Chief of Staff to the Provost

Position Summary

New York University seeks an experienced and dynamic leader to serve as the Chief of Staff to Provost Georgina Dopico. As a key member of the Provost’s leadership team, the Chief of Staff facilitates effective decision making, anticipates potential risks, and oversees outstanding execution of key provostial and University priorities. This role presents a robust opportunity to contribute to the trajectory of one of the most prominent, respected, and ambitious research universities in the world.

 

The Opportunity 

As NYU's chief academic officer, the Provost is responsible for setting the University's academic strategy and priorities. The Provost supervises deans and directors of schools and institutes and all academic support units, and with their assistance cultivates areas of excellence and enhances collaboration within and between schools. The Provost also allocates financial resources according to academic priorities, in cooperation with university financial officers.

 

The Chief of Staff to the Provost ensures the coordinated response to emergent University issues as well as execution of provostial priorities. This requires significant collaboration with senior leadership within the Provost’s Office and with the Office of the President and schools and departments across all parts of the University to drive the successful implementation of projects in alignment with mission and vision. Reporting to Provost Georgina Dopico, the Chief of Staff to the Provost serves as a key advisor to the Provost and represents the Provost and her Office on a variety of University priorities and initiatives. The Chief of Staff will have a firm grasp of the complexity of projects and priorities across the institution, anticipating issues, connecting the dots, and ensuring implementation of strategic priorities. They will cultivate an enterprise mindset and a culture of proactive action across the organization, supervising information flows and developing operating procedures that streamline decision-making to ensure effectiveness and desired impact.

 

In addition to providing shrewd counsel rooted in deep expertise, the Chief of Staff will lead the Provost’s team in efficient and effective execution. In collaboration with other senior leaders, the Chief of Staff is responsible for developing and executing solutions-oriented approaches to Provostial priorities, functional strategic goals, and issues, and will make key organizational decisions on behalf of the Provost where appropriate. As part of the executive leadership team advising the Provost on complex organizational matters, the Chief of Staff works collaboratively on appropriate responsive follow-up, and will facilitate resolution of matters requiring the Provost's attention.

 

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as a partner to the Provost and provostial executive leadership team as they assess, monitor, manage, and respond to issues that place the University in the public eye.
• Proactively identify issues that may present vulnerabilities for the University and craft strategies and messaging to meet them while at the same time overseeing crisis and emergency communications as needed to ensure clarity, alignment, and resolution.
• Provide structure and vision for a cohesive, high-performing Office of the Provost staff, including deputies and senior advisors.
• Provide organizational leadership and managerial oversight for administrative teams reporting into the Office of the Provost including the teams responsible for overseeing the Provost's schedule, briefings, correspondence, and the operations for the Office of the Provost.
• Manage when and how the Provost's core leadership team and the broader senior leadership team convene to share information, make decisions, and strengthen connections; this includes driving the objective, content, agendas, and action items to promote alignment and orchestrate execution.
• Oversee the agenda for the Provost’s engagement with and presentations to University governance groups (including the University Senate and the Senate Executive Committee) and University Trustees; serve on committees and task forces as needed 
• Represent the Provost in relations, correspondence, and constituencies that reach out to the Office of the Provost and otherwise ensure the execution of provostial priorities and responsiveness to emergent University matters on behalf of the Provost as needed.

 

Qualifications

 

Qualifications:

The Chief of Staff will be politically astute, with a high level of emotional intelligence, a positive outlook, sound judgement, and the ability to operate with the highest level of diplomacy. The successful candidate will be a person who leads with integrity and transparency with a shared commit