Department Head

The Department of Sustainable Biomaterials in the College of Natural Resources and Environment (CNRE) at Virginia Tech invites nominations and applications for the position of Department Head in the Department of Sustainable Biomaterials. We seek a visionary and strategic leader with exceptional communication skills who can guide the department through a dynamic period of growth, opportunity, and change within the discipline, and across the college, university, and national levels.

About the Role

The Department Head provides strategic leadership, vision, and administrative oversight for all aspects of the department’s teaching, research, and outreach missions. Responsibilities include faculty and staff recruitment, mentorship, and evaluation; budget and resource management; fostering industry, state, and federal agency partnerships; stewarding alumni relationships; facilitating external funding success; and advancing the department’s reputation across Virginia Tech, the nation, and the world. The Department Head will also serve as a key member of the CNRE leadership team and collaborate on initiatives that strengthen the college’s contributions to the university’s land-grant mission.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership, vision, and administrative oversight for all aspects of the department’s teaching, research, and outreach missions.
• Facilitate faculty and staff recruitment, mentorship, and evaluation.
• Manage budget and resources.
• Foster industry, state, and federal agency partnerships.
• Steward alumni relationships.
• Facilitate external funding success.
• Advance the department’s reputation across Virginia Tech, the nation, and the world.
• Serve as a key member of the CNRE leadership team and collaborate on initiatives that strengthen the college’s contributions to the university’s land-grant mission.

Required Qualifications

• A Ph.D. in a discipline aligned with current and emerging opportunities within the department.
• Demonstrated ability to articulate, implement, and lead a forward-looking vision for innovative teaching, research, and engagement programs that strengthen the department’s impact within the college, university, and beyond.
• A record of engagement, teaching, and research accomplishments commensurate with tenure at the rank of full professor.

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated ability to build a strong sense of community across diverse members (i.e., students, staff, faculty, industry collaborators).
• Demonstrated exceptional interpersonal and communication skills that promote open, transparent, and collaborative interactions across a wide range of stakeholders, including faculty, staff, students, alumni, industry partners, and university leaders.
• A broad and integrative perspective on the fields of sustainable biomaterials, packaging, and industrial ecology, with the ability to anticipate and shape responses to new opportunities and challenges.
• Exemplary service as an innovative and adaptive leader who can navigate organizational change, build consensus, and foster resilience in times of transition.
• A sophisticated understanding of current and emerging trends in the fields represented within the department as well as trends and challenges in higher education.

Benefits

Overtime Status: Exempt - Not eligible for overtime
Appointment Type: Regular
Hours per week: 40
Review Date: 2/13/2026

About Virginia Tech

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech pushes the boundaries of knowledge by taking a hands-on, transdisciplinary approach to preparing scholars to be leaders and problem-solvers. A comprehensive land-grant institution that enhances the quality of life in Virginia and throughout the world, Virginia Tech is an inclusive community dedicated to knowledge, discovery, and creativity. The university offers more than 280 majors to a diverse enrollment of more than 36,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in eight undergraduate colleges, a school of medicine, a veterinary medicine college, Graduate School, and Honors College. The university has a significant presence across Virginia, including Blacksburg, the greater Washington, D.C. area, the Health Sciences and Technology Campus in Roanoke, sites in Newport News and Richmond, and numerous Extension offices and research institutes. A leading global research institution, Virginia Tech conducts more than $650 million in research annually. Virginia Tech endorses and encourages participation in professional development opportunities and university shared governance. These valuable contributions to university shared governance provide important representation and perspective, along with opportunities for unique and impactful professional development. Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants on the basis of age, color, disability, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, ethnicity or national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, or military status, or otherwise discriminate against employees or applicants who inquire about, discuss, or disclose their compensation or the compensation of other employees or applicants, or on any other basis protected by law. If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Jennifer Phillips at jewolfor@vt.edu during regular business hours at least 10 business days prior to the event.