Founding Executive Director

Job Title: Founding Executive Director, Center for Translational Research in Behavioral Science

Department: Academic Affairs
Reports to: Assistant Provost for Research, Assessment, and Institutional Effectiveness

Location: Residential, In-personCompensation: $140-$180K
Employment Status: Full-Time Exempt Staff

About Palo Alto University (PAU)

Palo Alto University is a private, nonprofit university dedicated to advancing human understanding through innovative education, groundbreaking research, and impactful practice in behavioral science.

Founded in 1975 and located in the heart of Silicon Valley, PAU offers graduate and undergraduate programs in psychology, counseling, social work, and behavioral science, including the PAU-Stanford PsyD Consortium with Stanford Medicine. Grounded in human dignity, PAU’s scholars, clinicians, educators, and learners share a single conviction: that understanding how people think, feel, behave, relate, heal, and make meaning is among the most essential work of our time. 

The university enrolls over 1,200 students, has a network of more than 4,200 alumni, and employs over 150 faculty and staff who are united by a mission-driven commitment to advancing human understanding. PAU enters its sixth decade at a defining moment: a new president, a new provost, a bold new vision and strategic plan, and an urgent opportunity to shape how behavioral science responds to the challenges of an increasingly changing world. You will join a mission-driven community with the ambition to make a measurable impact on the human condition.

The Role

The Founding Executive Director of the Center for Translational Research in Behavioral Science will establish and lead a university-wide hub that expands PAU’s research capacity, advances faculty and student research development, increases external funding, fosters interdisciplinary and strategic partnerships, and accelerates the translation of behavioral science research into meaningful real-world impact.

The successful candidate will be an entrepreneurial and collaborative leader who can build the Center from the ground up while developing innovative approaches to strengthen PAU’s research culture, visibility, partnerships, and impact.

Center for Translational Research

• Establish and lead the Center, including its strategy, programs, operations, budget, partnerships, and measures of success.

• Supervise research-related functions including the library, IRB, grants, writing support, and research design and data analysis services.

• Develop signature research initiatives that translate PAU scholarship into meaningful applications in practice, policy, technology, and communities.

• Engage faculty across the University as Center affiliates, collaborators, and research leaders.

• Build strategic partnerships with universities, healthcare organizations, community organizations, government, foundations, and industry.

• Support Presidential initiatives and University advancement priorities by identifying and developing research opportunities, partnerships, and external engagement aligned with PAU’s strategic goals.

Research Innovation & Strategy

• Actively build and expand PAU’s research enterprise and generate meaningful external revenue through grants, sponsored research, contracts, and strategic partnerships.

• Establish and achieve measurable research growth and revenue targets aligned with PAU’s Strategic Plan, while ensuring that all activities advance the University’s academic mission, research priorities, and long-term sustainability.

• Identify opportunities to strengthen research infrastructure, productivity, interdisciplinary collaboration, visibility, and impact.

• Advance translational research aligned with PAU’s strengths in psychology, counseling, and social work.

• Advance PAU’s signature research agenda at the intersection of human understanding and emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, positioning the University as a distinctive and influential voice in one of the most consequential areas of inquiry and innovation of our time.

• Oversee the full portfolio of technology transfer and commercialization activities, including technology and licensing agreements, intellectual property management, invention disclosures, technology partnerships, royalty arrangements, and equity interests.

Research Development & Support

• Identify external funding opportunities and support faculty in developing competitive grant proposals.

• Convene and support interdisciplinary teams pursuing collaborative and strategically important research opportunities.

• Develop workshops, mentoring, seed funding, and other initiatives that strengthen faculty research capacity and student research competencies.

• Collaborate with University offices responsible for finance, faculty success, advancement, and other areas supporting the research enterprise.

External Engagement & Impact

• Represent PAU and the Center with research partners, funders, and professional organizations.

• Develop opportunities for external research partnerships, sponsored research, and philanthropic support.

• Increase the visibility of PAU research and communicate its scholarly and societal impact.

• Leverage PAU’s Silicon Valley location to develop innovative partnerships at the intersection of behavioral science, mental health, technology, and human-centered innovation.

• Develop and cultivate strategic relationships with startups, accelerators, and venture capital firms to build partnerships, advance commercialization opportunities, and generate sustainable long-term revenue streams.

Required

• PhD or equivalent terminal research doctorate in psychology, behavioral science, health science, social science, or another field related to PAU’s areas of expertise.

• Minimum of 3–5 years of research administration, research development, sponsored research, or related experience in a university or research environment.

• Progressive leadership experience with demonstrated success developing programs, initiatives, partnerships, or research infrastructure.

• Demonstrated understanding of external research funding and the academic research enterprise.

• Experience supporting competitive grant proposals and collaborative research initiatives.

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with students, faculty, academic leaders, and external partners.

• Ability to work in person, with established professional networks and connections across the San Francisco Bay Area.

• Excellent leadership, communication, organizational, and project-management skills.

• Demonstrated ability to think strategically, build new initiatives, and work collaboratively across disciplines and organizational boundaries.

Preferred

• Demonstrated success securing or contributing substantially to externally funded research.

• Genuine interest in and intellectual curiosity about research at the intersection of human understanding, emerging technologies, and artificial intelligence.

• Experience developing interdisciplinary, multi-investigator, or multi-institutional proposals.

• Experience launching or leading a research center, institute, or major research initiative.

• Experience with translational, applied, implementation, or community-engaged research.

• Familiarity with federal funding agencies relevant to PAU, including NIH, NSF, HRSA, and SAMHSA.

• Record of scholarly accomplishment and experience supporting faculty research development.

• Experience developing partnerships across academia, healthcare, government, foundations, community organizations, or industry.

Work Hours and Location

This is a full-time, residential position based at PAU's campuses in Palo Alto and Mountain View, California. Regular in-person presence is expected and essential to the community-building culture the Director is responsible for creating and sustaining. Occasional evening and weekend availability is required for student programs, events, and community initiatives.

EEOC Policy

The University is an equal opportunity employer and is firmly committed to non-discrimination in its hiring and other employment practices and in the application of its personnel policies. In compliance with all applicable federal and state laws, employment decisions will be made without regard to any status protected by applicable law. The University will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities consistent with applicable law.