Unidata Program Specialist IV (Community Services & Partnerships Manager)

Visa Sponsored Job:

No

Relocation Assistance Eligible:

No

Job Location:

Boulder, Colorado

Position Type:

Full time, Regular

Compensation Range:

$111,246 - $125,150

*Final salary and rates are based on education, experience, and skills relevant to the role.*

Job Description Summary

UCAR is excited to announce the job opening for the Program Specialist IV (Community Services & Partnerships Manager) role. This senior leadership role is responsible for building and sustaining the external partnerships that advance Unidata’s mission of serving our broad community. This position leads community engagement, business development, and liaison work with universities, federal agencies, the private sector, and international organizations, as well as manages the Community Services Group.

NSF Unidata is a diverse community of education and research institutions with the common goal of sharing geoscience data and the tools to access and visualize that data. For more than 40 years, Unidata has been providing data, software tools, and support to enhance Earth System education and research. Funded primarily by the National Science Foundation (NSF), NSF Unidata is one of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)’s Community Programs (UCP).

Job Description

Application Deadline: This position will be posted until 11:59pm MT on Friday, August 7. Applications will not be accepted past this date.

Required application materials (preferably in PDF Format):

• Resume

• Cover Letter
  In lieu of a traditional cover letter, answer the following prompts that address the critical skills needed for this position. Your answers will be read and weighed equally to your Resume/CV and should provide specific, detailed, and informative responses based on your direct and previous work experiences. Please keep responses to 1-3 paragraphs per prompt.

  External Relations & Advocacy
  Describe a time you built or managed a relationship with an external partner — a government agency, advisory committee, or similar stakeholder — where you had to balance that partner's interests with your organization's goals. What made the relationship successful, and how did you handle any points of tension or disagreement?

  Engaging and Expanding the Community
  Describe your experience engaging and growing a professional community or user base — for example, through workshops, meetings, or working groups. How did you assess what that community needed, and how did you adapt your approach based on their feedback?

  Business Development & Strategic Funding
  Tell us about a time you identified and pursued a new funding, partnership, or revenue opportunity for a program you supported. What was your strategy, and what was the outcome?

Background checksare conducted for candidates selected for hire. Learn more.

Work Location Expectations: This position is open to candidates seeking in-person, hybrid (combination of 3 days in-person and 2 days of remote), or fully remote opportunities. UCAR requires ALL positions to be performed within the U.S., excluding U.S. Territories. UCAR Staff deployed to federal agencies must abide by their respective federal agency requirements concerning remote/flexible work arrangements.

What You Will Do

Here is a summary of what one would expect to be generally responsible for in this role.

Key Responsibilities

External Relations & Advocacy

This is the program's largest area of responsibility, spanning two key stakeholder groups: the Community Advisory Committee and federal partner agencies.

• Community Advisory Committee

  Lead the Community Advisory Committee: set meeting agendas, coordinate status reports, and track action items to closure.

  Manage recruitment and nomination of new committee members.

  Administer the Russell L. DeSouza award, in partnership with the Committee.

• Federal Agencies (NOAA/NWS, NCEP, NASA, and Other Partners)

  Initiate and manage collaborations with NOAA (NWS, NCEP) and other partner agencies, including business development and service as project liaison.

  Advocate for the Unidata community on data matters, negotiating data and software agreements and maintaining relationships with agencies holding data of community interest.

  Track agency planning for new data and software systems and represent Unidata's interests at agency meetings and workshops, creating opportunities for Unidata involvement.

Engaging and Expanding the Community

• Assess community needs and foster interaction across the Unidata community to promote sharing of data, tools, and ideas.

• Plan and lead community events, including the Unidata Users Workshop and dedicated sessions at AMS, AGU, and other professional meetings.

• Broaden the network of partner institutions, including outreach to other geoscience communities where collaboration adds value.

• Administer the Community Equipment Awards program, in partnership with the Unidata Director.

Business Development & Strategic Funding

• Develop and execute Unidata's business development strategy: promote products and services to expand existing funding relationships, secure new funding mechanisms and service agreements, and pursue philanthropic sponsorship opportunities.

