The University of Virginia’s Office of the Provost seeks a Project Director for the pan-university Gun Violence Solutions Project.
The project brings together faculty, researchers, practitioners, students, and community members with the aims to better understand and reduce gun violence. One of the primary areas of focus of the project is to reduce gun violence in the local context, with the aim that the development of solutions and assessments of interventions in the Charlottesville and Albemarle County area will enable a national conversation about what localities can do to confront the problem of gun violence.
The director would manage, facilitate, and coordinate various activities of the project, ensuring collaboration of several schools and units across UVA, along with local and national community partners. The project director is also expected to be a thought partner with university leaders and key stakeholders regarding the overall vision and implementation of the project’s plans and activities. This role reports to Megan Barnett, Vice Provost for Academic Initiatives, University of Virginia.
The UVA Gun Violence Solutions Project (GVSP) is a university-wide effort to address the issue of gun violence. The project has been initiated through a collaboration among the President and Provost offices and UVA’s School of Law, the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, the College and Graduate School of Art & Sciences, the Equity Center, and the Karsh Institute of Democracy. It aims to develop solutions at the local level and support research and teaching around local interventions and legal and cultural issues surrounding gun violence.
Working closely with these key stakeholders, the project director will help faculty, staff, students, and community partners develop and carry out the initiatives of the GVSP.
The GVSP has several activities ongoing or planned in different schools and units at UVA, and the Project Director would ensure these activities are supported and remain connected and integrated with each other. The director would also ensure that these activities meet established goals, timelines and/or deliverables and are aligned with the broader vision of the project as a pan-university effort. The units and activities currently supported by the GVSP, include:
The Equity Center:
- Carrying out the community-engaged elements of the project.
- Hosting a Data Management Specialist that works with partners at UVA and in the Charlottesville community to build research-practice partnerships and works with community stakeholders in Charlottesville and Albemarle County to coordinate and establish mechanisms for data sharing among local agencies and researchers.
Karsh Institute of Democracy:
- Hosting the pan-university GVSP Faculty Working Group (with faculty representing both the academic and medical divisions at UVA): supporting faculty and student activities, research, and course enhancement funding on the topics of gun violence.
- Hosting a Journalism Fellow in partnership with The Trace, a non-profit news organization, covering gun violence interventions and issues facing communities with populations less than 250,000 residents.
College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences and Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy:
- Supporting undergraduate course offerings on the issue of gun violence, from culture and history to policy and practice, including a 10-week policy-focused course with students from multiple schools organized by Batten.
UVA Law School and Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy:
- Collaborating on a year-long law and policy clinic on local gun violence mitigation as part of the State and Local Government Policy Clinic at UVA Law.
Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership
- Ensure elements of the wider project are aligned with the Community Safety Working Group report and broader vision of the GVSP.
- Provide feedback to partners and thought partnership on the project's aims to enhance its activities.
- Develop and sustain partnerships with external constituencies around collaborations and knowledge exchange, including with sectors outside of higher education.
- Develop and assist with the evaluation of partnerships and collaborations, research impact, product impact (white papers, policy proposals, public media citations, and/or media appearances).
- Develop and execute plans to amplify research and activities that are happening at UVA to ensure research and other impacts are known by policy makers and/or other relevant bodies and agencies.
- Keep abreast of the gun violence prevention landscape at peer institutions, identify research gaps and needs in the area of gun violence prevention and recommend areas for development of research and other activities at UVA.
- Help secure resources and develop fundraising proposals that advance the project and its associated research and activities, working in coordination with partner schools and units.
- Take proactive steps to ensure activities are facilitated and coordinated, problem-solve issues that arise, and develop alternate plans for potential delays, changes, or challenges.
Project Management
- Oversee project-wide timelines and planning activities.
- Ensure that key stakeholders are aware of the status of initiatives and any barriers to deliverables or successful outcomes.
