Executive Director - NSRI

The Opportunity

The National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI), a nonprofit subsidiary of the University of Nebraska,
invites applications and nominations for the position of Executive Director. Established in 2012 as one
of 14 University Affiliated Research Centers (UARCs) in the nation, NSRI is engaged in a long-term,
strategic partnership with our Department of Defense (DoD) sponsor, U.S. Strategic Command. NSRI
provides mission-essential research and development capabilities for U.S. Strategic Command and other DoD components and federal agencies addressing 21st century threats to our nation’s security.

Our dangerous world presents many serious threats to our freedom and way of life. Those threats and the world itself have become much more complex, and all defense domains will continue to be challenged in the years ahead. Hand-in-hand with U.S. Strategic Command and other defense partners, NSRI and the University of Nebraska will enable research and support deterrence of, preparedness for, and response to national security threats across multiple domains.

Reporting to the NSRI Board of Directors, the Executive Director has the opportunity to lead a team with
more than 275 years of direct DoD or DoD-support experience to be a convenor and catalyst for the points of innovation that occur where disciplines, experts, ideas, and people collide. As chief executive, key responsibilities include:

• Engaging with UARC sponsors and customers to develop new task orders and core competencies, assess customer mission requirements, and represent UARC capabilities.
• Managing the activities of the UARC to ensure timely execution of task orders; coordination of activities of UARC employees and faculty engagement; development of UARC capabilities in anticipation of customer and sponsor needs.
• Maintaining the financial health of the Institute and managing day-to-day operations.

Minimum Requirements:

• An earned bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution.
• Possession of and ability to maintain a Top Secret-Sensitive Compartmented Information (TS-SCI) security clearance.
• Demonstrated knowledge and understanding of defense industry, DoD, Intelligence Community, National Laboratories, state and local area, and University of Nebraska research components.
• 10 years of experience leading and managing a large, complex organization.

Preferred Experience:

• An earned master’s or terminal degree from an accredited institution.
• Demonstrated experience in accountability and stewardship of government-sponsored funds.
• Demonstrated experience in NSRI’s areas of core competencies (active and passive defense against weapons of mass destruction; nuclear detection and forensics; consequence management; detection of chemical and biological weapons; and mission-related research) and focus areas (nuclear weapons enterprise support; threat-based training and exercise support; medical countermeasures and response; and technologies for detecting and countering biological, chemical, and radiological weapons).
• Demonstrated experience engaging faculty to advance research goals.

Application Procedure:

Nominations and applications are invited. Review of applications is underway and will continue until the position is filled. Candidates should provide a resume and a letter of application that addresses the characteristics and qualifications described in this position profile. These materials should be submitted electronically at https://careers.nebraska.edu. For fullest consideration, materials should be submitted before the target date of April 14, 2021. If you need assistance with your application, please call (402) 472-3701. Nomination information may be sent to president@nebraska.edu.