What is the DoD STEM Ambassador program?

The Defense STEM Education Consortium (DSEC) is a collaborative partnership between academia, industry, not-for-profit organizations, and government that aims to broaden STEM literacy and develop a diverse and agile workforce with the technical excellence to defend our Nation. By addressing and prioritizing critical STEM challenges, the Department of Defense (DoD) is investing in evidence-based approaches to inspire and develop the Nation’s science and technology workforce.

Educators who are recognized with the DoD STEM Ambassador award will partner with DSEC to advance STEM outreach throughout the 2023-2024 school year. As members of this prestigious cohort, DoD STEM Ambassadors will collaborate to create and curate resources to support STEM educators across the nation in implementing high-quality STEM learning for all students.

Scope of work

DoD STEM Ambassadors will engage in the following scope of work with an emphasis on the domains listed below as prioritized by the Federal STEM Education Strategic Plan:

• Transdisciplinary learning in STEM;
• Computational literacy, including data science and cyber education;
• Work-based learning experiences with industry partners;
• Mathematics; and
• STEM ecosystems.

Throughout the program year (September 2023 – August 2024), the DoD STEM Ambassadors will:

• Develop and execute a Planning for Impact project that addresses STEM challenges or provides meaningful STEM experiences to military-connected and/or underrepresented students.
• Author guest blog posts to be featured on the DoD STEM website.
• Support at least one presentation at national, state, and/or local conferences to share DoD STEM resources (may or may-not be DSEC-sponsored events).
• Meet monthly (virtually) with Ambassador cohort as a community of practice to network, learn from each other, and engage in professional learning opportunities addressing the domains listed above.
• The DoD STEM Ambassador program is managed and facilitated by TGR Foundation: A Tiger Woods Charity. Each DoD partner will work with TGR Foundation and their selected STEM Ambassador through the scope of work.

What funding is available for this award?

The total amount for this award for each selected DoD STEM Ambassador is $20,000. Each award is broken down as follows:

• $12,500 stipend paid directly to the DoD STEM Ambassador;
• $5,000 classroom materials and supplies for the DoD STEM Ambassador; and
• $2,500 in funding for attendance at an educator conference or professional development event (registration, lodging, travel).

Applications are due by 11:59 pm EST on May 30.

Apply Now

About MSRDC

The MSI STEM Research & Development Consortium (MSRDC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization chartered in the District of Columbia in 2015, works to promote and engage its constituency of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority-Serving Institutions (MSIs) of Higher Education in the conduct of federally funded, mission-critical research.  The Consortium creates a teaming environment for its members and collaborative partners to promote innovation and technology leadership through a combination of basic, applied, and/or advanced technology development research to pioneer groundbreaking solutions that drive innovation forward. 

Minority-serving institutions have historically accounted for about 5% of the expenditures of all federally awarded research dollars, which makes them “non-traditional contractors.”  (HBCUs account for only about 1%.)  MSRDC uses a Cooperative/Other Transactions Agreement for Research to facilitate the award of research contracts (rather than grants) to its member universities and has existing funding relationships with the Departments of Defense, Army, Navy, Air Force, Homeland Security, State, Energy, NASA, FEMA, Coast Guard, and a growing list of Federal agencies engaged in science and engineering research.

The vision of the MSI STEM Research Development Consortium (MSRDC) focuses on the following three pillars, which are Engaging Diverse Talent; Promoting Innovation; and Engineering Futures.

The following are the overarching, key responsibilities of the senior director as well as specific performance expectations based upon the three pillars of the MSRDC vision statement.  Other duties may be assigned as necessary to fulfill the goals and objectives as outlined herein.

About the Position

The MSI STEM Research Development Consortium (MSRDC) is seeking a Senior Director of Research Development to develop a high quality and successful research enterprise of over 75 minority-serving institutions, 15 majority or nonprofit research institutes, 60 private industry partners, and a host of government scientists, engineers, and program managers.  The senior director is responsible for designing and implementing programs, methods, tools, platforms, practices, and other activities to engage the consortium membership of university administrators, faculty researchers and collaborative partners in the conduct of basic, applied and advanced research in a variety of technical disciplines in support of the consortium’s federal sponsors and customers.  The Director supports the MSRDC business plan/strategy to create well-formed technical solution teams and Communities of Practice among consortium members and collaborative partners that generate and deliver impactful, innovative solutions.

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Demonstrated commitment to the values and mission of MSRDC
• Oversee the cultivation, development, implementation, and growth of all research development activities to advance MSRDC’s impact and mission
• Engage in relationship building activities with existing and potential sponsors to acquire resources in support of the MSRDC mission, including funded research awards, technical information sharing, public and private partnerships, etc
• Identify sustainable funding streams and business models to fund the research development program and related activities
• Establish evidence-based methodologies for engaging and advancing minority serving institutions’ (MSIs) full participation in federally funded, mission-critical research
• Develop and implement an action plan for creating/upgrading research-related processes, workflows, and infrastructure that enable the identification and development of technically capable and competitive teams to secure federal research funding
• Identify potential financial and operational issues related to research development and provide analysis of alternative courses of action
• Assist with cultivating and promoting the evolving MSRDC brand and achievements to relevant communities to expand membership engagement and organization profile
• Develop training modules and other outreach and development approaches to members pursuing government sponsored research projects
• Create processes and forums to identify research priorities and capability gaps of current and potential government research agency sponsors and communicate to consortium members and collaborative partners
• Educate members regarding techniques in marketing innovative research ideas and navigating the federal research procurement process
• Coordinate meetings with MSRDC technical and scientific advisors to facilitate technical information sharing
• Facilitate collaborations between consortium members and partners, private industry and government research personnel that yield innovative science and technical solutions
• Be able to represent the consortium at symposia, conferences, and other relevant industry meetings
• Collaborate with business development colleagues to support research award renewals and other revenue generation

Required Qualifications and Skills:  

• Ph.D in science, engineering, technical, or other discipline germane to managing research activities
• 8 years of progressive STEM/technical leadership experience in academia, nonprofit government, and/or private industry settings
• Working knowledge of program planning, organizational structure, GovCon market research, budgeting, project/program management, and administrative operations
• Demonstrated understanding of relevant federal regulations in government research contracting
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to convey technical information to a wide array of technical and non-technical audiences
• Extensive experience with MS Office applications, project management software(s), and financial/budgeting software(s)

Send a current resume to:
hr@msrdconsortium.org
CC: alex.thome@msrdconsortium.org

With the subject line [AAAS-Referral] Director Research Development.