The University of Texas at Austin is hiring: Technical Director, Texas Open Sour

Job Posting Title

Technical Director, Texas Open-Source Initiative (TOSI)

Hiring Department

Lyndon B Johnson School of Public Affairs

Position Open To

All Applicants

Weekly Scheduled Hours

40

FLSA Status

Exempt

Earliest Start Date

Immediately

Position Duration

Expected to Continue

Location

UT MAIN CAMPUS

Job Details

General Notes About The University of Texas at Austin What starts here changes the world.

The University of Texas at Austin, founded in 1883, ranks among the 40 best universities in the world with top national programs across 19 colleges and schools.

By creating educational opportunities for all and leading cutting-edge research at scale, the University fosters positive social change, technological advancement, and economic progress showing the world that change really does start here.

An organizational priority is to successfully make UT the world’s highest-impact public research university, unleashing knowledge, opportunity and innovation from the heart of Texas.

Learn more about UT’s mission and values, and leadership.

About The LBJ School of Public Affairs

The Lyndon B.

Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin is one of the nation’s premier public policy schools.

As Texas’ top-ranked policy school for over five decades, the LBJ School provides unmatched opportunities for students to engage with policymakers, industry leaders and innovators in Austin and beyond.

The school is committed to improving the quality of public service in the United States and abroad at all levels of governance and civic engagement.

Our goals are to prepare students and professionals for leadership positions in public service, produce interdisciplinary research to advance our understanding of complex societal problems and create solutions, promote effective public policy and management practice and foster civic engagement on issues of public concern.

Committed to advancing the quality of public service, the LBJ School continues to drive education, research and civic engagement at all levels of governance.

Purpose

The Technical Director will teach courses in the Masters of National Security curriculum while leading the technical operations and strategic development of the university's Texas Open-Source Initiative (TOSI), a new component of the Clements-Strauss Intelligence Studies Project.

This role combines hands-on technical expertise with teaching and leadership responsibilities, advancing the initiative’s mission to conduct ethical, rigorous open-source research while training students in the skills and ethics of open-source collection.

Responsibilities

Technical Leadership & Operations

• Ability to translate complex technical concepts for variable audiences, think strategically about technology adoption and implementation and able to project manage for multi-stakeholder initiatives
• Oversee and maintain the initiative’s technical infrastructure, including secure research environments, data storage systems, and specialized OSINT tools
• Develop, implement, and socialize technical standards and best practices for research and digital investigations
• Ensure compliance with university data governance, privacy, and security policies
• Manage relationships with open-source communities and government partners

Research & Project Management

• Ability to translate complex technical concepts for variable audiences, strategic thinking about technology adoption and implementation, project management skills for multi-stakeholder initiatives
• Collaborate with faculty on complex technical investigations requiring advanced OSINT methodologies
• Provide technical guidance and support for student research projects across disciplines
• Develop methodologies for reproducible, ethically conducted digital research
• Coordinate with the broader UT community and external partners including NGOs, academic institutions, and government agencies

Educational & Training Leadership

• Teach two courses in the Masters of National Security curriculum, such as Intelligence Analysis and Digital Investigations, Emerging Technologies and National Security
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, experience presenting to academic, governmental, and public audiences and ability to work effectively with interdisciplinary teams
• Design and deliver technical workshops and training programs for students and faculty
• Mentor graduate students and postdocs conducting technical research
• Organize public engagement events
• Create educational resources and SOPs

Strategic Development

• Strong commitment to research ethics and responsible disclosure practices, understanding of academic integrity and publication standards, awareness of legal and ethical constraints in digital investigations
• Contribute to grant writing and fundraising efforts for initiative expansion
• Identify emerging technologies and methodologies relevant to open-source intelligence
• Build partnerships with industry, government, and academic institutions
• Represent the initiative at conferences and professional meetings
• Advise on ethical frameworks for digital investigations

