Director of Research Operations & Administration

Mass General Brigham; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 124,000 - 181,000; Full time

Job summary

Mass General Brigham (MGB) seeks the NSI Administrative Director of Research Operations to lead the institute's grant-funded portfolio, supervising about 30 research administrators and financial analysts.

Reporting to the NSI Senior Director of Research, the role translates strategy into daily execution, ensures service standards, and maintains financial stewardship and compliance across federal and foundation awards.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, health administration or a related field.
• Minimum of 6 years in research administration at an academic medical center or research university.
• Minimum of 3 years managing managers and large teams.
• Deep working knowledge of federal sponsored research regulations and policies, including NIH Grants Policy, effort reporting, cost transfers, and related research administration requirements.
• Track record of standardizing workflows, writing SOPs and building internal controls across groups that worked differently.
• Strong financial skills: reconciliation, forecasting and portfolio reporting.
• Clear communicator who can work with PIs, department leaders and central offices, and lead teams through change.

Responsibilities

• Translate Institute research strategy into operating plans, annual priorities, measurable service standards, and clear accountability for the grant-funded portfolio.
• Direct the NSI Research Administrative Operating Model day to day, keeping services organized, resourced and aligned with Institute and department priorities.
• Design and refine the RAU structure with Chairs, Vice Chairs and the Sr. Director; assign new programs and awards to RAUs.
• Set clear ownership across the award lifecycle, including re-budgets, no-cost extensions and modifications.
• Track and report performance metrics: proposal turnaround, reconciliation timeliness, closeout status, staff-to-award ratios and service quality.
• Lead process improvements that make operations more efficient, consistent and scalable.
• Fosters strong partnerships between PIs and their research administration teams, ensuring a supportive service model that understands each PI’s portfolio and anticipates their needs. Stays accessible and uses PI feedback to improve research operations.
• Oversee pre-award work across RAUs: consistent workflows, proposal development support and timely, accurate submissions.
• Ensure strong post-award management: award setup, monthly reconciliation, effort reporting, cost transfers, progress and financial reports, subcontract monitoring and checklist-based closeout.
• Oversee SOPs, practice standards, training, quality reviews and internal controls.
• Partner with central research management offices to ensure compliance with federal (NIH, DOD, NSF) and hospital policies, and ensure that relevant policy and regulatory changes are communicated promptly to investigators and staff.
• Maintain audit readiness and serve as the primary operational escalation point, raising enterprise risks to the Sr. Director.
• Promote effective use of research systems and set clear troubleshooting and escalation paths.
• Act as operational liaison to Research Management, Research Finance, Materials Management/Accounts Payable, Human Resources and other central offices.
• Oversee forecasting, trend analysis, resource planning and financial modeling.
• Ensure investigators receive accurate monthly, quarterly and annual financial reports, and that leadership has timely dashboards on portfolio performance and risk.
• Monitor sponsored accounts; flag shortfalls and over- or underspending early and recommend corrective action.
• Maintain consistent practices for grant budget preparation, including direct and indirect costs, and for the review and approval of sponsored expenditures, in coordination with the Senior Director.
• Work with PIs and department leaders to identify salary sources and process salary distribution changes on time.
• Provide operational data and financial analysis to help plan for the Institute’s research growth, investments and budget challenges.
• Lead the two Sr. Managers and RAU-based research administrators and financial analysts; foster a collaborative, team-oriented environment with clear roles, strong communication, and effective workflows.
• Set staffing models and staff-to-award ratios by portfolio size and complexity; build cross-training and backup coverage.
• Oversee recruitment, onboarding, training, retention and career development.
• Manage personnel actions with HR: hiring, Workday transactions (salary, distributions, training records), performance reviews and corrective action up to termination.
• Balance workloads across RAUs and provide interim leadership to RAUs in transition.
• Lead change management and continuous improvement, including efficiency and resource-use projects.
• Ensure salary equity and a diverse, inclusive, development-focused workplace.
• Attend Institute and department meetings to advance research activities.
• Perform other related duties assigned by the Sr. Director.

Skills

Operational leadership

Strategic planning

Change management

Stakeholder collaboration

Data-driven decision making

People leadership

Budget forecasting

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business/health administration

Master’s degree (MBA/MHA/MPA)

Tools

eRA systems

Job description

Mass General Brigham (MGB) seeks the NSI Administrative Director of Research Operations to lead the institute's grant-funded portfolio, supervising about 30 research administrators and financial analysts.

Reporting to the NSI Senior Director of Research, the role translates strategy into daily execution, ensures service standards, and maintains financial stewardship and compliance across federal and foundation awards.