Research and Program Manager, Disease Ecology in a Changing World

This position is fixed-term for one year with the possibility of extension based on funding availability and programmatic need.

This position is based on Stanford’s main campus with consideration given to the option for a hybrid work schedule (partially onsite and offsite), subject to operational need. Interested candidates must include a curriculum vitae, cover letter, and the names of up to three references to be considered for this position.

Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa.

About Us

The Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability strives to create a future when humans and nature thrive in concert and in perpetuity. The school is made up of a three-part structure to drive global impact: Our academic departments and programs educate students and create new knowledge across areas of research that are crucial for advancing the long-term prosperity of the planet and people; Institutes bridge scholarship at Stanford and beyond, bringing multiple viewpoints to bear on urgent challenges; The Sustainability Accelerator drives new policy and technology solutions through a worldwide network of partners who work with our teams to develop solutions at a global scale. The school is dedicated to creating and supporting a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment, and to creating solutions that benefit all people, particularly those most affected by environmental damage and climate change.

For more information on the school please click here.

The Disease Ecology in a Changing World program

The Disease Ecology in a Changing World (DECO) program is housed within the Center for Human and Planetary Health, a new Center based at the Woods Institute for the Environment and the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability – in close collaboration with the Stanford School of Medicine and the Center for Innovation in Global Health. 

As Earth’s population grows, scientists are continually discovering new connections between a changing environment and human health, including the ecology of infectious diseases. DECO strategizes and conducts solutions-oriented research to support healthy ecosystems and healthy people. This includes studying the ecological, environmental, and socioeconomic drivers of diseases that are transmitted through the environment. DECO investigates where the diseases occur, how they spread, the role of climate and land-use change, and win-win ecological solutions that can curb transmission, improve human health, and protect the health of the environment that underpins it. Learn more about DECO and its three core research projects here.

DECO Research and Program Manager position

This position will focus on working with DECO faculty leadership to build and advance a research program for DECO that bridges knowledge and action, scales solutions, and engages diverse stakeholders in generating new evidence and recommending solutions. The DECO Research and Program Manager will be able to independently contribute to the research required for DECO’s current cornerstone projects while identifying and recommending opportunities to advance the scope and scale of the DECO program. In addition to conducting research, the incumbent will have the opportunity to lead program coordination, fundraising and grant management efforts, and work to build strategic partnerships including within the Stanford disease ecology community. 

The position is located on Stanford campus and reports to the Human and Planetary Health Managing Director, with faculty research supervision from Drs. Erin Mordecai (Biology Department) and Giulio De Leo (Oceans and ESS Departments), both Senior Fellows with the Woods Institute. This is a fantastic opportunity for an adaptable and team-oriented early-career researcher with a degree in disease ecology or a related field who is looking for experience building a complex, interdisciplinary, solutions-oriented research program in an academic environment.

Responsibilities will include:

• Leading and managing multidisciplinary teams across different disciplines or schools, and external research partners, in advancing multiple complex DECO research projects.
• Designing and leading research approaches for the entire program, including background research, experimental design and execution, and drafting manuscripts for publication.
• Deploying community- and partner-engaged approaches to manage stakeholder collaborations and produce co-created research outcomes.
• Developing new protocols; testing and evaluating a variety of approaches.
• Participating in creating new research proposals and budgets and preparing final materials for funding applications that will expand the scope and scale of DECO.
• Preparing periodic progress reports or written reports on all phases of the program.
• Contributing original ideas of major methodologies that alter the course of the investigation or developing innovative solution(s) to complex research problems.
• Performing ongoing literature review to remain current with new procedures and related research; proceeding without consultation with principal investigators to implement new techniques into research projects.
• Representing DECO in stakeholder meetings.
• Providing scientific and coordination support to the DECO Faculty Directors.
• Integrating and aligning with the Center for Human and Planetary Health leadership.
• Leading DECO program management and coordination activities, including organizing stakeholder meetings, leading regular team meetings, organizing documents and creating knowledge-management systems, preparing slides for presentations, supervising student researchers, and contributing to DECO communications efforts, e.g., maintaining the DECO webpage, drafting popular media pieces on DECO, etc.

* - The job duties listed are typical examples of work performed by positions in this job classification and are not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, tasks, and responsibilities. Specific duties and responsibilities may vary depending on department or program needs without changing the general nature and scope of the job or level of responsibility. Employees may also perform other duties as assigned.