Research Programs Manager

Vanderbilt University Medical Center; United States; On-site; USD 90,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center is seeking a Manager of Research Programs to oversee clinical studies, budgets, and staff performance. You will guide recruitment goals, budget development, and QA/QI processes while supervising a team of nurses and coordinators to ensure study success.

The role requires strong leadership, budgeting acumen, and collaboration with sponsors and internal departments to meet financial and regulatory standards.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field.
• Minimum 5 years of clinical research/program management experience.
• Experience supervising clinical research staff including nurses and coordinators.

Responsibilities

• Manages components of a clinical research program(s).
• Communicates and models the mission of Vanderbilt Health.
• Establishes and promotes team/departmental goals and ownership.
• Leads and delegates tasks, ensuring completion and quality.
• Develops, revises, and oversees budgets and guidance documents.
• Develops clinical study budgets and negotiates with sponsors and internal departments.

Skills

Leadership

Budgeting

Team management

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery, and patient care, VUMC is a community of individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. Vanderbilt Health is committed to an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and where your uniqueness is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt’s mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research.

Organization

Psychiatry Central Students 1

Job Summary

The Mgr., Research Programs serves as program manager for clinical research studies, including but not limited to assisting in the development of recruitment goals; participating in the clinical study budget development and negotiation process; supervising a team of clinical research staff, including nurses and coordinators; communication of performance expectations; conducting performance evaluations; and monitors qualify assurance standards, programs, and procedures within the team.

Key Responsibilities

• Manages the components of a clinical research program(s).
• Communicates and models values and mission of VU/VUMC.
• Establishes, supports, and promotes ownership of team/departmental goals. Works as a team to accomplish common departmental goals. Willingly accepts responsibility and performs expected and unexpected tasks. Willingly exerts extra effort when necessary to get the job done.
• Exhibits strong leadership skills. Applies key concepts of facilitative leadership. Delegates tasks as appropriate and follows up to assure completion.
• Effectively motivates team members. Listens and understands other team member's point of view. Considers suggestions from others. Creates and supports a climate of trust, openness and honest communication.
• Recognizes areas of responsibility and takes charge of them. Takes ownership of problems brought to their attention. Follows through from analysis to problem resolution. Takes responsibility for mistakes and learns from them.
• Ability to accept constructive criticism. Demonstrates a positive attitude in response to suggestions for improvement.
• Assigns and reviews work; effectively prioritizes tasks and work assignments.
• Delegates tasks as appropriate and follows up to assure completion.
• Encourages appreciation and respect in workplace. Treats all team members as unique individuals with valuable resources and skills that enhance the team.
• Plans, organizes, and completes projects in an efficient manner.
• Leads team discussion to generate cost effective ideas.
• Designs, develops, and revises standards, utilizing community and national standards, research findings, and bench marking data, e.g. budgets, guidance documents, determination letters, etc.
• Define and achieve financial targets for the unit/area, consistent with the departmental financial plan
• Develop clinical study budgets and negotiate with sponsors as well as internal departments
• Report findings that occur as part of the audit process and incidental discoveries to the director/administrator for auditing, correction and/or educational purposes.
• Exercise judgment and prepare supporting or correcting documentation regarding Institutional and Federal billing policies.
• Ensure a safe, satisfying and enriching environment for employees and provides a qualified, competent staff
• Defines qualifications and performance expectations for staff positions and re-evaluates over time. Establishes objective scoring criteria to decrease bias during evaluation.
• Assesses the composition of the team and identifies potential deficiencies. Develops and communicates team goals providing appropriate follow-up to assure resolution.
• Creates an environment that encourages and supports self-development and learning through regular, immediate feedback. Thoroughly documents all conversations with teams to provide detail needed in future performance evaluations or counseling's.
• Assures that each staff member's ability is regularly assessed in meeting the performance expectations stated in his/her job description. Assesses accomplishment of last year's goals and creation of next year's goals based upon individual and departmental goals
• Assures the development of staff members through orientation, training programs and work experience. Strives to develop individualized professional development plan to guide staff to success, focusing on areas needing growth.
• Recommends personnel action, including hiring, promotions and terminations.
• Counsels employees with regard to disciplinary actions taken in response to violations of institution/department policies.
• Communicates in and across teams to maximize effectiveness, efficiency, and information sharing.
• Monitor quality assurance standards, programs and procedures within the unit/area
• Analyzes situations/events, develops recommendations/plans and prepares presentations/conclusions.
• Uses innovative thinking when developing alternative solutions.
• Can distinguish critical needs/problems from less urgent ones. Demonstrates ability to prioritize tasks and issues.
• Participates in professional associations and development activities to remain informed regarding new developments in the field and disseminates information to the team/department.
• Actively seeks customer feedback to improve processes, systems, and outcomes.
• Initiates and contributes to the development and/or modification of departmental policies and procedures.
• Promotes the routine use of CQI concepts among team and department to continuously improve standards, processes, and daily operations. Promote a culture of continuous improvement.
• Creates and supervises complex QA/QI audits. Conducts complex QA/QI audits.
• Utilizes PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Audit) format to document/implement CQI suggestions.
• Attends institutional CQI class and applies concepts learned.
• Employs concepts of business process re-engineering.
• Actively identifies and participates in educational and developmental activities to improve knowledge and performance to sustain and enhance personal and departmental development.
• Collaborates with others to identify, develop and implement educational opportunities across the research community.
• Nurtures a life-long learning environment.
• Keeps abreast of and applies regulatory guidelines and institutional/departmental policies and procedures.
• Performs continuous self-assessment.
• Applies innovative thinking when developing alternative solutions.
• Distinguishes critical needs/problems from less urgent ones.
• May present at national conferences/panels or contribute to publications.
• May chair or serve on internal and/or institutional committees.

