Agrilife Center Director - Beaumont, United States - Texas A&M AgriLife Agencies and College

Description

Job Title
Agrilife Center Director

Agency
Texas A&M Agrilife Research

Department
Research Director Management

Proposed Minimum Salary
Commensurate

Job Location
Beaumont, Texas

Job Type
Faculty

Job Description

Center Director - Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Beaumont

Position Description

Texas A&M AgriLife Research seeks a full-time, research-active, and dynamic individual with a proven record of research excellence to serve as Center Director at the Agency's Beaumont Center. This person will be responsible for administering and coordinating all aspects of the Center, including the Wintermann Rice Research Station at Eagle Lake, as well as participating in active research, outreach and extension through collaboration, where appropriate, to enhance overall faculty research productivity at the Center and their impacts at the local, state, national and international levels. This is a 12-month appointment and will be linked with a departmental affiliation within Texas A&M University that best fits the candidate's background and interest.

The Center Director is expected to provide visionary leadership, recognize and respond to dynamic research and public service needs regionally and statewide, and catalyze the design and implementation of innovative research projects. The Center Director is also responsible for fostering productive partnerships and relationships with relevant organizations; recruiting and retaining highly qualified faculty and staff; promoting professional development among faculty and staff; facilitating the acquisition of external resources; and providing fair, sound, and transparent management of human, physical, and fiscal assets. Central to the success of this position is the ability to foster interdisciplinary research and closely engage with key stakeholders, including department heads, university administration, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, local/state/national government and research entities, civic and business leaders, and advisory and commodity groups.

Responsibilities

• In collaboration with research faculty at the Beaumont Center, develop a vision for the continued role of the Center and AgriLife Research in the dynamic environment of agriculture, food, and water science in the Beaumont area, throughout Texas, across the nation and globally, where relevant.
• Provide intellectual, philosophical, and strategic leadership to Center faculty and scientists, staff, and students to enhance research, extension, and teaching missions.
• Develop strategic responses to agriculture-related challenges and opportunities, particularly in meeting the needs of the region's food producers and value-added processing industries.
• Develop and/or lead research teams to respond to internal and external research grant opportunities with the involvement of research faculty from AgriLife Research and AgriLife Extension, as well as other research partners.
• Manage human and fiscal resources and build a strong and growing extramural funding portfolio to enhance the Center's research capacity and reputation.
• Manage support staff and physical resources to enhance the productivity of faculty.
• Represent the Center to state and federal agencies, private organizations, partners, collaborators, key industry groups such as rice commodity groups, and international organizations.
• Development of additional research foci pertinent to regional clientele and stakeholders is welcome.
• Provide leadership for the coordination of efforts between research, teaching, and extension faculty to create an effective and synergistic working relationship.
• Coordinate with the administration of AgriLife Research to plan initiatives, convey research and extension information, and pursue fundraising opportunities that will benefit the Center far into the future.
• Communicate effectively with AgriLife Research administration, department heads in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, AgriLife Extension leadership, and other Texas A&M University System components.
• Develop collaborative and administrative leadership between Center Director and District Extension Administrator for Research and Extension programs and operations for the Center.

Administrative Relationship

This position reports to the Director of Texas A&M AgriLife Research.

Required Education/Experience

• A Ph.D. in an agricultural or closely associated discipline
• A well-recognized leader in interdisciplinary agricultural sciences, with an excellent research background, as demonstrated by highly cited multi-authored peer-reviewed publications, grant funding, honors and awards, and academic stature appropriate for a full-time faculty appointment at the rank of Professor
• Expertise in scientific research that focuses on integration across disciplines
• Demonstrated history of working effectively in applied, basic, and integrated sciences
• Demonstrated ability to engage with stakeholder groups, identify critical challenges, and conduct solutions-oriented research to address them
• Demonstrated success in building, supporting, and leading interdisciplinary teams
• Experience in managing human and fiscal resources as well as physical resources

Preferred Education/Experience

• At least 10 years of experience conducting competitively funded research
• Knowledge of the land grant university system and a track record of using research and extension to solve problems and convey practical solutions to stakeholders
• Demonstrated experience navigating conflicting interests to achieve accepted practices among groups (e.g., stakeholders, trade associations, commodity groups, state and/or federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations)

