Academic Director

Job Category

Staff & Executive – Administrative & Support

Overview

The Rutgers Democracy Lab (RDL) was established through a transformative gift received in November 2024. Its mission is to serve as a vibrant hub for civic engagement and a collaborative workshop for studying, analyzing, and addressing the challenges and opportunities of contemporary democracy.

RDL embodies a bold commitment to equipping students with the tools and knowledge to engage with, strengthen, and sustain democracy for future generations. The Lab also seeks to examine emerging threats, such as the influence of social media, and explore their profound impact on democratic processes.

Posting Summary

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey is seeking a Academic Director for the Rutgers Democracy Lab within the Eagleton Institute of Politics.

Among the key duties of the position are the following:

• Leads the development of groundbreaking programs connecting students, faculty, and communities.
• Drives innovation in democracy education and civic engagement.
• Builds partnerships with leading democracy-focused organizations.
• Shapes the national conversation about higher education’s role in democratic renewal.
• Creates a very visible and relevant new Center for Rutgers and all campuses.
• Creates an imprint on democracy education and student involvement
• Builds and leads high-performing teams
• Drives innovation within a major public university while fostering interdisciplinary connectivity to advance the mission and scope of RDL.
• Connects to the world outside of Rutgers at local, state, and national levels.
• Becomes a new model for other Universities and their campus-based democracy work
• Participates, on occasion, in Institute-wide and/or cross-team projects.

Position Status: Full Time

FLSA: Exempt

Grade: 10

Position Salary: $138,852 – $170,000

Annual Minimum Salary: 138852.00

Annual Mid Range Salary: 175750.00

Annual Maximum Salary: 212647.00

Standard Hours: 37.50

Union Description: Admin Assembly (MPSC)

Payroll Designation: PeopleSoft

Benefits

Rutgers offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees. For details, please go to http://uhr.rutgers.edu/benefits/benefits-overview.

Terms of Appointment: Staff – 12 month

Position Pension Eligibility: ABP

Minimum Education and Experience

• This position requires an advanced degree (Ph.D. preferred but not required for exceptional candidates with relevant experience).
• Must also have 8-10 years of extensive experience that encompasses political and academic worlds.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Requires advanced knowledge of politics, teaching and learning and pedagogy, and civic engagement scholarship and practice.
• Must also have extensive experience in designing, implementing, and overseeing educational programs in higher education including curricular design and execution.
• Must have strong communication skills, the capacity to communicate to various constituencies and levels both within and outside the Institute and the University, experience in a leadership role in nonprofit organizations or academic setting, experience supervising multiple employees and must have meticulous project management skills.
• Must be able to independently manage multiple tasks, short deadlines, often within stressful situations.
• Essential that person in this position is well-organized, efficient, responsive, and detail oriented.
• Entrepreneurial and problem-solving attitude with strong organizational and management skills, good judgement, and multidisciplinary project planning skills.
• Strong personal initiative, self-motivated, adaptable and innovative.
• Excellent writing, editing, proofreading, and verbal communications skills including fluency in research and collaboration.
• Efficient and detail-oriented.
• Strong interpersonal skills and comfort meeting and working with a broad range of people – from high-level public officials to faculty to students.
• Ability to independently manage multiple tasks and short deadlines in high-stress situations.
• Prior success in collaborating on complex projects with multidisciplinary stakeholders and program development.
• Comfortable working for an organization that is political yet non-partisan and straddles the worlds of politics and academia.
• Advanced understanding of American politics in general and New Jersey politics and government specifically, whether through coursework, professional experience, or personal involvement.
• Appreciation for and understanding of grant writing, institutional fundraising, and donor cultivation and stewardship.

Preferred Qualifications

• Ph.D. preferred.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

• Eagleton offices are located within a historic building with no elevator. The duties of this position regularly involve navigating stairs numerous times a day.
• An applicant may request a reasonable accommodation if they have a disability that restricts them in their ability to climb and/or navigate stairs.

Special Conditions

• Must be available to work evenings occasionally during the academic year and some weekends.
• Please note that this position is paid from a five-year gift, and continuation is contingent upon available funds.

Posting Open Date: 05/02/2025

Regional Campus: Rutgers University-New Brunswick

Home Location Campus: Douglass (RU-New Brunswick)

City

New Brunswick

State

NJ