Technical Capabilities

Our Academic Enterprise is one of the nation’s longest serving and most prestigious academic medical centers. Through its historic bond with Vanderbilt University and integral role in the School of Medicine, Vanderbilt Health cultivates distinguished research and educational programs to advance a clinical enterprise that provides compassionate and personalized care and support for millions of patients and family members each year.

World-leading academic departments and comprehensive centers of excellence pursue scientific discoveries and transformational educational and clinical advances across the entire spectrum of health and disease.

Aligning with Vanderbilt Health’s Strategic Directions, the Office of Research provides shared research resources, administrative expertise and professional guidance to enable the trans-disciplinary environment and highly collaborative culture that advances discovery and training for all the research faculty, trainees, students and staff.

Core Accountabilities

• Organizational Impact: Directs activities to achieve operational plans with some near term effect on results of the department/area.* Problem Solving/ Complexity of work: Identifies issues, gathers facts to resolve technical and operational problems. * Breadth of Knowledge: Applies in-depth knowledge and skills of a professional/technical area and basic management knowledge to manage the work of the team.* Team Interaction: Leads a complex department with a focus on implementation. Typically executes on a short to medium term strategies.

Core Capabilities

• Supporting Colleagues:
  • Develops Self and Others: Invests time, energy, and enthusiasm in developing self/others to help improve performance e and gain knowledge in new areas.
  • Builds and Maintains Relationships: Maintains regular contact with key colleagues and stakeholders using formal and informal opportunities to expand and strengthen relationships.
  • Communicates Effectively: Recognizes group interactions and modifies one's own communication style to suit different situations and audiences .
• Delivering Excellent Services:
  • Serves Others with Compassion: Seeks to understand current and future needs of relevant stakeholders and customizes services to better address them.
  • Solves Complex Problems: Approaches problems from different angles; Identifies new possibilities to interpret opportunities and develop concrete solutions.
  • Offers Meaningful Advice and Support: Provides ongoing support and coaching in a constructive manner to increase employees' effectiveness.
• Ensuring High Quality:
  • Performs Excellent Work: Engages regularly in formal and informal dialogue about quality; directly addresses quality issues promptly.
  • Ensures Continuous Improvement: Applies various learning experiences by looking beyond symptoms to uncover underlying causes of problems and identifies ways to resolve them.
  • Fulfills Safety and Regulatory Requirements: Understands all aspects of providing a safe environment and performs routine safety checks to prevent safety hazards from occurring.
• Managing Resources Effectively:
  • Demonstrates Accountability: Demonstrates a sense of ownership, focusing on and driving critical issues to closure.
  • Stewards Organizational Resources: Applies understanding of the departmental work to effectively manage resources for a department/area.
  • Makes Data Driven Decisions: Demonstrates strong understanding of the information or data to identify and elevate opportunities.
• Fostering Innovation:
  • Generates New Ideas: Proactively identifies new ideas/opportunities from multiple sources or methods to improve processes beyond conventional approaches.
  • Applies Technology: Demonstrates an enthusiasm for learning new technologies, tools, and procedures to address short-term challenges.
  • Adapts to Change: Views difficult situations and/or problems as opportunities for improvement; actively embraces change instead of emphasizing negative elements.

Position Qualifications

Responsibilities

Certifications

Work Experience

Relevant Work Experience

Experience Level

5 years

Education

Bachelor's

This role offers the opportunity to make a meaningful impact within Vanderbilt Health, supported by a comprehensive benefits package which may include health, disability, retirement and/or wellness offerings to enhance your well-being and professional growth.

Vanderbilt Health is committed to fostering an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and is committed to the principles of equal opportunity. EOE/Vets/Disabled.