Executive Director (0378U), Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry - #78012

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Departmental Overview

The UC Berkeley College of Chemistry is one of the fifteen schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley. It houses the department of chemistry and the department of chemical and biomolecular engineering. The Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry (BCGC) mission is to bring about a generational transformation toward the design and use of inherently safer chemicals and materials.

Embedding the principles of green chemistry into science, markets and public policy will provide the foundation for safeguarding human health and ecosystems and provide a cornerstone for a sustainable, clean energy economy.

BCGC collaborates with public and private organizations, offering training and technical advice, advocating for safer products and informed policies, the placement of graduates in the workforce, and informal instruction.

The Executive Director of the Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry (BCGC) is a key leadership position responsible for directing the center's strategic vision and daily operations. This role focuses on advancing the center's mission to develop safer, more sustainable chemical solutions through education, research, and industry partnerships. The Executive Director oversees the creation and delivery of innovative undergraduate and graduate courses in green chemistry, manages student internships that place students in real-world green chemistry projects, and fosters collaborations with industry, government, and non-profit organizations to drive impactful research.

In addition to teaching and mentoring students, the Executive Director manages significant research contracts, secures funding, and cultivates long-term partnerships that support the center's work. The position also includes the responsibility for outreach, communication, and fundraising efforts, ensuring the center's visibility and financial sustainability. As the chief strategist and administrator, the Executive Director plays a critical role in shaping the future direction of the center, promoting environmental justice, and supporting the development of greener, safer chemical alternatives for a variety of industries.

Application Review Date

The First Review Date for this job is: May 16, 2025

Responsibilities

Strategic Planning/Fundraising:

The Executive Director leads the strategic planning process for the Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry, defining both short-term tactics and long-term objectives that align with the center's mission and vision. The Executive Director identifies meaningful opportunities for growth, ensuring that programmatic activities, partnerships, and initiatives are aligned with the center's strategic goals. This includes creating action plans, setting measurable targets, and guiding the implementation of steps toward achieving these objectives. The Executive Director identifies and recommends funding, funds, launches, and oversees implementation of high-value, innovative research (what they are actively involved in) and education initiatives in partnership with government agencies, foundations, NGOs, and other service providers or funders.

As such, in addition to strategic planning, the Executive Director drives fundraising efforts to support the center's core and strategic operations. This includes identifying and securing funding from a variety of sources, such as government agencies, foundations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), industry partners, and private donors. The Executive Director plays a key role in securing financial support for innovative research and education initiatives by developing compelling grant proposals, coordinating with the UC Berkeley Development Office, and fostering relationships with potential funders. This includes both technical and non-technical grant writing, participation in local and national events with philanthropic potential, and cultivating relationships with corporate and private donors. The Executive Director is also responsible for stewarding relationships with a wide range of program sponsors, ensuring ongoing alignment of interests and priorities for long-term collaboration and support.

Communication/Relationship Building:

The Executive Director is responsible for building and maintaining strategic, high-level relationships with leaders from mission-aligned peer organizations, industry partners, government agencies, and non-profit sectors. This involves cultivating a network of influential stakeholders to advance the center's goals, with a particular focus on fostering collaboration that drives innovation in green chemistry. Through targeted networking and relationship-building, the Executive Director ensures BCGC is well-positioned to identify new opportunities for partnerships, funding, and research.

In collaboration with project managers, the Executive Director stewards all grants and gifts, ensuring that deliverables are met and overseeing the preparation of grant reports, annual program summaries, and donor communications. This includes authoring compelling newsletters, position papers, and thought leadership content that enhances BCGC's visibility and shapes the discourse around green chemistry among policymakers, industry leaders, and other stakeholders.

The Executive Director also represents the center at major conferences and high-profile events, actively engaging with key influencers and decision-makers to raise BCGC's profile and position it as a leader in the field. The Executive Director also organizes and hosts flagship events for the center, including symposiums, seminar series, and student poster sessions. Through these efforts, the Executive Director helps guide the direction of industry practices, public policy, and academic research, ensuring that BCGC's work is recognized as a critical driver of change in the pursuit of sustainable chemistry solutions.

Academic/Scientific Operations:

The Executive Director is responsible for overseeing the academic and scientific operations of the Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry, ensuring the center's efficiency and effectiveness in advancing its research initiatives. This role involves managing the operations that support the center's research and educational functions, including recruitment, mentorship, and oversight of researchers, students, and postdoctoral fellows. Actively involved in the research.

The Executive Director also serves as the primary liaison with partner academic units, facilitating collaboration on interdisciplinary research projects and educational initiatives. This includes coordinating the design and delivery of joint courses, ensuring seamless integration of research across disciplines, and fostering collaborative mentoring relationships between faculty, students, and industry partners. Additionally, the Executive Director plays a key role in the development of joint grant proposals and other collaborative initiatives, ensuring alignment with the center's mission and strategic goals. By facilitating these partnerships, the Executive Director ensures that the center remains at the forefront of innovative, impactful research in green chemistry and related fields.

