Executive Director, Human Centered Weather Forecasts

About the role

The job manages multiple related teams of managers and professional staff responsible for leadership within a Center and serves as a liaison to academic departments, professional organizations, and administrative units of the University. Has overall responsibility for the management, operations, financial, outreach, and programming for the center.

Responsibilities

• Developing and executing a strategic plan.
• Overseeing overall management across workstreams led by faculty leads.
• This position will supervise the Director of Human-Centered Weather Forecasts, the Director of Policy, and various Research & Policy Managers.
• Techical project management; reporting; and managing related teams.
• Cook with internal and external researchers working on projects related to validating, generating, and disseminating improved forecasts in LMICs.
• Drive conversations and negotiations with stakeholders to plan, design, and execute collaborations.
• Establish strong working relationships with and represent the initiative in meetings with high-level policymakers, funders, nonprofit leaders, and business executives on the global stage.
• Spearhead efforts to secure $20-$50 million in funding to establish a long-term program that will influence global weather forecasting practice and scale access to high-quality weather forecasts to millions of people in low- and middle-income countries.
• Provides leadership for a Center with Senior Management and serves as a liaison to academic departments, professional organizations, and administrative units of the university.
• Manages related teams.
• Establishes department priorities, may be responsible for the management of the center budget, allocates resources and executes strategic plans.

Qualifications

• Education: Master’s degree in economics, public policy, sustainable development, climate science, agrometeorology, or related field.
• Experience: Prior experience supervising teams working in higher education, international organizations or similar.
• Experience leading grant proposals or otherwise raising resources.
• Significant fundraising experience, with a history of securing substantial funding for large-scale programs, would be ideal.

Skills

• Proven track record of working with multiple stakeholders, particularly senior counterparts at governments in low- and middle-income countries, multilaterals, and large international organizations, to build successful policies and processes.
• Demonstrated leadership and management skills, including working across teams and efficiently managing the time of senior principals.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.
• Track record engaging with senior counterparts in foundations and the private sector.
• Familiarity with development economics, particularly causal research, enabling the candidate to engage deeply on work to optimize the dissemination of weather forecasts.
• Familiarity with the latest developments using AI techniques in climate science or meteorology.

Benefits

• The University of Chicago offers a wide range of benefits programs and resources for eligible employees, including health, retirement, and paid time off.