Director, Green Chemistry

Overview

The Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering at Yale seeks a senior operational leader and strategic partner for Center leadership to advance the Center’s mission and visibility and expand global impact in green chemistry and green engineering. This person will shape and execute the Center’s strategic priorities, strengthen internal and external alignment with key partners, and enable leadership to operate effectively in a complex, mission‑driven environment.

Working in close partnership with the Center Director and as a member of the leadership team, this person will support strategic planning, priority setting, and decision‑making across the Center’s portfolio of activities and programs alongside Center leadership. The incumbent identifies and develops opportunities for high‑impact initiatives and partnerships; conducts landscape analyses to inform positioning and growth opportunities; and helps translate strategy into coordinated, actionable workstreams with measurable outcomes.

This person plays a key role in integrating education, outreach, and implementation of Center activities, strengthening coordination across programs, teams, and stakeholders, both internal and external. Through the design and stewardship of clear, streamlined systems and processes, the role enhances organizational effectiveness, accountability, and execution without adding unnecessary administrative burden. The incumbent monitors and acts on progress on activities, tracks commitments and deliverables, and proactively flags risks and opportunities for course correction.

As a primary liaison across stakeholders-including Center leadership, staff, partners, and funders-the role supports engagement, program delivery, and reporting aligned with the Center’s mission and priorities. The position also supports the director's communications by synthesizing complex information into clear narratives, briefings, and materials.

The position serves as operational and strategic lead for the Center for Green Chemistry and Green Engineering ("the Center"), functioning as a trusted partner to Center leadership and a central coordinating resource for Center operations across activities and programs. The role is designed to support and enable leadership effectiveness, operational coherence, and timely execution of the Center’s mission-driven portfolio by integrating executive support with programmatic and operational oversight.

Working in close partnership with the Center Director and leadership team, the position ensures that leadership’s time, priorities, and engagements are aligned with the Center’s strategic objectives, and additionally provides high-level executive support according to activities deadlines. The role plays a critical operational function by coordinating Center activities, tracking commitments and deliverables, supporting reporting processes, and maintaining systems that enable visibility into timelines, outcomes, and responsibilities across programs.

The position acts as a primary point of contact and liaison for Center leadership, faculty, staff, students, university partners, external collaborators, and funders to facilitate effective communication and coordination. As a trusted internal resource, the incumbent supports planning, procedures, and the overall smooth functioning of Center operations, developing and executing on implementing strategic goals into actionable activities and ensuring consistency and follow-through across initiatives.

In addition, the position supports administrative and operational infrastructure for the Center, including process improvement, documentation, and the development and maintenance of standard operating procedures that enhance efficiency and accountability without adding unnecessary administrative burden. As needed, the role may also support Center communications and engagement efforts, including coordination of program materials, digital presence, and stakeholder communications.

Overall, the position is central to sustaining the Center’s effectiveness, responsiveness, and impact by bridging leadership priorities, operational execution, and stakeholder engagement in a complex academic and global context.

Significant Travel is required for this position.

Principal Responsibilities include

1. External Strategy, Synergies & Global Impact

• Lead and support strategic efforts to enhance the Center’s visibility, influence, and effectiveness in advancing green chemistry and green engineering globally.
• Identify and shape high-impact external opportunities, including partnerships with academia, industry, government, and international organizations
• Support the development and execution of strategic initiatives that extend the Center’s reach and real-world impact
• Conduct landscape analyses to identify emerging opportunities, gaps, and positioning strategies for global leadership
• Coordinate and advance key external engagements, ensuring alignment with the Center’s mission and priorities
• Translate the Center’s work into clear, compelling narratives for diverse audiences, including funders, partners, and policymakers

Internal Strategy, Operations & Programs Integration

• Strengthen internal coordination and effectiveness across the Center’s portfolio of activities.
• Identify and implement synergies across research, education, outreach, and implementation efforts
• Support strategic planning processes and help translate priorities into actionable workstreams
• Improve operational clarity and alignment across projects, teams, and collaborators
• Develop streamlined systems and processes that enhance coordination without adding unnecessary burden
• Monitor progress on key initiatives and flag risks or opportunities for course correction
• Oversee, manage relevant center staff and relevant student workers
• Oversee and manage contractors across Center Programs and Activities
• Due diligence and approval processes regarding Reporting and Deliverables

Strategic Support to the Director

• Serve as an operational extension of the Center Director to maximize leadership effectiveness.
• Manage and prioritize the Director’s engagements to ensure alignment with strategic goals
• Prepare briefings, materials, and follow-ups for meetings, events, and key decisions
• Track commitments and ensure timely execution of high-priority actions
• Support decision-making by synthesizing information and framing options clearly
• Act as a connective hub across internal and external stakeholders on behalf of the Director
• Support the director with communications and stakeholder management
• Support the Center Leadership in reporting and time-sensitive program delivery.
• Participate in pipeline/forecast preparation and management.
• Establish, implement, and maintain SOPs for office procedures and systems aligned with Center and Leadership objectives.
• Optimize administrative functions and tasks of the Center

Required Skills and Abilities:

1. Proven experience in the field of Green Chemistry is required. Strategic thinking and strategy synthesis ability, outstanding judgment and discretion, and effective project, program and portfolio management.
2. Operational design and process improvement, stakeholder engagement and partnership management, and staff supervision and workforce coordination.
3. Contractor oversight and deliverables management, decision support and briefing preparation, and clear, persuasive, and confident written and verbal communication skills.
4. Cross‑functional coordination and systems thinking, prioritization in time‑sensitive, high‑stakes environments, and a high degree of autonomy, initiative, and accountability.
5. Experience with data preparation and management (Mac/Windows, Microsoft 365 Suites, Adobe Suites, Cloud systems, social media engagement, optional: basic experience in website development and harmonization)

Preferred Education and Experience

1. Master's degree or higher in a related field (e.g. MBA, administration, communications, social sciences, or similar); different combinations of work experience and education may also be considered.
2. 10 years of experience in complex, mission‑driven organizations and work environments. Demonstrated experience in strategy development, program and operations management, partnership development across academic, industry, government, and international stakeholders, efficient staff supervision, oversight of external contractors and due diligence processes of deliverables.
3. Strong record of translating strategy into execution and programmatic development, supporting high‑level decision‑making, and managing time‑sensitive initiatives.

Principal Responsibilities

1. Directs one or more functional areas within an administrative department of the University and ensure compliance with University policies and procedures. 2. Directs analytic and research support for educational policies and planning and develops and approves administrative policies affecting assigned functional areas of the University. 3. Directs and establishes parameters for major projects for the department and University. 4. Interprets federal policies and regulations and educates staff and administration about regulations, restrictions, and the legal responsibilities of the University. 5. Directs and implements policy and program modifications and develops standards to ensure compliance with federal, state and local regulations. 6. Develops and administers an operating budget for the assigned department consistent with University policies and procedures. 7. Develops cost savings objectives and goals; authorizes major purchases and negotiates contracts that range from routine to complex in nature. 8. Establishes and implements long- and short-range goals for the functional area consistent with University goals and objectives. 9. Directs the development of related automated systems to support the function; determines office policies and procedures for use of automated systems. 10. Directs the evaluation and selection of vendors and negotiates contract details including work steps and pricing with the vendors on behalf of the assigned functional area. 11. Works with internal and external contacts to solve problems that range from routine to complex in nature. 12. Represents the University in discussions and negotiations with various governmental agencies. 13. Directs a staff of exempt and nonexempt employees. 14. May perform other duties as assigned.