Required Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science, Information Science, Digital Forensics, Political Science with heavy quantitative background, or related technical field, OR Master's degree with 5+ years of relevant professional experience
• Demonstrated experience with open-source intelligence tools and methodologies

Preferred Qualifications

• Proficiency in Python, R, or similar languages for data analysis and tool development
• Experience with forensic analysis tools and methodologies for digital evidence
• Knowledge of GIS software, satellite imagery analysis, location intelligence
• Advanced skills in statistical analysis, data visualization, metadata analysis, and large dataset manipulation
• Understanding of web scraping, API development, and database management
• Knowledge of operational security, anonymization techniques, and secure research practices
• Deep understanding of social media platforms, their APIs, and data collection methodologies, experience with image and video analysis tools for verification and forensic analysis, knowledge of network analysis and relationship mapping techniques, understanding of information warfare, disinformation, and content manipulation detection

Salary Range

$100,000 + depending on qualifications

Benefits

UT Austin offers a competitive benefits package that includes:

• 100% employer-paid basic medical coverage
• Retirement contributions
• Paid vacation and sick time
• Paid holidays

Please visit our HR website to learn more about the total benefits offered

Working Conditions

• Hybrid work arrangement with flexibility for remote work
• Occasional travel for conferences, training, and collaborative projects
• Typical office environment.
• Repetitive use of keyboard

Required Materials

• Resume/CV
• 3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor
• Letter of interest
• Optional: Portfolio of OSINT-related projects or tools developed

Important

for applicants who are NOT current university employees or contingent workers: You will be prompted to submit your resume the first time you apply, then you will be provided an option to upload a new Resume for subsequent applications.

Any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) will be uploaded in the Application Questions section; you will be able to multi-select additional files.

Before submitting your online job application, ensure thatALLRequired Materials have been uploaded.

Once your job application has been submitted, you cannot make changes.

Important for Current university employees and contingent workers:As a current university employee or contingent worker, you MUST apply within Workday by searching for Find UT Jobs.

If you are a current University employee, log-in to Workday, navigate to your Worker Profile, click the Career link in the left hand navigation menu and then update the sections in your Professional Profile before you apply.

This information will be pulled in to your application.

The application is one page and you will be prompted to upload your resume.

In addition, you must respond to the application questionspresented to upload any additional Required Materials (letter of interest, references, etc.) that were noted above

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Employment Eligibility

Regular staff who have been employed in their current position for the last six continuous months are eligible for openings being recruited for through University-Wide or Open Recruiting, to include both promotional opportunities and lateral transfers.

Staff who are promotion/transfer eligible may apply for positions without supervisor approval.

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Retirement Plan Eligibility

The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length.

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Background Checks

A criminal history background check will be required for finalist(s) under consideration for this position.

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Equal Opportunity Employer

The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action.

The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.

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Pay Transparency

The University of Texas at Austin will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant.

However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.

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Employment Eligibility Verification

If hired, you will be required to complete the federal Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form.

You will be required to present acceptable and original documents to prove your identity and authorization to work in the United States.

Documents need to be presented no later than the third day of employment.

Failure to do so will result in loss of employment at the university.

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E-Verify

The University of Texas at Austin use E-Verify to check the work authorization of all new hires effective May 2015.

The university’s company ID number for purposes of E-Verify is 854197.

For more information about E-Verify, please see the following:

• E-Verify Poster (English and Spanish) [PDF]
• Right to Work Poster (English) [PDF]
• Right to Work Poster (Spanish) [PDF]

Compliance

Employees may be required to report violations of law under Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act).

If this position is identified a Campus Security Authority (Clery Act), you will be notified and provided resources for reporting.

Responsible employees under Title IX are defined and outlined in HOP-3031.

The Clery Act requires all prospective employees be notified of the availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety report.

You may access the most recent report here or obtain a copy at University Compliance Services, 1616 Guadalupe Street, UTA 2.206, Austin, Texas 78701.