Position Function:
The Assistant Director for Operations & Execution serves as a key advisor to the Center Director and provides institute-wide leadership for execution discipline, operational coordination, and delivery accountability across the MSU Advanced Composites Institute (ACI). Must be a U.S. Citizen or Permanent Resident.
This role ensures that institute priorities translate into coordinated action, disciplined execution, and measurable outcomes across ACI’s technical, operational, and programmatic teams. The Assistant Director will drive cohesion, consistency, productivity, prioritization, and accountability to ensure commitments are delivered with high quality, on schedule, and with clear ownership.
Operating with broad functional authority, the Assistant Director will coordinate execution across engineers, technicians, program managers, business operations staff, and workforce development teams while working in close partnership with ACI leadership. The position will establish and maintain a consistent execution rhythm, track performance against commitments, identify risks, supply chain or external support constraints, and operational bottlenecks, and ensure organizational priorities are translated into actionable plans and operational outcomes.
The role will also help strengthen organizational effectiveness by establishing execution frameworks, improving coordination across teams, and reinforcing a culture of accountability, follow-through, and continuous improvement.
Salary Grade: 18
Please see Staff Compensation Structure or Skilled Crafts and Service Maintenance Compensation Schedule for salary ranges. For salary grade UC, these positions are "Unclassified" and salary ranges are determined by the hiring department.
Department Profile:
The Advanced Composites Institute, or ACI, focuses on pioneering transformational composite technologies in a variety of critical sectors, including aerospace, civil, military, energy, automotive and other emerging markets. It was created at MSU with the donation of a revolutionary stitched composite process and equipment originally developed at NASA by pioneering scientist Marvin B. Dow.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
Enterprise Execution Leadership & Delivery Discipline
• Execute and reinforce the strategic priorities established by the Center Director through disciplined portfolio execution and operational leadership.
• Establish consistent execution standards, operating rhythms, and coordination frameworks across ACI to improve reliability, throughput, and delivery performance.
• Drive accountability across teams to ensure commitments are met and work products meet required quality standards.
• Ensure timeline adherence and follow-through across projects and workstreams, preventing dropped tasks and missed deliverables.
• Identify gaps in execution performance and implement practical corrective actions to improve consistency, productivity, and organizational effectiveness.
• Reinforce a culture of execution discipline, performance standards, and operational excellence across the institute.
Portfolio, Program, and Project Execution Oversight
• Provide execution oversight across ACI’s portfolio of technical projects, operational initiatives, and programmatic deliverables.
• Provide hands-on project or operational coordination support where needed to ensure successful outcomes, including planning, prioritization, task sequencing, milestone tracking, and dependency management.
• Develop and implement tools and processes to monitor project status, operational priorities, resource needs, risks, and deliverables.
• Maintain clear visibility into project and operational health across the portfolio and ensure proactive issue resolution.
• Support leadership decision-making by providing clear execution reporting and recommendations regarding sequencing, scope, prioritization, and resourcing.
Cross-Functional Coordination & Organizational Alignment
• Lead cross-functional coordination to align technical, operational, and programmatic teams around shared priorities and delivery expectations.
• Partner closely with ACI leadership, including the Associate Director and the Assistant Director for Programs, to ensure execution is coordinated across engineering delivery, operational throughput, and program commitments.
• Facilitate prioritization discussions, tradeoff decisions, and resource allocation recommendations to support institute leadership.
• Ensure alignment between engineering execution, technician workload planning, and program/business requirements.
• Lead through influence and coordination across teams that may not report directly to the role.
Execution Cadence, Communication, and Reporting
• Establish recurring execution cadence meetings (e.g., weekly portfolio reviews, milestone checkpoints, action tracking) to reinforce accountability and visibility.
• Create and maintain clear reporting mechanisms for project status, operational performance, risks, dependencies, and resource constraints.
• Maintain transparency with ACI leadership on execution performance, emerging risks, and corrective actions.
• Ensure effective communication flow across teams so priorities, decisions, and expectations are clearly understood and executed.
