Director of Innovation
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
full-time
Posted on:
Location Type: Remote
Location: Tennessee • United States
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Job Level
Tech Stack
About the role
- Clearly Serves as a member of the Institute’s leadership team with a formal role in strategic planning, institutional governance discussions, and long-range resource allocation decisions.
- Establishes and leads the strategic direction of the Innovate Pillar, including setting annual and multi-year objectives aligned with national security priorities and Vanderbilt’s institutional strategy.
- Exercises independent judgment and decision-making authority in shaping innovation initiatives, partnerships, and research focus areas.
- Owns and manages a defined innovation operating budget and sponsored research portfolio.
- Establishes annual revenue targets for government and foundation-sponsored research and is accountable for achieving portfolio growth goals.
- Leads financial forecasting and pipeline tracking for innovation-related funding opportunities.
- Originates and leads large-scale proposal development efforts, including multi-investigator, multi-institution submissions.
- Serves as principal strategist in identifying, cultivating, and securing funding from DoD, Intelligence Community, DOE, DHS, and other national security agencies.
- Drives the growth of a high-impact research portfolio generating significant grant revenue.
- Provides direct supervision and performance management of staff within the Innovate Pillar.
- Leads cross-functional teams spanning faculty, researchers, students, and administrative staff.
- Builds scalable operational processes to support innovation pipeline development.
- Serves as the Institute’s designated innovation representative to senior government, military, laboratory, and industry stakeholders.
- Represents the Institute independently in high-level engagements, briefings, and partnership negotiations.
- Maintains and expands strategic relationships with national laboratories (Sandia, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, PNNL, etc.) and defense innovation organizations (DARPA, DIU, In-Q-Tel).
- Independently identifies emerging national security challenges and formulates new innovation initiatives.
- Designs and launches new research programs, applied innovation labs, and translational initiatives.
- Shapes the Institute’s innovation identity at the institutional and national level.
Requirements
- A bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, computer engineering, data science, national security or related field is required. An advanced degree in engineering, computer science, or a national security-related field is strongly preferred.
- 12-14+ years of experience at the intersection of technology, applied research, and national security operations is required. Relevant education can be substituted for required experience.
- An active or recently held TS/SCI clearance is strongly preferred.
- Prior experience with defense innovation organizations (DARPA, DIU, In-Q-Tel, service labs), national laboratories, or equivalent private-sector Research & Development leadership is preferred.
Benefits
- Health insurance
- 401(k) matching
- Flexible working hours
- Paid time off
Applicant Tracking System Keywords
Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.
Hard Skills & Tools
strategic planningfinancial forecastingproposal developmentbudget managementresearch program designinnovation initiative developmentpipeline trackingperformance managementgrant revenue generationresource allocation
Soft Skills
leadershipindependent judgmentdecision-makingrelationship buildingcross-functional team leadershipcommunicationnegotiationsupervisionstrategic thinkingproblem-solving
Certifications
TS/SCI clearance