- Organize and plan routine project-wide meetings on: budget planning, communications, event planning, human resources needs, and other functions associated with the project, working with staff in the Provost Office and/or in the relevant schools and units.
- Effectively communicate with senior leaders on project status and regularly communicate with University and community partners to keep them apprised of project activities and updates.
- Track and communicate impacts of the Project and associated activities with University Communications.
Operations
- In coordination with the finance team in the Provost’s Office, manage the fiscal administration of the project, including managing the project budget, track funding and expenses, and ensure project partners have clear expectations for funding and receive funding in a timely fashion.
- Manage shared document infrastructure for the project.
- Gain familiarity with the range of UVA policies and procedures to provide both timely and accurate guidance to partners on the activities and funding GVSP provides.
In addition to the above job responsibilities, other duties may be assigned.
Anticipated Hiring Range: $95,000 to $105,000 commensurate with experience.
Minimum Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree.
- At least four years of experience. Relevant experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
- Demonstrated proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, including a willingness to become proficient in Microsoft OneDrive and Teams.
- Experience in either an academic environment (w/knowledge of academic culture and norms) or a policy environment, including but not limited to non-profit organizations or local, state, and federal government.
- Demonstrated project management experience.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple activities in a complex and evolving organizational environment.
- Experience building constituencies and managing outreach to internal and external stakeholders and audiences.
Preferred Experience
- Expertise or background related to the content and issues informing the Gun Violence Solutions Project.
- Experience or capacity for strategic thinking and planning on extending or expanding work of the project.
- Media experience and/or writing for public audiences on complex policy issues.
Position Expectations
- Attention to detail and excellent organizational and planning skills, with an ability to prioritize tasks, follow up and track details and communicate progress.
- Exhibit a professional and positive demeanor and effective communication and relationship building with diverse groups of individuals and organizations.
- Work cooperatively with diverse groups of individuals and organizations to achieve shared objectives.
- Proactively provide updates to key partners and stakeholders.
- Anticipate collaboration needs and proactively take initiative to ensure continued progress, working to solve problems and identify solutions.
- Possess effective verbal and written communication skills.
- Demonstrate professional judgment and discretion in working with various partners across the University and external stakeholders.
- Value diverse experiences, styles, backgrounds, and perspectives with a demonstrated awareness of diverse cultural norms.
This is a three-year position located in Charlottesville, VA, with the ability to work a hybrid schedule.
The anticipated start date is Summer 2024.
This position is a restricted position and is dependent upon project need, availability of funding and performance.
This is an Exempt level, benefited position. For more information on the benefits at UVA, visit www.hr.virginia.edu/benefits.
This position will remain open until filled. Review of applicants will begin in late April 2024.
This position will not sponsor applicants for work visas.
The University will perform background checks on all new hires prior to employment.
To Apply:
Please visit UVA job posting to apply.
https://jobs.virginia.edu/us/en/job/R005882/GVSP-Project-Director
Complete an application online with the following documents:
Upload all materials into the resume submission field; multiple documents can be submitted into this one field. Alternatively, merge all documents into one PDF for submission. Applications that do not contain all required documents will not receive full consideration.
References will be completed via UVA’s standardized process Skill Survey. A total of five references will be requested via SkillSurvey during the final phase of the interview process.
For questions about the application process, please contact Jon Freeman, Recruiting Specialist, at jf2sw@virginia.edu
For more information about UVA and the Charlottesville community please see http://www.virginia.edu/life/charlottesville and https://embarkcva.com/.
The University of Virginia, including the UVA Health System which represents the UVA Medical Center, Schools of Medicine and Nursing, UVA Physician’s Group and the Claude Moore Health Sciences Library, are fundamentally committed to the diversity of our faculty and staff. We believe diversity is excellence expressing itself through every person's perspectives and lived experiences. We are equal opportunity and affirmative action employers. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, disability, gender identity or expression, marital status, national or ethnic origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, veteran status, and family medical or genetic information.
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