles.
• Link postdocs to resources in Postdoctoral Affairs, Human Resources, Research Operations, and other relevant campus services.
• Facilitate peer support opportunities and coordinate with the Office of International Faculty and Scholars to address the unique needs of international postdocs.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Ability to provide strategic career guidance
• Multi-Sector Knowledge: Ability to understand changing career options in government, industry, nonprofits, and education.
• Organization: Strong Project management abilities.
• Ability to think Strategically and strong sense of developing postdoc career trends.
• Ability to build working relationships.
• Ability to use data to assess and improve programs.
• Ability to provide a collaborative approach to working across university departments/colleges and regional government and industry partners.

This job posting reflects the general nature and level of work expected of the selected candidate(s). It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties and responsibilities. The institution reserves the right to amend or update this description as organizational priorities and institutional needs evolve.

• PhD and a minimum of 8 years of relevant work experience.

• Postdoctoral or similar advanced training
• Experience with federal funding agencies (NSF, NIH, DOE, DOD etc.)
• Experience working at academic medical centers or research institutions.
• Experience with industry, nonprofit, or education partnerships and technology transfer.
• Experience in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or medicine.
• Experience and knowledge of funding sources and job opportunities in government, industry, nonprofits, and education.
• Experience consulting experience with STEM professionals.
• Research Experience: Experience with scholarly publications, grant review, editing and writing.
• Program Creation: Experience designing and implementing professional development programs.