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Demonstrates excellent writing and speaking skills in English
• Able to communicate effectively with faculty, staff, administration, and stakeholders
• Able to manage interdisciplinary teams effectively
• Able to inspire Center employees, manage teams, and invest in the individual success of staff members
• Demonstrates a clear commitment to the mission of a land-grant university system
• Skilled in strategic planning and development to advance the goals of the Center
• Able to coordinate with broad-based partners and stakeholders to address current and emerging agricultural, food, and water challenges statewide, nationally, and internationally

Location

Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center, 1509 Aggie Drive, Beaumont, TX

Beaumont Research and Extension Center

The Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Beaumont was established in 1909 and serves the Gulf Coast region and its communities through scientific research, public outreach, extension, and education programs. Faculty members at the Center collaborate with colleagues at Texas A&M University at College Station, other AgriLife Research and Extension Centers across the state, and rice researchers worldwide. Faculty members at the Center conduct research at Beaumont and Eagle Lake facilities. The Center focuses on rice varietal improvement and management practice development. The Center has exceptional strength in inbred and specialty rice breeding, molecular marker development, plant physiology, plant nutrition, water management, C and N sequestration, entomology, plant pathology, weed science, and cropping systems analysis addressing genetic regulation, phenotypic trait expression, model-assessed ideotype breeding, bioenergy facility site selection modeling, and post-harvest grain management modeling. Research and extension programs at the Beaumont Center seek to strengthen the development of fundamental knowledge of the biology and ecology of rice's major pests and beneficial organisms and how rice responds to key phenotypic traits. For example, one such current component of the Center's research focuses on developing and edaphic, abiotic, and climate of rice's major pest and beneficial organisms, ecology stresses. Development of additional research foci pertinent to regional clientele and stakeholders is welcome. As an example, one such current component of the Center's research focuses on the develop of economically and environmentally sustainable cellulosic crop production systems for the Gulf Coast Region of the U.S.

The Beaumont Center's facilities include offices, laboratories, classrooms, and auditorium; greenhouses, workshops, storerooms, sheds, and ancillary buildings; 960 acres in Beaumont and 114 acres in Eagle Lake.

Texas A&M AgriLife

Texas A&M AgriLife, a member of the Texas A&M University System, is administered by the Vice Chancellor and Dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences and includes Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M AgriLife Research, the College of Agriculture & Life
Sciences at Texas A&M University, Texas A&M Forest Service, and Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory.

Texas A&M AgriLife Research is the leading research and technology-development agency in Texas for agriculture, natural resources, and the life sciences. Our discoveries yield economic, environmental, and health benefits that are key to our state's success and vital to the lives of its citizens. With 13 research centers throughout the state, AgriLife Research is dedicated to research that improves the Texas economy and lives of local and statewide stakeholders through research across the whole agricultural value chain. Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service provides programs, tools, and educational resources to improve agriculture and food and fiber production, advance human health, protect the environment and natural resources, enhance profitability, and enrich youth development.

Additional information about Texas A&M AgriLife Research is available at:

Texas A&M AgriLife Research:

Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Beaumont:

Closing Date for Applications

Review of applications will begin on or about August 07, 2023, and will continue until the position is filled. Date position is available: January 1, 2024.

Application Instructions

An application should contain:

1) A cover letter including the applicant's vision for research, extension, and administrative philosophy for the Center;

2) A statement of research for the position (2-page limit);

3) A statement of administrative vision for the position (2-page limit);

4) A statement of extension for the position (2-page limit);

5) A resume or curriculum vitae; and

6) Contact information for three references.

Questions

Address inquiries to Search Advisory Committee Chair:

Raghavan Srinivasan, Ph.D.

Professor & Center Director, Texas A&M AgriLife Research - Temple

Email:

Phone:

All positions are security-sensitive. Applicants are subject to a criminal history investigation, and employment is contingent upon the institution's verification of credentials and/or other information required by the institution's procedures, including the completion of the criminal history check.

Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Veterans/Disability Employer.