The Brain Development and Education Lab seeks a full time Director of Operations, Administration, and Strategy to join our team. The Director of Operations, Administration, and Strategy will provide management and coordination of administrative and operations-related functions for the lab to achieve the research and teaching mission, goals and objectives of the unit.

Note: This position is a 1-year fixed term appointment that may be renewed based on performance and funding. This position is eligible for a hybrid work agreement. Interested applicants should submit a resume and a cover letter describing why they are interested in this position at this stage of their career. Candidates must be eligible to work in the US. Visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

ABOUT US

The Brain Development & Education Lab is located in the Graduate School of Education (GSE) at Stanford University and represents a collaboration between the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics within the School of Medicine, the Graduate School of Education and the Wu Tsai Neuroscience Institute. The Brain Development & Education Lab houses the Rapid Online Assessment of Reading (ROAR), a program that bridges the lab, community, and classroom, aligning academic research to practical challenges in education. ROAR's mission is to inspire a virtuous cycle between research and practice, supporting equity in education through the open dissemination of evidence-based tools that support students and teachers while advancing the frontiers of knowledge through inclusive research at an unprecedented scale. ROAR empowers educators, families, clinicians, and researchers with research-backed assessments to advance learning, accelerate research on learning differences, and foster equitable access to high-quality, data-driven decision-making for all.

The lab is affiliated with the Stanford Center on Early Childhood (SCEC). The SCEC leverages the current moment of revolutionary science and fosters deep omnidirectional collaboration across sectors, seeking to change the way that research in early childhood is conducted, communicated, and utilized, with the overarching goal that each and every child thrives from the start.

POSITION SUMMARY:

ROAR is a rapidly growing program, having been recently approved as a universal screener across multiple states and now supporting hundreds of thousands of students in schools all across the United States. As ROAR grows so does the lab, with a dynamic and collaborative team consisting of graduate students, postdocs, faculty, research coordinators, professional web developers, and school partnership coordinators. The Director of Operations, Administration, and Strategy will join the leadership team of the lab to provide leadership across administrative functions at the lab.

The person in this role will work to develop and refine organizational infrastructure across the unit. As a member of the Leadership Team, this role will work closely with Lab Director Dr. Jason Yeatman, as well as the Director of Research and Partnerships and the Director of Technology and Innovation, to support strategic planning across the lab. The person in this role will serve as primary liaison with central University offices in areas of administration, financial and research management, and organizational needs.

Areas of responsibility include:

• Administrative Leadership & Infrastructure

  • Provide leadership for core administrative functions including contract management, proposal development, financial coordination, and operational support.

  • Oversee contract and license agreement management, including drafting, tracking, and coordination with university offices to ensure compliance and timely execution.

  • Lead and support proposal and grant development, coordinating cross-team inputs, timelines, and submission processes.

  • Lead budget development, monitoring, and financial planning, ensuring alignment between programmatic priorities and fiscal stewardship. Partner with Stanford finance teams.

  • Coordinate events, ensuring strong logistical support and thoughtful execution that advances the lab's mission and partnerships.

  • Establish and refine administrative systems, workflows, and documentation to support the lab's continued growth. Collaborate with other leaders to identify needs for additional administrative and operations support and make recommendations for staffing solutions. May supervise staff, students, or casual employees.

• Organizational Operations & Strategic Coordination

  • Support organization-wide strategic and long-range planning, working as a member of the leadership team to translate vision and priorities into operational plans and oversee project timelines and deliverables.

  • In collaboration with the leadership team, lead development and tracking of lab-wide implementation plans, ensuring coordination across research, programs, partnerships, and operations.

  • Working closely with the leadership team, facilitate cross-functional collaboration across teams to ensure alignment, reduce operational bottlenecks, and support timely progress on key initiatives.

  • Conduct organizational and operational gap analysis, identifying opportunities to strengthen infrastructure, staffing models, and internal processes.

  • Develop and implement scalable operational structures that support both current activities and anticipated growth of the lab.

  • Serve as a thought partner to leadership on organizational development, helping identify priorities for future staffing, systems, and operational capacity.

We are a mission-driven team that holds itself to high standards of quality, thoughtfulness, and follow-through. Successful team members take ownership of their work, bring a proactive and detail-oriented approach, and are energized by meaningful responsibility. This role is best suited for someone who sets high standards for themselves, takes pride in the outcomes they produce, and consistently delivers strong, thoughtful results within a culture of shared accountability and continuous improvement.

CORE DUTIES

• Manage staff in the day-to-day operations for the lab. Responsible for hiring and retaining staff, career coaching, personal development for direct reports and accountable for the performance of employees. Ensure work completion within schedule and constraints.

• In collaboration with GSE human resources managers, guide faculty supervisors in the interpretation and implementation of human resources policies, procedures and programs.

• Evaluate business processes and operational and/or financial effectiveness. Analyze and resolve complex issues and provide alternative solutions as necessary.

• May lead process improvement for lab.

• Analyze unit needs and make recommendations to leadership for changes in staffing, facilities, health and safety compliance, finance, technology and/or administrative functions. Work with the GSE Dean's Office regarding resources to support faculty activities and interests.

• Interpret, implement and ensure compliance with university academic and administrative policies and procedures within an operating unit. Recommend new internal policies, guidelines and procedures.

• Manage the finances across all sources for the annual budget, including developing, monitoring, analyzing, forecasting and reporting.

• Manage and coordinate grants and contracts for the department. Ensure compliance with institutional and external requirements.

• Represent the unit's business and academic operations within the school.