The Executive Director will be responsible for overseeing the launch of a new research initiative, the Materials Innovation Lab, a joint venture with the BCGC and the USDA Bioproducts Research Institute. The Executive Director will craft and implement the research strategy of this center, and cultivate a new portfolio of fundraising initiatives to ensure its longetivity.

Management & Operations:

The Executive Director is responsible for the comprehensive management of both internal and external relationships at UC Berkeley and partner institutions, ensuring seamless coordination with grants management, including Contracts and Grants, as well as privacy and legal offices as required. This role oversees the stewardship of BCGC's financial and human resources, ensuring that all operational functions-such as personnel management, budgeting, financial oversight, knowledge management, communications, and event planning-are effectively executed to support the center's goals.

The Executive Director is also responsible for developing and approving all center-wide policies, tools, and processes, ensuring that they align with BCGC's mission and values, and meet the needs of staff and stakeholders. This includes creating and implementing staffing plans, organizational structures, and processes that are sustainable and support the center's long-term growth.

Additionally, the Executive Director monitors progress toward the center's overall and focus-specific goals by conducting quarterly meetings with individual board members and annual full board meetings. These meetings are used to review milestones, assess outputs, and address challenges to ensure continuous improvement and alignment with strategic priorities. Through these efforts, the Executive Director ensures that BCGC operates smoothly, remains financially sound, and stays on track to achieve its mission and vision.

Program Development & Implementation:

The Executive Director plays a pivotal role in driving program development and implementation at BCGC by working closely with primary partners and the center's Board to identify and pursue innovative, high-impact opportunities for capacity building. This involves thinking creatively and strategically to uncover novel areas of research and application, particularly in emerging or underserved sectors that have been neglected or overlooked by mainstream chemistry markets.

A key aspect of this role is fostering an environment of innovation, where new ideas can flourish, and unconventional solutions to complex problems are encouraged. The Executive Director must actively seek out cutting-edge fields that align with the center's mission, exploring opportunities in areas such as sustainable materials, green manufacturing, environmental justice, and other areas where green chemistry has the potential to make a transformative impact.

By leveraging both academic and industry partnerships, the Executive Director ensures that the center is at the forefront of addressing the most pressing global challenges through creative, forward-thinking programs. This includes developing and testing new educational models, designing industry-driven research initiatives, and seeking new ways to engage stakeholders across diverse sectors. Actively involved in developing curriculum accredited toward a degree. The Executive Director must also be adept at recognizing gaps in existing research and market needs, and proactively proposing solutions that advance both scientific understanding and real-world applications

Through these efforts, the Executive Director not only ensures the success of current programs but also positions BCGC as a leader in driving the next generation of green chemistry innovations. The role requires a deep commitment to creativity and an entrepreneurial mindset, combined with the ability to navigate complex partnerships and push the boundaries of conventional chemistry to achieve groundbreaking results.

Leadership & Management:

The Executive Director provides strong leadership and management to ensure that all programs at BCGC are strategically aligned with the center's vision and mission. This involves working closely with staff and the BCGC Board to create a collaborative and inclusive environment, where program development incorporates feedback and insights from the Board and other key stakeholders. The Executive Director ensures that all initiatives support the long-term goals of the center while fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

As the principal driver of BCGC's research initiatives, the Executive Director serves as Principal Investigator (PI) on key Center-wide grant proposals, taking a leading role in identifying funding opportunities, crafting compelling proposals, and overseeing their submission to both UC Berkeley and external sponsors. This includes drafting, reviewing, and approving all grant proposals, ensuring they align with the center's priorities and meet the rigorous standards required by funding agencies.

In addition to overseeing the proposal process, the Executive Director stewards and nurtures relationships with donors, building a strong network of financial supporters. This includes developing concept notes and proposals for new funding opportunities, ensuring that all communication with donors is timely, impactful, and aligned with BCGC's strategic priorities.

The Executive Director also plays a critical role in authoring high-level program outputs, such as briefing documents, donor reports, presentations, event concept notes, calls for abstracts, and surveys. These materials are essential for driving engagement, advancing the center's mission, and maintaining strong relationships with key stakeholders.

As a leader, the Executive Director helps staff identify and leverage appropriate university resources, including collaborating with peer programs at UC Berkeley and national research centers. This strengthens BCGC's linkages to other disciplines and fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, enhancing the center's ability to solve complex problems and drive meaningful innovation in green chemistry. Through effective management, leadership, and collaboration, the Executive Director ensures that BCGC remains at the forefront of advancing sustainability and green chemistry solutions.

Communication & Impact:

The Executive Director is responsible for overseeing the translation of BCGC's cutting-edge research and discoveries into impactful, policy-relevant knowledge. This involves strategically identifying opportunities to introduce evidence-based recommendations into ongoing policy dialogues, ensuring that the center's work directly influences the development of policies and practices that promote sustainability and green chemistry. The Executive Director leads efforts to make complex scientific findings accessible and actionable to decision-makers, stakeholders, and the broader public, ensuring that BCGC's research has a tangible impact on the wider community.

