Career Center

The UCR Inland Empire Labor & Community Center, or IELCC (https://ielcc.ucr.edu/) invites applications for a Program Director. The initial appointment will be for a period of two years with the possibility of reappointment.

The UCR Inland Empire Labor & Community Center is administratively housed within the UCR College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (https://chass.ucr.edu/). The UCR IELCC strengthens and expands the labor movement and serves working people and their communities through advanced research, education, and strategic partnerships with workers, labor and community organizations, policymakers, tribal organizations, and the broader Inland Empire region. We place the empowerment and well-being of workers, their families, and their communities at the forefront of our curricula, community engagement, public programs, and publications. We focus attention on the unique socio-economic circumstances of the Inland Empire region, including large immigrant communities and Indigenous nations in the region. Our research offers innovative policy perspectives that support workers and their communities while our worker-centered approach advances the goals of fair working conditions, living wages, and climate, gender, and racial justice.

We seek a program director to lead the growth of the center. With funding through the University of California Worker Rights Policy Initiative (WRPI), the center aims, in the next three years, to: build our capacity for research, policy analysis, education, and public-facing programming; support unions and community organizations to conduct their work strategically by developing education and training, and providing technical assistance; and develop the next generation of labor and community organizers, researchers, and leaders among undergraduate and graduate students by connecting them with labor and community organizations, and training and involving them in community-based and/or community-engaged research, internships, and other activities. We work closely with the Inland Empire Labor Council and its member organizations as well as other labor and community organizations working for economic, social, and environmental justice.

The program director is the senior, full-time person building and leading the center in collaboration with the IELCC faculty co-Directors, the Labor Studies program chair, other core IELCC and Labor Studies faculty and staff, the IELCC Community Advisory Committee, and other community and institutional partners, and managing its dynamic and growing portfolio of research, training, programing, and community collaboration. The program director is responsible for independent development and coordination of all aspects of center operations, which includes the following core areas:

Strategic Leadership
Working with the center's core faculty and staff and the IELCC Community Advisory Committee, the program director provides strategic leadership in planning and implementing all research and programming at the center. Represent the center at annual conferences, community-sponsored events, and working groups.

Research and Education Programming
Working with the IELCC Faculty Co-Directors, the IELCC Community Advisory Committee, the Labor Studies program Chair, and other IELCC and Labor Studies core faculty and staff, UC labor centers, and other community and institutional partners, the program director will help develop and guide the center's research, policy analysis, graduate and undergraduate instruction, and public-facing programming. This includes overseeing and initiating, if qualified, research projects in collaboration with community and institutional partners and, if qualified, teaching classes and/or workshops related to labor studies, movement building and leadership development, and/or community-based methods.

Fundraising
Planning, developing, and initiating strategies for generating resources and/or revenues, including through fundraising, donor relations, and grant and contract proposals.

Public Relations
Interfacing with the broader community (including the California Labor Federation, Inland Empire Labor Council, unions, worker centers, and community organizations), local and state government officials, foundations, and other community and institutional partners. Overseeing all aspects of the center's communications, including web presence, social media presence, report review, and external relations.

Event Development and Coordination
Overseeing all center organized and affiliated events.
Research Administration and Financial Management
Overseeing and further developing the organizational structure for the center's financial and business operations, including the generation, management, and reporting of center budgets and oversight of contracts and grants.

Center Management
Responsible for personnel and program management at the center, including planning and implementing strategic initiatives, supervising and mentoring staff, and ensuring HR needs are met.

A reasonable salary range estimate for this position is $85,000 - $119,000. The posted UC academic salary scales set the minimum pay determined by rank and/or step at appointment. See the salary scale titled, Academic Coordinator Series - Fiscal Year for the salary range https://www.ucop.edu/academic-personnel-programs/_files/2023-24/july-2023-acad-salary-scales/t36-ii.pdf]. "Off-scale salaries," i.e., a salary that is higher than the published system-wide salary at the designated rank and step, are offered when necessary to meet competitive conditions.

Qualified applicants must possess a Bachelor's degree or higher (or an equivalent foreign degree) in social science, humanities, public administration, public policy, urban planning, labor studies, or related fields. While not required, preference will be given to candidates with master's degrees, professional degrees, or higher. Applications should demonstrate at least five years of relevant professional experience, with increasing levels of responsibility, in research, program development, organizing, and/or administration.

Complete applications must include: a cover letter of interest, an updated CV, a statement of contribution to diversity, and names and contact information for three to five professional references.

Review of applications will begin on October 2, 2023, and may continue until the position is filled. Applications received by October 2 will receive full consideration.