Continuous Improvement & Organizational Effectiveness
• Assess organizational execution performance and recommend improvements to processes, structure, communication flow, and accountability mechanisms.
• Identify opportunities to streamline workflows, remove bottlenecks, and reduce friction across teams.
• Support special initiatives assigned by the Center Director to improve execution maturity, organizational efficiency, and institute scalability.
• Promote a culture of high performance, operational discipline, and continuous improvement across ACI.
Supervisory Responsibilities
This position may not initially include direct administrative supervision but will operate with broad functional authority to coordinate execution across teams and drive accountability for project and operational outcomes across the institute.
The role requires strong leadership through influence, collaboration, and coordination across multidisciplinary teams to ensure successful delivery of institute priorities.
As the institute’s execution and operations functions mature, the position may directly supervise project managers, operational staff, or program execution personnel responsible for supporting institute-wide project coordination, operational planning, and portfolio execution.
Minimum Qualifications:
Education:
Bachelor’s degree in business, management, engineering, public administration, operations management, or a related field required.
Experience:
5+ years of experience in program management, operational leadership, mission execution, project delivery, engineering operations, or organizational operations management in an academic, government, military, or industry environment.
Preferred Qualifications:
• Master’s degree in Business Administration, Management, Engineering, Public Administration, or a related field.
• Experience in advanced manufacturing, defense operations, composites, applied R&D environments, or other complex mission-driven organizations.
• Experience supporting or coordinating technical project portfolios involving engineers, technicians, or operational teams.
• Experience in military, defense, or national security operational environments involving complex coordination across organizations.
• Familiarity with government-funded programs and milestone-driven execution environments.
• PMP certification or equivalent program/project management credential preferred.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
• Strong execution leadership and operational coordination capability across multiple functional areas.
• Demonstrated ability to drive accountability, prioritization, and consistent delivery across technical and cross-functional teams.
• Experience managing complex workstreams with multiple stakeholders and competing priorities.
• Ability to establish execution discipline, operating rhythms, and performance standards across organizations.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to influence outcomes, facilitate coordination, and resolve execution conflicts.
• Ability to identify execution risks early and implement practical corrective actions.
• High organizational discipline, attention to detail, and commitment to delivery excellence.
Working Conditions and Physical Effort
• Requires occasional travel.
• Physical requirements include frequent sitting, talking, hearing, walking, and standing. Occasionally requires reaching, climbing, balancing, stooping, kneeling, crouching, and lifting up to 50 pounds.
• Vision requirements: Ability to see information in print and electronically.
• Externally driven deadlines set and revised beyond one’s control; interruptions influence priorities; difficult to anticipate the nature or volume of work with certainty beyond a few days; meeting deadlines and coordinating multiple activities are key to the position.
Standard Disclaimer
The above essential duties are representative of major duties in this position. Specific duties and responsibilities may vary based upon departmental needs. Other duties may be assigned consistently with the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for the job.
Instructions for Applying:
Link to apply: http://explore.msujobs.msstate.edu/
Apply online by submitting a cover letter and resume.
Restricted Clause:
Position is contingent upon continued availability of funding.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement:
Mississippi State University is an equal opportunity institution. Discrimination is prohibited in university employment, programs or activities based on race, color, ethnicity, sex, pregnancy, religion, national origin, disability, age, sexual orientation, genetic information, status as a U.S. veteran, or any other status to the extent protected by applicable law. Questions about equal opportunity programs or compliance should be directed to the Office of Civil Rights Compliance, 231 Famous Maroon Band Street, P.O. 6044, Mississippi State, MS 39762, (662) 325-5839.
What do I do if I need an accommodation?
In compliance with the ADA Amendments Act (ADA), if you have a disability and would like to request an accommodation in order to apply for a position with Mississippi State University, please contact the Department of Human Resources Management at tel: (662) 325-3713 or ada@hrm.msstate.edu.
If you have any questions regarding this policy, contact the Department of Human Resources Management at (662) 325-3713 or ada@hrm.msstate.edu. Upon request, sections of this job listing are available in large print, and readers are available to assist the visually impaired.
