The UCLA Institute for Technology, Law and Policy (the “Institute”) at the UCLA School of Law and UCLA Samueli School of Engineering is seeking a highly motivated Executive Director with sustained experience working at the technology/law intersection to provide bold leadership, strategic vision, and creativity to help build a center for research and education on topics including artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and digital privacy. The Executive Director will have significant opportunity to creatively shape the Institute’s mission and initiatives together with key faculty and leaders at UCLA’s law and engineering schools. The Executive Director will engage with students and faculty at UCLA, as well as leading technologists, legal experts, civil society groups, and policymakers from across UCLA campus and beyond to cultivate a vibrant and far-reaching intellectual community. The Executive Director will oversee the Institute’s core programs, fundraising, and operation; convene symposia, conferences, and new initiatives; work with faculty to launch research and policy projects that improve understanding of the opportunities and challenges associated with rapidly evolving technologies; develop and sustain curricular opportunities that train UCLA students; and support the placement of UCLA graduates in careers in the field.

About the UCLA Institute for Technology, Law, and Policy

The UCLA Institute for Technology, Law and Policy was established in 2020 to perform cross-disciplinary research on the ways that new and emerging technologies affect society, privacy, law and public policy. The Institute brings together faculty and students from the law and engineering schools and beyond to conduct research, convene events, provide curricular opportunities, and engage the wider academic community and the public about the benefits and risks of technologies including artificial intelligence and machine learning, robotics, cybersecurity and digital media and communications. These and other rapidly evolving technologies pose questions ranging from ethical and public policy issues to the applicability and utility of current laws and regulations to govern their use.

The Institute is a collaboration between UCLA School of Law and the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering. The UCLA School of Law was founded in 1949 and is the youngest major law school in the nation. With approximately 100 faculty and 1,100 students, the school has long been recognized for its innovative approach to teaching, which transforms the classroom into a real-world laboratory through the integration of theory and practice. The UCLA Samueli School of Engineering is a community of 190 full time faculty members, nearly 3,960 undergraduate and 2,200 graduate students, and over 40,000 active alumni. Known as the Birthplace of the Internet, UCLA Samueli is also where countless other fields took some of their first steps—from artificial intelligence to reverse osmosis, from mobile communications to human prosthetics.

Executive Director of the Institute for Technology, Law and Policy

The Executive Director will work collaboratively with core faculty and senior law and engineering school administrators and will dually report to the Law School’s Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Strategic Planning and the Faculty Directors of the Institute. Under their general guidance and direction, the Executive Director will have overall strategic and operational responsibilities for the Institute’s programming, staff, fundraising, budget, and mission. The Executive Director will help map out the overall goals of the Institute and be responsible for their day-to-day implementation. The Executive Director will also help expand a sustainable fundraising framework for the Institute. In addition to successful experience as a manager and innovative leader, the Executive Director must have the capacity to collaborate with the broad spectrum of the Institute’s audiences and foster an intellectual community for leaders and practitioners at the technology/law intersection, and the substantive expertise and communication skills to mentor students and to serve as an effective leader and representative of the Institute.
This is a full-time, year-round, fiscal-year, non-tenure track, academic position. This appointment is subject to the rules and regulations of the Regents of the University of California, which are mostly embodied in The UCLA CALL and the University of California Academic Personnel Manual. (See https://apo.ucla.edu/policies-forms/the-call/an-introduction-to-the-ucla-call; https://apo.ucla.edu/policies-forms/apm.)

See UC Salary Table 34 at https://www.ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/compensation/2023-24-academic-salary-scales.html for the salary range for this position. A reasonable estimate for this position is $170,000 to $215,000. The salary and level of appointment will be commensurate with qualifications and experience.

As a University employee, the Executive Director will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements.

Qualifications

The minimum requirement includes: a Juris Doctor degree or Ph.D. (or equivalent); excellent academic record, substantial successful management and leadership experience; a track record of innovation, program leadership and program building; extensive experience, engagement and understanding of technology law and policy; an excellent reputation and an extensive established network in the technology law/policy community; advanced administrative and organizational skills; a proven track record in fundraising and budget management; strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to work collaboratively with colleagues, students and the broader community; strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to draw on the ideas of others and convert them into meaningful strategies and plans and to represent those ideas to a variety of stakeholders, including faculty, staff, students, policymakers, the public and the press; ability to facilitate dialogues, identify barriers to effectiveness, and generate support for solutions; and high professional and ethical standards that reflect UCLA’s core values, purpose and mission. UCLA seeks candidates committed to the highest standards of scholarship and professional activities and to a campus climate that supports equality and diversity.

Application Instructions

Please apply online at https://recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF09792 by submitting pdf copies of a cover letter, current curriculum vitae, and contact information for at least five professional references. Finalists will later be expected to supply at least two letters of recommendation during the final vetting process.