Operations Director

Berkman Center for Internet and Society
Published
February 12, 2014
Location
Cambridge, MA
Category
Job Type

Description

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University seeks a senior-level professional to serve as our Operations Director, the chief administrator for all of the Center’s daily activities, operations, and programs.You will serve as an integral member of the Center’s leadership team, reporting and acting as deputy to the Executive Director. Following in the footsteps of previous incisive and big-hearted leaders who have helped to build the Berkman Center, you will be a tireless and dedicated leader working among some of the most influential scholars on the future of the Internet, and will have the opportunity to help shepherd the Center into its next exciting phase.

As an enterprising, agile, and progressive Operations Director, you will own the roadmap for the Center’s diverse portfolio of activities: you will oversee the comprehensive planning and implementation of the Center’s programs and pursuits; craft strategic initiatives to support and strengthen the Center’s functional responsibilities and culture of serious fun; and inspire and empower the talented Berkman team in the development of scholarship with impact and in their own professional development.

You will manage Berkman’s dynamic core administrative staff and programs, work closely with the Research Director to facilitate high-level institutional coordination and staffing allocation across research projects, and share responsibility with the Center’s financial management for other operational aspects of the Center. In addition, you will lead the cultivation and maintenance of collaborative relationships across the Berkman Center, at Harvard Law School, and throughout Harvard University, and with other colleagues and organizational partners in Cambridge and abroad.

A full position description for the job can be found below and on the Harvard Human Resources website.  

Please note that applications for this job must be submitted through the Harvard Human Resources website, and will not be collected or coordinated directly through the Berkman Center.  Apply at:https://sjobs.brassring.com/TGWEbHost/jobdetails.aspx?partnerID=25240&siteID=5341&AReq=31708BR

Please feel welcome to reach out to us with questions.  And as ever, your help in spreading the word to great candidates is appreciated!

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Responsibilities:

The Operations Director is a new position at the Berkman Center. You’ll have a great deal of say in defining this position, and among your responsibilities you will:

  • serve as lead for all operational processes and systems at the Center -- including management, information flow, and organizational planning --  in support of Berkman’s entrepreneurial mission;
  • collaborate with other internal and external stakeholders on strategic planning and development and implementation of new workflow processes and procedures;
  • diplomatically provide on-the-ground leadership in a complex multi-stakeholder setting, including savvy operational and distributed human resource management for a highly networked and engaged community;
  • play an active role in the screening and prioritization of new projects, activities, and initiatives;
  • manage the Center’s core team, whose dynamic activities include a range of institutional initiatives including special projects, events, community programs, digital media, communications, and office management;
  • help to maintain a general map of Center-wide project activities, responsibilities, and timelines to support management, task allocation, and efficiency gains;
  • oversee, foster, and deepen staff relations, and coordinate and maintain routine efforts for staff training and professional growth and development;
  • liaise with Berkman leadership team and practice area leads on personnel management and HR interactions;
  • facilitate institutional coordination across core staff (primarily) and other staff areas (secondarily), including developing meeting agendas, collaboratively implementing technology resources, and other process and structure improvements to support effective organizational functioning and intercommunication;
  •  strengthen the relationships in the community within and surrounding Berkman, with an eye to promoting both internal and external collaboration;
  • participate in financial management, budget planning, fundraising and grant management, including generating reports and proposals for future research;
  • coordinate engagement of Faculty Directors with Berkman staff;
  • exhibit broad knowledge of Center events and activities;
  • perform numerous important and urgent tasks on as-needed basis.

While you will not be required to perform research, you will share a strong commitment to furthering the work of our human network and fostering rigorous “scholarship with impact” by strengthening the operations of the Center.  You will thrive in a committed, collaborative, and tight-knit community that encourages creativity, supports deep inquiry, values novel approaches to solving problems, strives for transparency, continually builds upon best-practices and lessons learned, and supports its community members’ independent and collective goals. Finally, you’ll have heart, verve, and vigor, a can-do attitude, a keen sense of humor, and a strong desire to effect change in the world.

Direct management of several positions, currently including:  Community Manager, Strategic Initiatives Manager, Administrative Coordinator and Staff Assistant.

Basic Qualifications:

Bachelor’s Degree required.

A minimum of 7 years of progressively responsible administrative management experience, including at least 2 years of prior experience in direct staff supervision.

Additional Qualifications:

Advanced degree preferred. Experience in project and organizational management, including coordinating project teams; managing work flows; creating and deploying systems and procedures; creating and facilitating events.

Experience with direct supervision and mentoring of staff is essential, and working in research or entrepreneurial non-profit setting highly beneficial. Must be able to roll with the punches, adapt to new situations and shift priorities rapidly; make independent decisions and build consensus as needed. Strong interpersonal skills, proven capacity to work independently and as a team member, sound judgment, an entrepreneurial attitude, exceptional ethical standards, deft management abilities, and outstanding writing and verbal skills, and a keen sense of humor are all necessary.

About Us:

The Berkman Center for Internet & Society is a research center founded to explore cyberspace, share in its study, and help pioneer its development. We represent a network of faculty, students, fellows, entrepreneurs, lawyers, and virtual architects working to identify and engage with the challenges and opportunities of cyberspace, and work with researchers, computer scientists, activists, librarians, musicians, and more from all corners of the university and beyond to advance cutting edge research. For more information on who we are and what we do, please visit http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/.

Commitment to Diversity: 

The work and well-being of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University are strengthened profoundly by the diversity of our network and our differences in background, culture, experience, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, and much more. We are an equal opportunity employer and actively seek and welcome applications from all applicants, including people of color, women, the LGBTQIA community, and persons with disabilities, as well as applications from researchers and practitioners from across the spectrum of disciplines and methods.

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