• Identify and pursue additional funding opportunities aligned with the program's overarching business development plan.

• Serve as Principal Investigator on funded projects as needed, including management of project funds.

Manage the Community Services Group

• Oversee CSG activities and supervise staff (up to 2 direct reports).

• Facilitate close collaboration between CSG and Unidata technical staff.

• Serve on the Unidata Management Team, advising the Unidata Director on relevant plans and activities.

Who We'd Love To Join Our Team

Successful candidates will ensure their application materials speak to the following criteria:

Education & Experience

• Master’s degree in science, education, or public administration

• 6 years of relevant program experience;

  Or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.

Desired, but not required:

• 10 years of experience in scientific program management (preferably within a governmental agency).

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Subject-matter expertise: in-depth understanding of the principles underlying the Unidata Program, and of the broader agency landscape — especially NOAA line offices (NWS, NCEP, ESRL, NCEI) and NASA.

• Business development acumen: understanding of the funding environment, and demonstrated skill identifying program and business development opportunities and translating them into actionable strategies.

• People leadership: demonstrated experience supervising and mentoring staff, and leading senior-level interdisciplinary teams, including significant project management experience.

• Meeting and workshop facilitation: advanced skill planning and conducting meetings, workshops, and online discussion groups, including use of digital collaboration tools.

• Travel: ability and willingness to travel.

• Integrity and confidentiality: ability to handle confidential/sensitive information consistent with UCAR policy, acting with integrity and exhibiting behavior that merits public trust and confidence.

  Note: The employee remains bound, even after their employment ends, not to disclose or disseminate any confidential information received or accessed while employed at UCAR. This obligation applies to both confidential information belonging to UCAR, as well as confidential information received during employment at UCAR pertaining to any third party.

Benefits Overview

UCAR affirms its commitment to employees through competitive benefits. In addition to medical, dental, vision, retirement, and life insurance, UCAR offers a variety of programs focused on work-life balance and professional, and personal development. These include:

• Tuition Assistance, time off allowance to attend classes, and other professional development opportunities.

• UCAR contributes 10% of your eligible pay into your retirement account; 100% fully vested on day one.

• Starting minimum accrual of 20 days of personal time off each year (prorated for less than full-time positions).

• 10 paid holidays.

• 12 weeks of paid parental leave.

• Short-term medical leave paid at 100% of your regular salary.

• EcoPass for local Colorado residents to use the Denver and Boulder-area transit system at no cost.

Commitment to Job Application Fairness

Applicants are not required to provide age or age-related information and may redact information related to age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution from any submissions during the initial application process.

Some Final Considerations

At NSF NCAR| UCAR | UCP, you will work alongside a dedicated team of professionals conducting critical research and community outreach to solve complex Earth system science problems including climate change, air pollution, extreme weather, floods, drought, wildfires, and space weather, all with the goal of improving human life and reducing economic loss. Each of us, from scientists to the professionals who support their work, serves the public and a collaborative community of scientists in our mission to understand the complex processes that make up the Earth system, from the ocean floor to the Sun’s core.

Flexible Work

At UCAR, we are committed to supporting our mission by giving staff the flexibility to find the schedule and location that works best to maintain their own work-life circumstances and reach their full potential as professionals. Many positions within our organization are eligible for fully on-site, hybrid (three days per week) and/or flexible work hours.

Equal Opportunity Employer

UCAR is committed to providing equal opportunity for all employees and applicants for employment and does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, creed, color, religion, national origin or ancestry, sex, gender, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or pregnancy. Whatever your intersection of identities, you are welcome at UCAR.

Export Control

All positions are required to comply with U.S. export compliance regulations and work location requirements regarding access to facilities and research systems.

Work Location

UCAR requires ALL positions to be performed within the U.S., excluding U.S. Territories.

AI Software

ChatGPT and similar AI software are powerful tools that are changing the way society receives, processes, and leverages information promptly. While we acknowledge its benefits and do not restrict leveraging it with job applications, we highly encourage a majority of the applicant material to be original work.