Director of Human Performance Optimization

The University of Southern California (USC) Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT) seeks a Director of Human Performance Optimization to lead applied research programs that improve service member and unit readiness, performance, training effectiveness, and decision superiority.

The Director will provide scientific and technical leadership for a portfolio of Department of War (DoW)-sponsored research spanning human performance, physiological and behavioral monitoring, technology-enabled training, performance assessment, adaptive learning, and operational decision-making. The successful candidate will translate rigorous basic and applied research into practical tools, measures, and training approaches that address sponsor needs across Navy, Marine Corps, and other DoW organizations.

The ideal candidate will have a distinguished record of leading multidisciplinary research teams; developing and transitioning applied science and technology solutions; managing complex research portfolios; and collaborating with government, academic, and industry partners. The candidate should bring demonstrated expertise in one or more of the following areas:

• Human performance, readiness, resilience, and physiological monitoring
• Wearable technologies, biometric sensing, sleep, fatigue, stress, and musculoskeletal health
• Training science, instructional design, adaptive learning, and learner modeling
• Decision-making, cognitive performance, expertise development, and performance assessment
• Virtual, simulated, or technology-mediated training environments
• Data-driven tools, artificial intelligence-enabled assessment, and human-system integration
• Military readiness, lethality, force development, and operational performance research

The Director will actively pursue research funding; develop high-quality proposals; oversee research planning, execution, analysis, and reporting; and lead the dissemination of findings through sponsor engagements, technical reports, peer-reviewed publications, and presentations at government, academic, and industry forums. The Director will also mentor researchers and technical staff and build productive partnerships across USC, government laboratories, operational communities, academia, and industry.

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead a portfolio of applied research programs focused on human performance, readiness, training, assessment, and operational decision-making.
• Define technical strategy and research priorities in coordination with sponsors, ICT leadership, and external collaborators.
• Develop, submit, and manage research proposals and funded projects for DoW, federal, and related sponsors.
• Direct multidisciplinary teams of researchers, engineers, data scientists, developers, and external performers through all phases of project execution.
• Design and oversee rigorous studies involving physiological, cognitive, behavioral, and performance data.
• Guide the development and validation of wearable-monitoring approaches, performance measures, training technologies, and decision-support tools, as applicable to the project portfolio.
• Translate research findings into usable products, recommendations, prototypes, training interventions, and transition plans for operational stakeholders.
• Establish and sustain relationships with Navy, Marine Corps, and broader DoW research, acquisition, training, and operational communities.
• Produce peer-reviewed publications, technical reports, briefings, and other research products.
• Present research findings and demonstrate project capabilities at sponsor meetings, government installations, professional conferences, and other venues.
• Mentor junior staff, contribute to workforce development, and foster an interdisciplinary, mission-focused research environment.
• Ensure research activities are conducted in accordance with applicable institutional, sponsor, human-subjects, data-handling, and records-management requirements.

Required Qualifications

• Doctoral degree in psychology, cognitive science, neuroscience, physiology, kinesiology, biomedical engineering, human factors, learning sciences, computer science, or a closely related discipline.
• At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience leading basic, applied, or translational research programs.
• Demonstrated success managing complex, multi-year research projects involving government, academic, and/or industry partners.
• Demonstrated ability to develop research proposals and secure or support the acquisition of externally funded research.
• Substantial expertise in at least one core technical domain: human performance; physiological monitoring; training and education; cognitive performance; decision-making; performance assessment; h