Assistant Vice President, Research Security

Department: Office Rsrch Innov and Econ Impact

Classification: Administrative Faculty

Job Category: Administrative or Professional Faculty

Job Type: Full-Time

Work Schedule: Full-time (1.0 FTE, 40 hrs/wk)

Location: Fairfax, VA

Workplace Type: Hybrid Eligible

Salary: Salary commensurate with education and experience

Criminal Background Check: Yes

About the Department:

The Office of Research Integrity and Assurance Mission is to nurture and promote state-of-the-art research, scholarship and creative work at Mason; provide resources promoting ethical and responsible conduct of research; and assist the Mason faculty, post-doctorate and student community with the identification of external funding opportunities, development of high-quality proposals, sponsored projects and translational activities.

About the Position:

The Assistant Vice President, reporting to the Associate Vice President for Research Integrity and Assurance, is responsible for developing, managing, and coordinating university-wide policies and processes to ensure that George Mason complies with all research security laws and regulations, which includes the areas of export controls, foreign influence, international collaborations and international travel, cyber and information security, and training.

The Assistant Vice President collaborates with George Mason leadership and academic units to formulate strategic planning and long-term strategic objectives on issues related to research security and foreign influence. The Assistant Vice President provides leadership in the execution of the research security vision and mission for the entire university and serves as George Mason’s Research Security Officer (RSO).

The GMU RSO leads institutional responses to matters centering on Research Security that threaten the university’s reputation or status as an entity authorized to conduct research subject to export control and research security regulation and will have a direct line to the University President and Vice President of Research for Innovation and Economic impact on research security matters.

Responsibilities:

• Designs, develops, and implements a research security program using NSPM-33 agency guidance, sets research security strategic goals, and exercises a high degree of autonomy and authority to interpret and set policies and priorities for all research security initiatives;
• Develops a university-wide training and outreach program for faculty and staff related to NSPM-33 to ensure best practices and promote regulatory compliance;
• Communicates and models how the university’s research and research training can continue to flourish and have impact, within the restrictions and additional administration required to be compliant with federal regulations;
• Establishes and leads any working groups or committees tasked with assessing research security measures, coordinates recommendations with key stakeholders, and advises leadership of proposals to enhance the research security program;
• Updates university senior leadership on federal and state regulatory initiatives regarding research security and foreign influence concerns; and
• Supervises export control, researches security, and researches information security staff to meet the above programmatic goals. Other related duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications:

• Master’s degree in scientific, engineering, administration, regulatory, or policy field, or the equivalent combination of education and experience;
• Significant and proven experience developing and implementing research protection/research security programs and/or export compliance programs at a university or other research organization;
• Supervisory experience;
• Knowledge of and experience implementing appropriate regulations including those promulgated by the Department of State (ITAR), Department of Commerce (EAR), Department of Defense, and Department of Treasury;
• Knowledge of research security federal regulations and related requirements as implemented by federal funding agencies (e.g. NSF, DOD, NIH);
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to explain complicated regulatory requirements to faculty, students, and staff and to provide recommendations to high level university officials on a wide variety of complex security issues;
• Expertise in collaborating, building, and maintaining relationships with diverse faculty and staff across diverse disciplines; and
• Must be eligible to receive unclassified technical data pursuant to the ITAR Knowledge of National Security Presidential Memo-33 (NSPM-33), the CHIPS and Science Act and other federal guidelines related to research security. 

Preferred Qualifications:

• Terminal degree in scientific, engineering, administrative, regulatory, or legal field (Ph.D., J.D., or similar) is preferred;
• Experience directly managing export compliance and/or secure research programs;
• Direct experience making export control determinations, applying for licenses, and communicating with federal agencies;
• Experience at a university or federal entity that accepts export restrictions and restricted research; and
• Experience developing and implementing a research compliance outreach and training program.

Instructions to Applicants: 

For full consideration, applicants must apply for Assistant Vice President, Research Security at https://jobs.gmu.edu/. Complete and submit the online application to include three professional references with contact information, and provide a Cover Letter/Letter of Intent with Resume for review.

Posting Open Date: October 14, 2024

For Full Consideration, Apply by:  November 4, 2024

Open Until Filled:  Yes