VP of Research and Development

The Position

Title: VP of Research and Development

Position Type: Full time

Requisition No: 25021

Category: Administration

Supervisor: President and Chief Executive Officer

Last Updated: September 2024

Job Purpose: Leadership of Research & Development Team

Location: Remote, various locations throughout California

Salary Range: The beginning salary range for this position is Range EX7, (Steps 1-3) $193,713.06 - $213,605.03

**The first review of applications shall occur on approximately January 11, 2025

Position Overview

The VP of Research and Development (R&D) leads Calbright’s R&D Department, bridging the colle​​​​ge’s leadership in research and design innovation with new thinking, approaches, models, methods, interventions and innovation practices. The R&D Department codified in the college’s founding legislation, is a key component to Calbright’s transformative impact and equity-driven model and strategy aimed at building a California in which everyone has access to skills, resources, and credentials they need to achieve economic mobility and success. In addition, this unit extends the college’s reach to the national higher education research, advocacy, philanthropic and thought leadership community necessary to advance the college’s mission and impact. 

The VP of Research and Development will continue to develop an R&D Department (consistent with Calbright’s statute) that is equipped to support the institution and the system in innovation and efficacy efforts designed to provide tangible economic value for both working adults and hiring managers. This includes efforts to utilize current and future learning sciences technology, design and use data to understand labor market needs and enhance the student experience to inform and improve instructional and support strategies, and test and assess technology used in program and service delivery to strengthen student outcomes. Works closely with other members of the executive team to identify and support strategic and collaborative initiatives across the workforce, industry, philanthropic, and innovation ecosystem.

Under the direction of the President and Chief Executive Officer, the VP of Research & Development will further develop an R&D Department that is equipped to explore and pursue important incremental innovation opportunities as well as more evolutionary, non-adjacent innovation opportunities, to advance the mission to provide tangible economic value for working adults and hiring managers. As a dynamic leader, the VP of Research & Development serves as a member of the executive leadership team supporting the organization’s ongoing strategy, planning, and implementation for core programs and services. This role works closely across divisions in the college including partnering with executive leaders to identify and support strategic and collaborative initiatives across the workforce, industry, philanthropic, and innovation ecosystem. The role provides executive-level leadership of the functions listed in this position description and others as may be assigned by the President and Chief Executive Officer.

Essential Job Duties and Responsibilities 

The duties below are representative of the role and are not intended to cover all of the duties performed within the scope of work.

• Develop strategy and pipeline for R&D initiatives with clear goals and priorities, and monitor R&D performance metrics and objectives to meet determined goals.
• Build and manage a growing team fostering a collaborative climate of innovation and creativity while focusing on impact and delivery.
• Develop and monitor policies & procedures relevant to R&D.
• Provide strategic input for Calbright’s goal-setting activities, working with key leaders to determine resources needed to meet the college’s ambitious goals.

Innovation Incubation + Solution Acceleration 

• Continuously perform student-centered research and assess R&D partnerships to surface opportunities for the development of new offerings.
• Share the data, metrics and findings with the college’s faculty, administrators, and technologists to inform and evolve better teaching and student-support practices.
• Scale growth and impact-oriented methods and models to solve the most critical workforce and education challenges.

Labor Market Analytics + Industry & Employer Insights

• Provide a new framework for economic and labor market analytics and insights, including employer engagement and insights to tackle workforce challenges that make a positive impact on learners and communities. 

Planning, Research + Data Strategy  

• Oversee the college’s innovation and impact-focused data and analytics infrastructure that will enable to college 

Thought Leadership & Philanthropic Engagement

• Serve as an internal and external thought partner in advancing Calbright’s mission, coordinating with Calbright divisions to implement and improve new solutions and services.
• Share data, metrics, and findings across the California Community Colleges through engagement with the Community College Chancellor’s Office efforts, existing professional development channels and new avenues to support campuses in accelerated adoption of demonstrated advancements in teaching, learning, and student supports.
• Regularly collaborate with the Digital Innovation and Infrastructure Division of the chancellor’s office to ensure integration, interoperability, and, where possible, use open standards.

