Assistant Director, Administration and Operations

This position has been deemed critical by the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability Dean’s Office and is exempt from the hiring pause.This position is based on Stanford’s main campus with consideration given to the option for a hybrid work schedule (partially onsite 3 or more days a week), subject to operational need.Interested candidates must include a resume and cover letter to be considered for this position.Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa.About Us The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability strives to create a future when humans and nature thrive in concert and in perpetuity. The school is made up of a three-part structure to drive global impact: Our academic departments and programs educate students and create new knowledge across areas of research that are crucial for advancing the long-term prosperity of the planet and people; Institutes bridge scholarship at Stanford and beyond, bringing multiple viewpoints to bear on urgent challenges; The Sustainability Accelerator drives new policy and technology solutions through a worldwide network of partners who work with our teams to develop solutions at a global scale. The school is dedicated to creating and supporting a community with the richness of experience and background needed to create solutions that benefit all people, particularly those most affected by environmental damage and climate change.For more information on the school, click here.Precourt Institute for EnergyAs part of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability, the Precourt Institute for Energy concentrates the talents of the University on energy research and education, from basic science and technology to policy and business. Our mission is to spark the creativity, collaboration, learning, and leadership needed for the global energy transformation. The initiatives, research centers, and educational programs of the Precourt Institute connect across campus in all seven of Stanford’s schools supporting work with the potential to solve the toughest energy challenges from science and engineering to policy and economics. We also build collaborations globally with industry, other research institutions, government, and civic organizations in pursuit of sustainable, affordable, secure energy for all people.Seeking an Assistant Director, Administration and OperationsThe Precourt Institute for Energy is seeking exceptional candidates to serve as an Assistant Director for Administration and Operations, working closely with and reporting directly to the Chief of Staff. The assistant director role requires an exceedingly capable and strategic director to lead the administrative management and services of the Institute, stewarding staff, overseeing numerous and various activities, developing workflow processes, and most importantly collaborating closely and meticulously with other institute directors.Position SummaryThe Precourt Institute has an organizational structure that provides administrative and operational services and resources across the Institute’s organization. A key structural objective is to build a core centralized team to provide these services and resources. The assistant director leads this team and works in close partnership with our senior leadership. This close collaborative leadership is essential to executing a demanding necessity for these services.The assistant director will elevate and direct the administrative activities of the Precourt Institute by independently strategizing, planning, and managing a diverse range of responsibilities. The assistant director will train and lead a fast-paced team that supports high volume, high touch activities and deliverables. The assistant director works with leadership directors to determine needs and distributes work and resources to meet those demands and oversees delivery and quality execution of services while managing priorities, requirements, and resources. The assistant director contributes as a key partner to our leadership directors, providing insightful guidance to meet project execution.The assistant director’s primary role to is to lead and manage a team and serve as the interface between leadership and staff. The assistant director leads a team to ensure expectations are aligned and that staff are supported. To meet the enormous demands from a staff of nearly 50 people, The assistant director develops and leads many automated processes using tools like Smartsheet, AirTable, Excel, and others to create dashboards to collect, distribute, manage, communicate, and deliver services. Working with their team, the assistant director will frequently refine those systems to better deliver those services while efficiently aligning and directing their team.The assistant director decides how resources are provided to directors to support their programs and activities. The assistant director makes decisions how staff and resources are directed and allocated and negotiates with directors on the priority and requirement for these resources. The assistant director has the authority to independently decide how staff and resources are allocated and at times must make difficult choices in determining how limited resources are justified and distributed. These decisions and management can be challenging and requires intimate awareness of the institute’s operational activities and discretion on where and what and when to provide resources and support.The assistant director works closely as strategic partner with our marketing and engagements director. The Precourt Institute holds more than 200 annual convenings and is well recognized for its convening power and executing very high-touch, multi-hundred attendee events. The assistant director is highly depended upon for collaborating, planning, and executing