Senior Program Administrator

The Program Director for SMART Tulane holds primary responsibility for programming associated with the Success Model to Advance Research and Translation at Tulane (SMART Tulane), an NSF ART Track 2 initiative.

Working closely with the SMART Tulane PI and Co-PIs, the Program Director coordinates undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral fellowships; seed translational research projects (STRPs); and the ART Ambassador network.

Additionally, this position is responsible for monitoring the Institute's innovation pipeline, serving as the primary point of contact and connector for Tulane innovation teams, and ensuring that pipeline teams are linked to appropriate resources and progressing through the Institute's development stages.

This Program Director assists in planning and executes all tasks related to the above referenced programs, including participant recruitment, program execution and improvement, marketing and communications, vendor relations as needed, administering program-related councils and advisory committees, identifying needs and next steps for innovation pipeline teams. The Program Director supports the PI and Co-PIs in preparing NSF progress reports, coordinating advisory committee meetings, and translating strategic direction from the leadership team into operational plans and timelines. This position represents The Robert L. Priddy Innovation Lab and TUII at meetings, on committees, and other University/ student events to both internal and external constituencies as appropriate to the planning and execution of the above referenced programs.

The position reports to the David and Marion Mussafer Chief Innovation and Entrepreneurship Officer for the purposes of performance review and grant management, and to the Executive Director for Commercialization within the Robert L.

Priddy Innovation Lab within the Institute for day-to-day supervision and program operations.

The Program Director works in close coordination with the SMART Tulane PI and Co-PIs on all matters of program strategy, milestone tracking, and grant deliverables.

Expectations: The role requires a systems-oriented individual who can balance program execution with systems thinking, understanding that the SMART programs are a part of a broader pipeline that moves ideas from discovery to commercialization to startup creation. The PD is responsible for understanding the needs of current innovation pipeline teams, ensuring that they are connected to appropriate resources and progressing through the Institute’s development stages and pathway development, responsible not only for program development and management, but also for tracking outcomes, generating insights, and refining programming based on data and stakeholder feedback to strengthen TUII's overall impact following a continuous quality improvement approach. In this capacity, the Program Director will:

• Serve as a program integrator, ensuring that SMART Tulane programs contribute to TUII’s end-to-end commercialization and talent development goals.
• Act as a connector across faculty, students, entrepreneurs, alumni, and community and industry partners, helping to build and sustain a vibrant innovation community.
• Serve as the operational liaison between the PI and Co-PIs and the broader SMART Tulane program infrastructure, ensuring that leadership decisions are translated into program activities and that program data flows back to inform strategic direction.
• Coordinate NSF grant compliance, including contributions to annual and final reports, adherence to grant terms, liaison with VentureWell (external evaluator), and coordination with Georgia Institute of Technology as the mentoring institution.
• Support the operational backbone of TUII, including program logistics, financial tracking, data management, and reporting for SMART Tulane and other Robert L. Priddy Innovation Lab programs as needed for innovation pipeline management.
• Contribute to program articulation, outreach, and visibility, reinforcing TUII’s role as Tulane’s “front door” for innovation and entrepreneurship.
• Engage with external ecosystem partners, including BioDistrict New Orleans, the New Orleans BioInnovation Center (NOBIC), industry collaborators, and regional innovation stakeholders. This role requires independent judgment and integrity, excellent interpersonal communication skills, strong project management capabilities, and the ability to operate in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment. The ideal candidate is both highly organized and mission-driven and capable of executing complex programs while contributing to the broader vision of building a nationally recognized university-based innovation ecosystem.