• Engage with philanthropic and other partners on shared R&D objectives and activities. 
• Perform other related duties as assigned that support the objective of the position.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Highly organized, structured, systems-thinking work style with strong generative creativity and problem-solving abilities.
• Knowledge of trends and technology related to human-centered design, innovation design, and digital service-delivery for equity communities.
• Demonstrated leadership and management skills, including ability to prioritize, multitask, meet deadlines, and project management with best practices and principles.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, and ability to communicate complex ideas in relatable ways.
• Experience in building and leading teams to meet ambitious goals.
• Track record of compliance with applicable policies, procedures, and governmental regulations.
• Demonstrated understanding of, sensitivity to, and respect for the diverse academic, socio-economic, ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds, disability, and sexual orientation of community college students, staff and faculty.
• Ability to assess situations effectively, exercise sound judgment, work independently, adopt an effective course of action, and create and track budgets.
• Ability to define problems, collect both qualitative and quantitative data, establish facts, draw valid conclusions, and present/explain in a concise manner to top management, public groups, or boards.
• Ability to structure, perform, and guide systematic research, work with large datasets, perform high-level and detailed data analysis, and apply practical experience to produce new or improved services or processes.
• Ability to foster a team-oriented, collaborative, and positive work environment including training, supervising, mentoring, and evaluating personnel.
• Ability to nurture collaborative relationships across multiple partners and build consensus among Calbright’s divisions and external partners.
• Ability to interpret, apply, and explain complex rules, regulations, policies, and procedures.
• Knowledge of basic business applications including G Suite, MS Office, Slack, video conferencing, Asana, and general use of personal and mobile computers, printers, telephones, Internet, and electronic mail.

• Demonstrate understanding of, sensitivity to, and respect for the diverse academic, socio-economic, ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds, disability, and sexual orientation of community college students, staff and faculty.

Minimum Qualifications

• Relevant Bachelor’s degree (BA/BS) or equivalent required. 
• Minimum of 7-10 years experience in innovation, strategic design, product development, product management, digital transformation, or R&D-related roles.

Desired Qualifications

• Preferred 5 years of Human-Centered Design, Innovation Design (or related experience), including:
  • User research for discovery purposes
  • User research for validation and evaluative purposes
  • Collaborative idea generation
  • Concept generation
  • Rapid prototyping, piloting, and implementation
  • Service design and systems design
  • Design strategy
• Previous experience in an academic, governmental, nonprofit, philanthropic, and/or venture-backed start-up with state and federal contracts a plus.Working Conditions and Travel

Working Conditions and Travel

• Calbright College is a statewide online college where all instruction and support are done via various online technologies both in person and remotely. Calbright College has administrative offices in Sacramento available for use. When working remotely, employees should be able and willing to use digital communication tools as used by the college, and have the ability to work on a computer for extended periods of time. Although this is a primarily remote position, there may be instances in which you will be required to attend meetings or travel to in-person events.
• Regular attendance is considered an essential job function; the inability to meet attendance requirements may preclude the employee from retaining employment.
• The person holding this position is considered a mandated reporter under the California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act and is required to comply with the requirements set forth in Calbright College policies, procedures, and Title IX.
• Calbright College celebrates all forms of diversity and is deeply committed to fostering an inclusive environment within which students, staff, administrators, and faculty thrive. Individuals interested in advancing Calbright College’s strategic diversity goals are strongly encouraged to apply. Reasonable accommodations will be provided for qualified applicants with disabilities who self-disclose.
• Requires the ability to function in a remote online instructional environment performing work of primarily a sedentary nature. Requires the ability to use hearing and speech to make presentations to groups and carry on conversations over the phone and in-person. Requires speaking skills to communicate with staff and students in one-on-one and small group settings, on the phone, and to distinguish sound prompts from various types of equipment. Requires near visual acuity to read printed materials and computer screens. Requires sufficient hand/arm/finger dexterity to retrieve work materials, operate a personal computer keyboard, and operate standard office equipment. Requires the ability to lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.
• Work is performed indoors where minimal safety considerations exist.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Calbright College provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, veteran status, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, Calbright College complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment.

Who We Are

Calbright College is one of California’s newest community colleges – the first statewide, online campus designed to bridge the gap between employers with unfilled positions and students who don’t have either the time or money to attend a traditional school. Our mission is to increase economic mobility and close equity gaps for working adults who lack easy access to traditional forms of higher education by offering online, flexible, affordable skills-based programs that provide tangible economic value for both working adults and hiring managers.