Associate Director of Research Administration & Operations, School of Medicine / Neurology

Summary:

Under the direction of the Department Administrator, the Associate Director for Research Administration and Operations will be responsible for providing leadership and oversight of Neurology and its affiliated center's research operations and finances. The Associate Director will ensure consistent and compliant practices are maintained for research financial, administrative, and regulatory management across Neurology and its affiliated centers. They will work closely with department leadership to support the development and implementation of a research strategic plan, identify and facilitate opportunities to increase funding success and ranking, and work to continually assess and make recommendations to ensure staffing is adequate to support research administration and clinical research operations across the department.

Specifically, this position directly supervises team(s) that provide research administration and clinical research operations support across the department. They will also partner with the Center Directors to establish dual reporting relationships with senior staff leading research administration and clinical research operations teams for Neurology's affiliated centers. This is a key research leadership position for the Department; aimed at creating an efficient and consistent structure department wide to enable continued growth in a compliant and sustainable manner.

Typical Duties

Strategic Planning and Research Program Development (40%)
• Ensure department research financial, administrative, and regulatory management practices are in alignment and in compliance with University, Health System and School of Medicine policy, standard operating procedures, and guidelines; as well as sponsoring agency terms and conditions as applicable.
• Work with Department and Center leaders to establish a research strategic plan in support of the department's research mission, to include development of objectives to reach goals, and to establish metrics and measures to assess performance and drive research growth.
• Assess and make recommendations to improve research administration infrastructure across the department
• Assess and make recommendations to improve clinical research operations and staffing across the department
• Build relationships with key stakeholders, including department faculty and staff, and School of Medicine, university, and health system research administration and operations leaders and colleagues.
• Collaborate with peer departments on shared goals, including program development.
• Identify opportunities to develop a robust clinical trial portfolio, including increased numbers of trials and revenue. In addition, identify other internal and external funding opportunities, and support investigators to increase submissions.
• Establish monthly faculty meetings to address barriers to research, conduct financial reviews, and anticipate future needs/opportunities.
• Create training opportunities for junior faculty, or those new to research, to facilitate funding success.
• Develop or collaborate in the development of needed standard operating procedures or policies, communicate updates to key stakeholders, and provide education, if required.

Research Administration and Compliance Oversight (20%)
• Provide oversight and ensure consistent and compliant processes are in place for all personnel providing direct pre and post award research administration support to Neurology faculty.
• Responsibility and oversight of all grants, contracts, cost shares, and other related funding. Co-manage start up and retention funds with Finance Associate Administrator.
• Participate in the Protocol Review Oversight Committee (PROC), whose approval is required prior to IRB submission; with a particular focus on financial viability and personnel resource needs.
• In collaboration with the Research Vice Chair, develop and monitor metrics for a monthly dashboard that can be reported to department and school leadership. Review internal research stop light report and address related issues.

Clinical Research Operations Oversight (20%)
• Provide oversight and ensure consistent and compliant processes and procedures are in place for department and center clinical research operations; including feasibility, activation, study coordination, regulatory, data management, and close out.
• Provide oversight and guidance to ensure clinical trial activation processes are efficient and effective; with a particular focus on processes to assess studies to determine accurate study coordinator effort, milestone development, startup costs, etc.
• Ensure CRCs are utilized effectively department wide; assess and make recommendations to improve CRC staffing model(s) and reporting relationships.
• Lead administrative oversight of CRC workforce; review study performance, CRC assignments, and adjust work assignments when needed based on study activity and financial performance.
• Coordinate with Principal Investigators to ensure staff are trained and performing study and regulatory management of assigned studies in compliance with all federal, university, school, and sponsor/protocol requirements.
• Facilitate recruitment requests from PIs, including position requests, interviewing, and onboarding.
• Oversee all research related regulatory and compliance activities within the department.

Budget and Finance (10%)
• In collaboration with the Finance Associate Administrator, develop proposed MCVP and VCU salary budgets, taking into considering research funding, cost shares, and other sources of salary funding that impact clinical FTE.
• Anticipate and identify budgetary concerns, and escalate to department leadership, including significant deficits. Propose strategies to resolve concerns.

Performance Management (10%)
• Directly supervise Assistant Director, Research Administration and other staff as infrastructure is developed.
• Contribute to employee development and employee evaluations of dual reporting staff who support research administration and clinical research operations in Neurology's affiliated centers.
• Establish clear goals and objectives, and provide constructive feedback. Properly document any performance issues, and complete timely performance evaluations.
• Develop training materials and standard operating procedures, as needed, to ensure proper training of staff.