Metabolic Research and Dietary Assessment Unit Manager

The Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 98,000 - 148,000; Full time

Job summary

Tufts University’s HNRCA Metabolic Research and Dietary Assessment Unit (MRUDAU) seeks a Manager to lead a diverse team of experts and oversee clinical nutrition studies. You will design and operationalize IRB-approved protocols, manage budgets, and ensure compliant, timely study execution.

The role demands extensive experience in human research, strong leadership, and a strategic focus on aging and nutrition.

Qualifications

• Master's-level degree or equivalent in human subjects research, nutrition, biomedical science, nursing, data analysis, business, or another related field.
• 10+ years of experience with human research studies, including 3+ years in grant-funded budgeting.
• Significant experience with clinical study design.
• Experience with electronic data capture systems (e.g., REDCap).
• Experience leading a team and directly managing staff.

Responsibilities

• Lead MRUDAU staff and manage a diverse team of 14–16, including four direct reports.
• Develop core unit budgets to cover proposed research activities and ensure on-time, on-budget completion.
• Provide operational, regulatory, budgetary, and content leadership across study phases.
• Collaborate with PIs and study teams on design, implementation, and close-out of human nutrition studies.

Skills

Team leadership

Budget management

Clinical study design

Regulatory compliance

Education

Master's level degree or equivalent in related field

PhD/ScD/MD or equivalent preferred

Job description

Overview

The mission of the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University (HNRCA) is to promote healthy aging through nutrition science to empower people seeking to enjoy long, active, and independent lives. HNRCA investigators examine how nutrition and physical activity play a role in the prevention of the major chronic degenerative conditions and diseases associated with aging.

The Metabolic Research and Dietary Assessment Unit (MRUDAU) is a 15,000-square-foot HNRCA scientific core that provides the infrastructure to carry out human clinical research studies. The unit supports and facilitates study participant recruitment and retention, as well as all clinical aspects of data and biological sample collection from volunteer human subjects. MRUDAU staff provide nursing, dietary, participant engagement, and study management services, as well as expertise and services in dietary data collection methods, coding, data cleaning and management, and dietary data analysis. The MRUDAU manager and staff work with principal investigators and study teams on the design and execution of human clinical and observational studies, participating in the development of dietary intervention sections of new protocols, providing advice on dietary data collection methodologies, producing manuals of procedures and other nutrition-related materials, facilitating approvals by the Institutional Review Board (IRB), and developing new methodologies to improve the collection of dietary data.

What You'll Do

The Metabolic Research and Dietary Assessment Unit Manager leads a diverse team of experts in nursing, dietetics, dietary data collection and assessment, and human study research management that supports the clinical research of HNRCA principal investigators (PIs). The Metabolic Research and Dietary Assessment Unit Manager has deep expertise in at least one area of the MRUDAU's work (nursing, nutrition, dietary assessment, human study research management) and/or significant leadership and management experience in a human-study research environment. Assists PIs in developing core unit budgets sufficient to cover proposed core unit research activities, as all as provides operational, regulatory, budgetary, and content-based leadership of the unit, working closely with PIs, study teams, other HNRCA core unit managers, and MRUDAU staff on many aspects of study design, implementation, execution, and close-out.

This is a grant funded position and is not eligible for severance pay.

• Study Management: Work with PIs, individual study teams, other core unit managers, and study MDs to design human nutrition research studies; with and via MRUDAU staff, operationalize IRB-approved study protocols (creating study budgets, MOPs, SOPs, study visit plans, etc.) and ensure successful, safe, on-time, on-budget completion of those protocols while ensuring adherence to regulations and best practices relating to data and biological sample collection.
• Participant Engagement: With a focus on older adults, plans and executes (with and via MRUDAU staff) recruitment strategies for all studies and is tasked with increasing the quality, quantity, and diversity of potential human study participants in the MRUDAU participant database. Ensures unit-wide compliance with all federal and other regulations pertaining to human study research and data collection (e.g., CFR, Good Clinical Practice, etc.) and with best practices in clinical research.
• Resource Management: Leads and manages a diverse team of 14-16 staff, including four direct reports, who are subject-area experts in the collaborative execution of human studies. Working with the HNRCA’s budget and fiscal officer, scientific computing core, data management core, research administration core, and facilities management team, the Manager is responsible for the unit’s staff, budget, instrumentation and equipment, systems, and physical plant.
• Intellectual Leadership: The Metabolic Research and Dietary Assessment Unit Manageris not only an operational leader but also well-versed in best practices pertaining to human studies related to nutrition and healthy aging. Serves as a resource to PIs throughout all phases of pre-award and post-award research, as well as to MRUDAU and other HNRCA staff.

What We're Looking For

Basic Requirements: Knowledge and experience typically acquired by:

• Master's-level degree or equivalent in human subjects research, nutrition, biomedical science, nursing, data analysis, business, or another related field
• 10 or more years' experience with human research studies, including 3 or more years' experience with fiscal responsibility for complex human studies in a grant-funded environment
• Significant experience with clinical study design
• Experience with electronic data capture systems (e.g., REDCap)
• Experience successfully leading a team and directly managing staff

Preferred Qualifications:

• PhD, ScD, MD, or equivalent terminal degree in nutrition, biomedical science, nursing, data analysis, business, or another related field[
• 3 or more years' experience managing a clinical research facility or team

Pay Range

Minimum $98,400.00, Midpoint $123,000.00, Maximum $147,600.00

Salary is based on related experience, expertise, and internal equity; generally, new hires can expect pay between the minimum and midpoint of the range.