A critical aspect of this role is liaising with key external stakeholders, including foundations, journalists, policymakers, and program implementers. The Executive Director works to ensure that key research findings are effectively communicated and disseminated through multiple channels, such as media outlets, policy briefs, public forums, and industry events. This includes proactively engaging with journalists to secure media coverage, organizing briefings with policymakers to advocate for evidence-based solutions, and collaborating with foundations and NGOs to amplify the center's message.

By translating scientific discoveries into clear, actionable insights, the Executive Director ensures that BCGC's research not only advances academic knowledge but also drives real-world change. This includes creating and overseeing the development of high-quality communication materials, such as policy briefs, reports, newsletters, and digital content, to raise the visibility of BCGC's work and influence key stakeholders across industries, government, and the general public.

Through these efforts, the Executive Director amplifies BCGC's voice in global conversations about sustainability, green chemistry, and environmental justice, ensuring that the center's impact extends beyond academia to shape public policy, industry practices, and societal attitudes toward safer, more sustainable chemical solutions.

Required Qualifications

• Experience leading an interdisciplinary, collaborative organization or comparable organization (e.g. institute, initiative, multi-laboratory collaboration, academic department, or company).
• Strong project management and collaborative leadership skills; the ability to move projects with diverse stakeholders to timely completion while maintaining an understanding of long-term goals.
• A proven record of advancing diversity, equity and inclusion within an organization.
• Excellent personnel management, mentoring, and coaching ability and the ability to lead and motivate cross-functional teams including administrative and scientific staff.
• Ability to articulate an organization's story in a compelling way to internal and external
• constituents.
• Desire and flexibility to work in a start-up environment and invest in the growth and development of the organization.
• Demonstrated experience and skill to establish, maintain and foster trusting and cooperative working relationships with partners and stakeholders.
• Demonstrated political acumen to navigate complex situations and structures effectively.
• Excellent ability to inspire stakeholders around vision and strategy, and the capacity to implement, operationalize, and measure the strategic goals, initiatives, and programs.
• Demonstrated analytical and creative skills to plan and implement solutions for positive impact and sustained change.
• Demonstrated success leading in a scientific environment, a history of developing and managing scientific initiatives, and experience working in a dynamic and growing organization.
• Highly skilled fundraising experience.

Education/Training:

• Doctorate in related area and / or equivalent experience training.

Preferred Qualifications

• Excellent written and oral communication skills, with the ability to translate complex scientific findings into accessible, jargon-free language.
• Prior experience with operations, finance and/or program development.
• Experience managing budgets and conducting cost analysis.
• Demonstrated expertise with sponsored projects research and contracts/grants.

Salary & Benefits

For information on the comprehensive benefits package offered by the University, please visit the University of California's Compensation & Benefits website.

Under California law, the University of California, Berkeley is required to provide a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role and should not offer a salary outside of the range posted in this job announcement. This range takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to experience, skills, knowledge, abilities, education, licensure and certifications, analysis of internal equity, and other business and organizational needs. It is not typical for an individual to be offered a salary at or near the top of the range for a position. Salary offers are determined based on final candidate qualifications and experience.

• The budgeted salary range that the University reasonably expects to pay for this position at 100% FTE is $130,000.00 - $175,000.00, commensurate with experience. The full salary range for this classification is $109,200.00 - $207,800.00. Note: This is a part-time, 75% FTE, exempt position. The salary will be prorated accordingly, and at 75% FTE, the budgeted range will be $97,500.00 - $131,250.00.
• This is an exempt, monthly-paid position.
• This is a part-time (30 hours/week), Career position that is eligible for full UC benefits.
• This position is eligible for up to 80% remote work. Exact arrangements are determined in partnership with your supervisor to meet role responsibilities and department needs, and are subject to change.

How to Apply

To apply, please submit your resume and cover letter.

SB 791 and AB 810 Misconduct Disclosure

As a condition of employment, the final candidate who accepts a conditional offer of employment will be required to disclose if they have been subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct; received notice of any allegations or are currently the subject of any administrative or disciplinary proceedings involving misconduct; have left a position after receiving notice of allegations or while under investigation in an administrative or disciplinary proceeding involving misconduct; or have filed an appeal of a finding of misconduct with a previous employer.

"Misconduct" means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant's previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer. For reference, below are UC's policies addressing some forms of misconduct:

UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy
UC Anti-Discrimination Policy
Abusive Conduct in the Workplace

Other Information

This is not a visa opportunity.

Equal Employment Opportunity
The University of California is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. For more information about your rights as an applicant, please see the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission poster.

The University of California's Affirmative action policy.
The University of California's Anti-Discrimination policy.