logistics for these engagements. The assistant director’s leadership and partnership efforts is a requirement and is expected to significantly contribute to our engagement success.The assistant director also leads organizational efforts and processes to streamline our administrative practices to ensure our management and staff programs are well-coordinated and well-organized. The assistant director must efficiently align and allocate staff resources to support key functional areas across our energy research focuses, educational programs, and general operations. The assistant director will attribute most of their time in directing staff and managing services and will carefully and creatively lead their team to meet the many demands placed on the team to effectively serve the institutes operations. The assistant director has a significant role as a leader and is a trusted partner to leadership, serving as a crucial connection between leadership and staff, and strengthening execution and trust across the institute. Areas of responsibility:Leadership: collaborating strategically with institute directors to ascertain needs and goals for service requirements and resource allocations to establish and implement staffing models.Staff Management: directing the work and priorities of a team and managing the day-to-day operational activities for the institute’s centers, initiatives, and programs.Customer Management: surpassing expectations from its customers, the leadership directors for nearly twenty different research centers, initiatives and programs, and education programs.Process Management: designing, automating, and leading effective process strategies to meet the institute’s operational demands and goals. Activity Management: creating sophisticated tracking models using dashboards and reports to manage staff resource allocations, organize pipeline activities, and monitor progress.The primary requirement for the associate director is to manage and mentor staff, effectively direct work distribution, and partner with leadership to successfully execute services. Your Responsibilities will include: Manage administrative functions across the institute’s centers, initiatives, and programs.Direct the work of a team to support the activities for the institute’s programs.Partner with leadership in shaping short-term and long-term staffing models to ensure the institute has adequate resources to meet goals and objectives.Lead effective administrative strategies to meet the institute’s mission and goals. Ensure institute programs have optimal staff resources and service support management.Develop internal administrative processes to improve organizational workflows.Serve as the institute’s local resource and specialist on administrative guidelines. Partner with chief of staff in shaping short-term and long-term staffing models to ensure the institute has adequate resources to meet operational goals and objectives.Create a comprehensive administrative resource allocation program.Generate sophisticated automated processes using application tools.Nurture and grow team-wide efforts to build institute staff community and culture.Supervise staff in day-to-day operational activities of the Institute.In addition to the minimum qualifications listed below, our preferred qualifications include:Demonstrated ability to take initiative and ownership of projects.Knowledge of and experience with project management techniques and tools.Familiarity with strategic planning approaches and ability to connect objectives with measurable outcomes.Demonstrated ability to build and sustain productive working relationships with faculty and fellows in a university setting.Proactive communicator with excellent written, visual, and oral communication skills.Flexible, open-minded, and collaborative mindset with the ability to ideate, implement, and iterate.The expected pay range for this position is $113,999 to $127,926 per annum.Core Duties:Independently implement, administer and evaluate day-to-day activities of the unit, function or program by identifying and executing tasks and objectives, making recommendations that impact policies and programs, and assigning resources to achieve the goals of the program.Collect and analyze data, create reports, review and explain trends; formulate and evaluate alternative solutions and/or recommendations to achieve the goals of the program or function.Analyze and interpret policies; develop, revise and implement procedures for program or function.Represent the program or function as the key contact and subject matter expert within the department, unit or school. Commit resources and provide information and/or training. May also represent the program or function to external/internal stakeholders and constituencies.Organize and/or participate in outreach activities that may include developing communications and training, planning/promoting events and/or conferences.May participate in development of budgets, monitor, and approve expenditures. May perform limited forecasting and provide recommendations that determine the budget.May direct staff to perform various tasks and assignments. May also supervise staff.Minimum Educationand ExperienceBachelor’s degree and three years of relevant experience, or combination of education and relevant experience.Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:Demonstrated ability to prioritize own work and multi-task.Demonstrated excellent organizational skills.Demonstrated ability to take initiative and ownership of projects.Ability to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.Ability to routinely and independently exercise sound judgment in making decisions.Demonstrated experience working independently and as part of a team.Relevant subject matter knowledge.Ability to direct the work of others, for jobs requiring supervision.Full timePosting Date: 2026-08-19