Executive Director, Keller Center

Requisition # 2026-21600

Date Posted 5 days ago (3/6/2026 11:38 AM)

Department: Innovation in Engineering Educ

Category: Academic Administration

Job Type: Full-Time

Overview

Situated in the School of Engineering at Princeton University, the Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education empowers its constituents to create meaningful real-world impact through entrepreneurship, innovation, and design. Founded in 2005, the Center offers curricular and co-curricular programs to undergraduates, graduate students and faculty. As a trusted thought partner to the Center's faculty director, the Executive Director holds a distinctive and overarching perspective across the breadth and activities of the center. Working alongside the Director, the Executive Director leads strategic priorities to develop, articulate, and implement center-wide strategies to achieve the center's goals.

Leading administrative, operational, outreach, financial, and programmatic aspects of the center, the Executive Director provides leadership to all members of the Keller Center community, including faculty and staff, to establish a culture of engagement in teaching and learning centered in design, entrepreneurship, and innovation. The Executive Director designs organizational strategy to create, own, and enforce processes to drive coordination, communication, and excellence to support the smooth and effective operations of the center.

The Executive Director is a senior professional with a broad and deep understanding of strategic planning, finance, people leadership, and operational acumen, with an entrepreneurial, energetic, and optimistic approach. Reporting directly to the center's faculty director, with a secondary reporting relationship to the Associate Dean for Administration in the Dean's Office in the School of Engineering, the Executive Director represents the Keller Center both internally within the University and externally with strategic partners, advisors, donors, and other stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership: In partnership with the faculty director, provides essential vision and leadership to develop, articulate, and implement center-wide strategy to further the goals of the center. Portfolio encompasses a comprehensive set of curricular, co-curricular, and extracurricular programs of broad interest to students and faculty.
- Deeply engages in the development, creation, and evaluation of new strategic initiatives.
- Furthers the advancement of strategic priorities through planning and programmatic steps.
- Leads important strategic priorities, including investing in operational and programmatic excellence.
- Designs organizational strategy, develops internal policies, and leads efforts to acquire resources to establish the internal structure that ensures the center flourishes and reflects operational excellence.

Administrative Leadership and Operational Management: Serves as the senior staff member in the organization and provides leadership to all members of the Keller Center community.
- Oversees center team members. Helps set goals and priorities for their respective areas. Manages the hiring, performance review, and merit increase process for staff members.
- Supports faculty recruitment for core Keller Center courses and provides input on faculty performance reviews.
- Ensures the smooth, effective, and compliant operations of the center, including the administrative, financial, technological, space and facility components.
- Responsible for the improvement of current processes and coordination of organizational procedures for increased efficiency and productivity.
- Represents the center on various internal committees and working groups.

Outreach and External Engagement: Forges and cultivates enduring partnerships to further the goals of the center and elevate the center's visibility and prominence.
- Engages in development, fundraising, and stewardship activities on behalf of the center.
- Forges key relationships across internal and external entities to support center activities.
- Develops avenues to engage faculty and students with industry representatives, cultivates a strong sense of community, and fosters synergies.
- Helps define center identity and narrative to develop a communication plan to increase center visibility.
- Oversees and manages multi-constituent collaborations, events, and projects including external partners.
- Partners with the faculty director on the center's advisory council membership and annual meeting.

Financial Oversight:
- Sets and oversees the center's overall budget; ensures appropriate usage of funds and oversight of all financial activities.
- Ensures appropriate and timely stewardship of donor funds.
- Routinely reviews financial reports and provides financial analysis to support strong business and programmatic decisions to prioritize funding for maximum impact.

Qualifications

Required qualifications:

• Master's or professional degree and 7+ years of experience, ideally in entrepreneurship, design, or higher education
• Experience leading an organization toward a shared vision and building consensus among diverse stakeholders.
• Ability to design and formulate strategic vision, leadership, and implementation.
• Track record in operational management including responsibility for budget creation and oversight, personnel management, and policy adherence.
• Proven ability to navigate ambiguity and complex situations, problem solve while being innovative, and recommending courses of actions while balancing competing priorities.
• Strong commitment to transparency, accountability, and responsiveness.
• Strong background in new program development, implementation, and analysis.
• Interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence to build strong relationships with multiple constituencies.
• An entrepreneurial, energetic, and optimistic approach to leadership along with a bedrock belief in the power of higher education to positively impact the world.

Preferred qualifications:

• Prior experience in an academic/higher education setting.
• Prior experience in a design and/or entrepreneurial setting.
• Leadership in a large, complex organization.

Princeton University is an Equal Opportunity and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

The University considers factors such as (but not limited to) scope and responsibilities of the position, candidate's qualifications, work experience, education/training, key skills, market, collective bargaining agreements as applicable, and organizational considerations when extending an offer. The posted salary range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate for a full-time position; salaries for part-time positions are pro-rated accordingly.

Standard Weekly Hours 36.25

Eligible for Overtime No

Benefits Eligible Yes

Probationary Period 180 days

Essential Services Personnel (see policy for detail) No

Physical Capacity Exam Required No

Valid Driver’s License Required No

Experience Level Director

Salary Range $155,000 to $175,000