Vice Provost for Research and Chief Research Officer

About Fordham:

Founded in 1841, Fordham is the Jesuit University of New York, offering an exceptional education distinguished by the Jesuit tradition to more than 16,000 students in its nine colleges and schools. It has residential campuses in the Bronx and Manhattan, a campus in West Harrison, N.Y., the Louis Calder Center Biological Field Station in Armonk, N.Y., and the London Centre in the United Kingdom.

The University offers a comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental, and vision insurance; flexible spending accounts; retirement plans; life insurance; short and long-term disability; employee assistance program ( EAP ); tuition remission; and generous time off.

Successful candidates should have a knowledge of and commitment to the goals of Jesuit Education.

Department: Office of Research

Campus: Rose Hill (RH) - Bronx

Position Summary:

Reporting to the Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, the Vice Provost for Research and Chief Research Officer provides strategic leadership and administrative oversight for the University’s research enterprise.

Working collaboratively with Deans, Faculty, and other members of the Fordham Community, this role is a key member of the academic leadership team, responsible for fostering a robust culture of scholarship, creative endeavor, and transformative innovation. The individual plays a critical role in leading the University to a new level of research excellence across all of its academic units, reflecting the University’s strategic commitment to interdisciplinary discovery rooted in its Jesuit traditions.

The position cultivates a research environment that includes promoting faculty and student research development, expanding external funding, ensuring appropriate infrastructure exists to support research, and providing dynamic leadership to articulate and implement the University’s vision for “research that matters”.

Essential Functions:

Develops and implements a comprehensive strategic plan for research that aligns with the University’s strategic plan, delivering on the Promise of Fordham. Develops criteria and metrics to measure effectiveness.

Promotes, coordinates, and supports collaborations for research, creative endeavors, and sponsored programs within and across departments, centers, and schools.

Identifies institutional challenges related to research development, addresses difficulties and problems in executing a strategy to advance research, and devises appropriate plans and approaches for effective implementation.

Develops and implements a strategy to increase the number of faculty who submit and are awarded external funding. Improves pre-award and (in collaboration with the Office of Finance) post-award research administration infrastructure to better support and incentivize faculty seeking external funding. Mentors faculty in proposal development and navigates the complexities of grant management.

Oversees the Office of Research and the Office of Sponsored Programs ( OSP ). Provides oversight of sponsored programs, research initiatives, and research compliance, including issues related to technology transfer and export controls.

Considers and implements new systems, aided by technology, to track the life cycle of research activities. Directs operations involved in the review, analysis, and reporting of data used to assess institutional effectiveness in research.

Serves as the Provost Office liaison to the institutional bodies, including the University Research Council, and as the University’s primary liaison to federal and state funding agencies (e.g., NSF , NIH , DOE ), corporate partners, and other research institutions.

Partners with federal and state relations efforts to inform advocacy priorities and to help the University navigate a volatile funding and compliance environment. Cultivates and manages key external partnerships that advance the University’s academic and research offerings.

Ensures compliance with laws and regulations and the appropriate functioning of programs, committees, and officers under the Office of Research. Works collaboratively with General Counsel, Finance, and HR to manage institutional risks associated with research activities.

In collaboration with academic deans, works to support and expand student (undergraduate and graduate) research opportunities.

Required Qualifications:

A doctoral degree or equivalent.

Minimum of 8 years of experience in a high-level research administration role and in promoting research and scholarly activities, developing partnerships across multiple disciplines, addressing critical issues for a research community, and attracting external funding.

Preferred Qualifications:

Experience as a faculty member or Principal Investigator in externally-funded research projects.

A track record of institutional leadership expanding the number of faculty awarded external grants from varied sources (e.g. foundations, federal/state/local governments, and industry).

Experience implementing ambitious strategic plan initiatives, with transdisciplinary and community-engaged approaches.

Minimum Salary: $235,000

Maximum Salary: $290,000