Opportunity

The Institute for Coastal Adaptation and Resilience (ICAR) in the Office of Enterprise Research and Innovation (OERI) at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA, is inviting applications for an administrative and professional faculty Assistant Director for Engagement to support ICAR’s collaborations with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

ICAR advances the practice of coastal resilience and adaptation by engaging with communities, organizations, and businesses to develop and deploy solutions based on integrated, innovative, and applied research. This position is part of a unique collaboration with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) funded by the Commonwealth of Virginia. As such, this position provides unique opportunities to advance applied, community engaged research in Virginia’s coastal zone as well as an expectation to provide technical capacity and assistance to Virginia localities, Commonwealth agencies, businesses, and nonprofits. 

The ICAR Assistant Director for Engagement will fill a critical gap in Hampton Roads for outreach, coordination, technical assistance, and scientific synthesis and integration capacity on coastal adaptation and resilience issues. The objectives of the Assistant Director of Engagement for ICAR are to communicate effectively about coastal adaptation and resilience external to and internally within ODU, to facilitate and conduct community-engaged research that supports inclusive resilience, to connect communities for knowledge exchange, and to support the development of the resilience workforce. 

This position requires providing vision for ICAR’s engagement portfolio and designing programs and projects with minimal supervision to implement practices for climate adaptation and coastal resilience. The successful candidate will manage existing ICAR engagement initiatives but also convene teams of faculty and community members to develop, write proposals for, and manage engagement in innovative initiatives requiring co-production in communities for resilience and adaptation.

Qualifications:

• Graduate degree in a field related to disaster and climate resilience and adaptation (e.g., science and risk communication, geosciences, atmospheric sciences, environmental sciences, geography, planning, emergency management, landscape architecture, public policy, public health, coastal engineering, or another related field).
• Considerable knowledge of hazards and climate change and their impacts, including but not limited to erosion, coastal storms, sea level rise, nuisance flooding, and extreme heat.
• Considerable knowledge of planning and practices to reduce the risks of hazards and climate change and adapt to their impacts across social, economic, and environmental systems.
• Considerable knowledge of use-inspired research practices, including co-production of research with stakeholders.
• Demonstrated written and verbal communication skills, including skill in communicating science and/or technical information to non-scientists and skill in using a computer and virtual meeting technologies.
• Skill in building partnerships, networking, group facilitation, and collaboration.
• Skill in facilitating, conducting, and communicating applied research with communities.
• Skill in incorporating the diverse perspectives of multiple communities, including communities that have been historically marginalized and/or excluded, into resilience and adaptation projects and programs.
• Ability to work with academic faculty to synthesize and integrate research across disciplines and to assist academic faculty in incorporating applied community needs and input into innovative research.
• Ability to write interdisciplinary grant proposals and manage grant budgets.
• Ability to flex communication style to multiple cultural environments.
• Ability to collate financial paperwork and produce project progress reports.
• Ability to work independently and as a part of a team.

Preferred:

• Ph.D related to disaster and climate resilience and adaptation (e.g., science and risk communication, geosciences, atmospheric sciences, environmental sciences, geography, planning, emergency management, landscape architecture, public policy, public health, coastal engineering, or another related field).
• Considerable work experience that includes documented experience in public engagement, including engagement with historically marginalized, under-represented, and other vulnerable communities and people. This work experience could be in higher education, local or state government agencies, private sector resilience service contracting, nonprofits, and/or research center settings.
• Working experience in one or more of the following content areas: coastal resilience, climate resilience, science and risk communication, geosciences, atmospheric sciences, environmental sciences, geography, planning, emergency management, disaster recovery and resilience, landscape architecture, public policy, public health, coastal engineering, or another related field.
• Working experience with grant applications and successful grant management.

Apply online. Interested candidates should attach the following with their online application:

1. A statement of engagement philosophy.
   • In your application for the Assistant Director for Engagement position, please include a 1-page statement that outlines your philosophy on engaging with a variety of audiences. Your statement should:
     • Explain your general approach to stakeholder engagement, including key principles that guide your work.
     • Describe how you tailor engagement strategies to meet the needs of different audiences, including government staff, scientists, neighborhood residents, or businesses.
     • Highlight any methods or tools you use to foster effective communication and collaboration.
     • Share an example of a successful engagement initiative you’ve led or participated in, and what you learned from the experience.
2. A sample of a written communication product tailored for a non-academic audience
   • Please provide a 1-page sample of a written product demonstrating how you would effectively communicate a coastal resilience topic to an audience of local decision-makers (for example, these could include local government staff, homeowners, renters, businesses, or non-profits). Your sample may take any written format and may include graphics. Examples could include news letters, a fact sheet, social media posts, print outs of content for a web page, or more; just be aware our systems cannot accept video. You may either use a prior product you have created for other purposes or create a new product for this prompt, but your sample should:
     • Identify a relevant coastal resilience issue and its significance.
     • Communicate the potential impact of the issue on decisions.
     • Highlight any key data, information, or findings in a way that is appropriate for your audience.
     • Propose actionable recommendations or next steps that the decision-makers could consider.
     • Demonstrate an understanding of the audience by using language and framing that resonate with their decision-making processes.

For additional information regarding the position, please contact Search Committee Chair Carol Considine, Director of Applied Projects, ICAR ([email protected]). Review of applications will begin on April 30, 2025. The position will remain open until it is filled.