Director of Innovation

The Director of Innovation serves as the primary lead of the Institute’s Innovate Pillar and is

responsible for the strategic design, growth, and operational execution of the Institute’s

sponsored research and technology innovation portfolio. This role operates as a senior member

of the Institute’s team, with enterprise-level responsibility for innovation strategy, external

partnerships, and revenue generation aligned with national security research priorities.

The Director of Innovation owns the development and execution of a multi-year innovation

roadmap, including oversight of a defined operating budget and revenue targets tied to

government-sponsored research and strategic partnerships. The role functions with independent

signature authority for proposals and external representation, serving as the Institute’s

innovation representative to federal agencies, national laboratories, and strategic industry

partners.

This position requires executive-level engagement across academic, government, and defense

communities and operates with significant autonomy in originating new initiatives, securing

funding, and shaping institutional innovation priorities under the guidance and vision of the

Institute’s Executive Leadership.

The Vanderbilt University Institute of National Security is an academic proving ground for future national security leaders and a hub for innovation. The Institute offers the national security community access to top student talent and fresh thinking from a university rooted in open debate, radical collaboration, and real-world impact. The Institute also provides a trusted space to convene leaders, experts, and students for conversations about the pressing challenges facing our nation and the world.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Clearly Serves as a member of the Institute’s leadership team with a formal role in
  
  

strategic planning, institutional governance discussions, and long-range resource

allocation decisions.

• Establishes and leads the strategic direction of the Innovate Pillar, including setting
  
  

annual and multi-year objectives aligned with national security priorities and Vanderbilt’s

institutional strategy.

• Exercises independent judgment and decision-making authority in shaping innovation
  
  

initiatives, partnerships, and research focus areas.

• Owns and manages a defined innovation operating budget and sponsored research
  
  

portfolio.

• Establishes annual revenue targets for government and foundation-sponsored research
  
  

and is accountable for achieving portfolio growth goals.

• Leads financial forecasting and pipeline tracking for innovation-related funding
  
  

opportunities.

• Originates and leads large-scale proposal development efforts, including multi-investigator,
  
  

multi-institution submissions.

• Serves as principal strategist in identifying, cultivating, and securing funding from DoD,
  
  

Intelligence Community, DOE, DHS, and other national security agencies.

• Drives the growth of a high-impact research portfolio generating significant grant
  
  

revenue.

• Provides direct supervision and performance management of staff within the Innovate
  
  

Pillar.

• Leads cross-functional teams spanning faculty, researchers, students, and administrative
  
  

staff.

• Builds scalable operational processes to support innovation pipeline development.
• Serves as the Institute’s designated innovation representative to senior government,
  
  

military, laboratory, and industry stakeholders.

• Represents the Institute independently in high-level engagements, briefings, and
  
  

partnership negotiations.

• Maintains and expands strategic relationships with national laboratories (Sandia, Los
  
  

Alamos, Oak Ridge, PNNL, etc.) and defense innovation organizations (DARPA, DIU, In-

Q-T Independently identifies emerging national security challenges and formulates new

innovation initiatives.

• Designs and launches new research programs, applied innovation labs, and translational
  
  

initiatives.

• Shapes the Institute’s innovation identity at the institutional and national level.
  
  

Supervisory Relationships: This position has supervisory responsibility over staff under the Innovate Pillar. This position reports administratively and functionally to the Founding and Executive Directors of the Institute

of National Security.

Qualifications

• A bachelor’s degree in engineering, computer science, computer engineering, data
  
  

science, national security or related field is required. An advanced degree in engineering, computer science, or a national security-related field is strongly preferred.

• 12-14 years of experience at the intersection of technology, applied research, and
  
  

national security operations is required. Relevant education can be substituted for

Required Experience.

• An active or recently held TS/SCI clearance is strongly preferred.
• Prior experience with defense innovation organizations (DARPA, DIU, In-Q-Tel, service
  
  

labs), national laboratories, or equivalent private-sector Research & Development

leadership is preferred.