Connexions Executive Director Job Description

The Executive Director reports to the Director and is responsible for the day to day activities of the project.

Primary responsibilities

Work with the Director, Executive, staff, and advisors to develop a high-level vision of the project and which direction it ought to go. Specific areas of attention include:
- content project
- software project
- organization (external and internal)
- legal aspects
- marketing
- finances and fund raising
Translate this vision into long-term and short-term goals, priorities, plans, and see that these are implemented. Assist in all aspects as necessary.

Secondary responsibilities

Hiring
Budgeting and budget planning
Assist in fund raising
Act as a spokesperson
Coordinate with funding sources (reports, etc.)
Run Exec meetings

Background required

Technical skills (computing)
Project management skills
Demonstrated leadership abilities
Excellent communication skills
Familiarity with university and/or publishing environments

geneva, 2002/02/14 11:47 CST (via web):
you might also want to include the following:

identify new projects for connexions, working with faculty at Rice and other universities to grow the Connexions repository
Manage, coordinate and devlop proposals for grants/gifts to fund Connexions development

Add more specifics about degree requirements and levels of experience (e.g. minimum B.S. in Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent technical field, at least 10 years of technical management experience, experience in writing proposals for federal grants, etc.)

2002/02/14 13:45 CST (via web):
I'd like to see something about being "proactive" in here someplace

2002/02/20 15:05 CST (via web):
Mention internal "sales" more explicitly - interfacing with other Rice web projects at an organizational level, etc.

2002/03/07 16:41 CST (via web):

Updated job description. Please comment. Executive Director, Connexions Project Electrical and Computer Engineering Position Control #NEW Summary Coordinate, manage and organize day-to-day Connexions Project activities. Assist the Director and Connexions affiliated faculty, staff, and students in developing electronic course materials and raising funds from foundations, private donors, industry, and government agencies.

Key Responsibilities Project: Management Support (30%) Software development project management. Supervision and day-to-day management of the project. Responsible for hiring, budgeting and budget planning, laboratory hardware and software used for specific research projects. Overseeing content project, software project, organization (external and internal), legal aspects, marketing and finances and fundraising. Translate this vision into long-term and short-term goals, priorities, plans, and see that these are implemented.

Campus Relations (25%) Coordination with and recruitment of faculty in the Connexions project, collaboration with other educational technology initiatives on the campus, organization of workshops and roundtables to support communications with campus community about the Connexions project, work with campus administration on issues related to teaching, research and legal issues.
External Relations (30%) Coordinate, maintain and enhance relations with foundations, private donors, industry, and government agencies. Assist in attracting new external support by writing detailed technical and grants/gifts proposals. Work with collaborators and sponsors in planning and execution of external and internal meetings. Give broad technical overview presentations to top-level foundations directors, industrial managers, and government program managers.
Technical Research Support (15%) Research trends, appropriate technologies, and complementary products/projects both outside and inside Rice that makes sense.

Supervision received: Responsibilities and objectives are assigned with considerable latitude for decision making and setting of priorities. Work may be periodically reviewed according to achievement of predefined goals. Reports directly to the Director of the Connexions Project. Must be self-motivated, creative, and capable of working independently.

Supervision given: day-to-day management of the project. Provide supervision for software development team, project administrative staff, and students to ensure schedules are met and budgets are adhered to.

Core knowledge, skills required: B.S. or Advanced degree (PhD?? preferred) in Engineering, Computer Science, or equivalent technical field, at least 10 years of technical management experience. Teaching experience at the university level. PC or Macintosh familiarity. Skills with desktop productivity tools and familiarity with the Internet. Excellent interpersonal, project management, strong oral and written communication skills. Advanced technical skills with experience in successfully managing software development projects." Demonstrated leadership skills, be self-motivating, consensus building, and energetic. Preferred: Familiarity with Rice University. Extent of Public Contact Within the university: Interact with Connexions Project and ECE Department Faculty, staff, and students as well as faculty and staff from numerous departments in the George R. Brown School of Engineering. Outside the university: Foundation directors, industrial managers, and government program managers. Working Conditions and Environment Extensive use of computer terminal and keyboard. Extensive use of the telephone. Occasional movement of equipment or boxes (up to 25 lbs).

2002/03/18 11:22 CST (via web):
There should be an explicite responsibility under "Project Management Support" for managing a software development project. Perhaps replace the first sentence in this section with: Software development project management. Along these same lines, the "Supervision given" section should say something like: "Provide supervision for software development team, project administrative staff, and students to ensure schedules are met and budgets are adhered to" or something like that. For the "Core knowledge, skills required" section, add "experience in successfully managing software development projects."