Assistant Director

(a) In general The Director shall appoint an Assistant Director responsible for the management of the Directorate in the same manner as other assistant directors of the Foundation are appointed. (b) Qualifications The Assistant Director shall be an individual who, by reason of professional background and experience, is specially qualified to— (1) advise the Director on all matters pertaining to polar research and development; and (2) develop and implement the necessary policies and procedures to promote polar research and development across the Foundation and carry out the responsibilities under subsection (c). (c) Responsibilities The responsibilities of the Assistant Director shall include— (1) advising the Director on all matters pertaining to polar research and development; (2) approving all new programs within the Directorate; (3) coordinating polar research and development, infrastructure planning, observational systems, logistics, and operational support across Federal agencies, including the Department of Defense, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Department of Energy, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the Coast Guard, and other relevant agencies; (4) coordinating polar research and development with partner countries; (5) developing and implementing merit-review models and mechanisms for selecting and providing awards for polar research and development at different scales, from individual investigator awards to large multi-institution collaborations; (6) assessing the success of the programs of the Directorate; (7) administering awards to achieve the purposes described in section 4; (8) providing regular briefings to the Board on the status of polar regions infrastructure and the alignment of awards under section 9 with the focus areas identified under section 8; and (9) performing other such duties pertaining to such purposes as are required by the Director. (d) Relationship The Assistant Director shall report to the Director. (e) Relationship to other programs No other directorate within the Foundation shall report to the Assistant Director.