Administrative Director at Northwestern University in Chicago, IL

Job Summary:

The Administrative Director (AD) oversees the operations for the Surgical Outcomes and Quality Improvement Center (SOQIC), including local, regional and national research programs; local and system-wide quality innovation endeavors, and a national policy research agenda. The AD provides direction and thought leadership to develop strategic goals and objectives, defines associated metrics to measure results, and creates and obtains resources to ensure success. The AD reviews, creates and nurtures internal and external collaborations and partnerships. The AD is also charged with overseeing the staff.

In addition, the AD manages all activities associated with surgical quality studies considered very complex by the inclusion of the following: multiple investigators, teams, sites, sub-contracts, participants, longitudinal assessments/ interventions, and multi-million dollar budgets. Ensures completion of contract and grant requirements and specifications. Oversees day-to-day operations including identifying and securing needed resources; creating, implementing, monitoring, and updating project plans; facilitating meetings with appropriate parties; tracking tasks/deliverables to ensure timelines, milestones and goals are attained; monitoring and reporting progress as appropriate; managing staff and assisting staff in priority setting, interacting with faculty, and achieving goals; oversee hiring process; lead performance evaluations for staff; and resolving or escalating issues in a timely manner. In addition, the AD will participate in selected, high-profile research endeavors that align with his/her professional development goals, including co-authoring scientific papers for presentation and publication. He/she will coordinate writing, submission and administration of selected high-priority grants. The AD ensures that all study activities are completed by strictly following Good Clinical Practices (GCP) and all current local, state, and federal laws, regulations, guidance, policy and procedure developed by the NU Institutional Review Board (IRB), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), and the International Conference on Harmonization (ICH). The AD will oversee budget operations and planning for all SOQIC projects. The AD will facilitate recruitment of faculty, fellows, and staff. The AD will also oversee professional development for the staff. The AD will develop policies and procedures to standardize certain key operations.

Specific Responsibilities:

Areas of Responsibility:

• Management of the following:
• Budget & Financial
• Communications & Outreach
• Facilities & Safety
• Faculty Support
• Human Resources
• IT Services
• Strategic Planning
• Grants & Contracts

Work Complexity:

• AD uses judgment & an extensive amount of experience to adapt an advanced knowledge of skills, methods, practices, policies & procedures, sometimes without clear precedents, & a considerable degree of innovation, analysis & reasoning to independently plan & prioritize work that is almost all project oriented & involves many extremely difficult problems &/or decisions.
• AD recommends changes to policy to better meet objectives.

Budget & Financial:

• Plans & manages complex budget(s) to fund strategic mission including financial sustainability & enhancement models.
• Serves as primary contact with Department of Surgery (DoS) Director of Research Operations.
• With SOQIC Director and DoS Director of Research Operations, plans & implements annual budget including fiscal resource allocation of appropriated, discretionary, endowment &/or gift revenues.
• Manages budgets for large volume of research grants.
• Oversees routine budget reconciliation & analyzes budget position.
• Approves funds reallocation within budget as necessary & appropriate.
• Responsible to stop an expense that is inappropriate or against deficit chart string.
• Knowledgeable in NU Financials; oversees staff training in same.

Communications & Outreach:

• Working closely with the DoS, Feinberg School of Medicine Communications and Institute for Public Health & Medicine (IPHAM) Communications for opportunities to promote SOQIC scholarly work.
• Delegates or completes production, editing &/or distribution of newsletter; &/or management of website & special events.

Facilities & Safety:

• Manages offices and common areas to ensure strategic use of available space & routine maintenance.
• Determines & assigns space allocation.
• Oversees construction projects in coordination with Facilities Management.

Faculty Support:

• Provides strategic recommendation for management of faculty appointments, credentialing & exit (retirement & termination) processes.
• Reviews policies, recommends changes, implements new & ensures consistent interpretation.
• Oversees all aspects of faculty administrative tasks (colloquium, seminar, travel, faculty COI survey, annual report) ensuring optimal faculty support.

Grants & Contracts:

• Collaborates with IPHAM and DoS research administration support staff in order to facilitate & enhance all administrative grant processes & related compliance.
• Oversees pre- & post-award administration completed by research administrators.
• Builds relationships with Principal Investigators (PIs) & NU research associated offices; transfers knowledge & advises on research policy & procedure.
• Ensures on-going training of support staff & PIs for optimal operations & compliance.

Human Resources:

• Determines & implements organizational structures to align with strategic mission.
• Manages implementation of human resource programs, policies, procedures & talent management lifecycle & related mentoring & training.
• Oversees recruitment & selection process; Performance Excellence plan for each employee; & merit increase process.
• Manages & provides consultation regarding complex performance problems & issues; administers leaves; approves timesheets & oversees completion of annual staff Conflict of Interest survey.
• Interprets HR policy to maximize effectiveness of HR administration to meet strategic plan objectives.

IT Services:

• Acts as liaison to IT management to ensure technology systems are available to meet objectives of strategic plan.
• Ensures necessary hardware, software & network infrastructure technology services are appropriated from central or internal IT.
• Issues work order requests directly or through support staff.
• Participates in developing IT strategy to meet the mission & needs of the organization.
• Directs activities of a small technology staff.

Regulatory Compliance:

• Oversees development & implementation of processes & procedures for all safety, security & compliance programs & ensures compliance with all applicable federal, state, local & NU laws, regulations, policies & procedures.
• Oversees creation &/or implementation of associated training.

Strategic Planning:

• Creates, implements, & manages, in conjunction with leadership, strategic plans to best utilize revenue for key faculty recruitments, program development, research expansion, space planning. etc.
• Evaluates & prepares plans to maximize opportunities & minimize threats.
• .Reviews & proposes strategic alliances, joint ventures & key collaborations with internal & external organizations.

Research Fellow Support:

• Creates department strategy for structure, process, & staff support of research fellows.
• Performs &/or delegates the following: For research fellows: Oversees annual recruitment & selection process & related data entry; resolves administrative issues (RAS forms, stipends, monitors fellowships, etc.) & organizes new fellows week.
• Resolves fellow issues.

Supervisory:

• Supervises 20 or more staff &/or provide work direction to others.
• Provides direction to or coordinate administrative effort of staff within or outside of immediate dept or division.
• Meets regularly with staff about project progress
• Leads staff meetings, helps set staff timelines and priorities
• Trains, directs, assigns duties to staff
• Facilitates interactions between faculty and staff
• Leads performance reviews
• Sets collegial, collaborative, and enjoyable culture and tone for the team

Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a bachelor's or higher degree in a major such as social or health science or related; OR appropriate combination of education and experience and 5 years' research study or other relevant experience required; OR
• Successful completion of a full course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a master's or higher degree in a major such as social or health science or related; OR appropriate combination of education and experience and 3 years' academic health care other relevant experience.
• 4 years' administrative experience in an academic/research health care setting including budgets, finance, grants, facilities, &/or human resources; or other relevant experience.

Minimum Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities.)

• Excellent time management skills and ability to multi-task and prioritize work
• Strong organizational and planning skills
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to thrive in a collaborative environment
• High degree of professionalism
• Identifies and resolves problems in a timely manner
• Takes independent actions to complete project-related tasks
• Ability to multi-task and independently prioritize projects and issues
• Capacity to function as an autonomous leader within a complex multi-disciplinary team

Preferred Qualifications:

• Successful completion of a full course of study in an accredited college or university leading to a master's or higher degree in a major such as public health, healthcare administration, social sciences or other health-related science; OR appropriate combination of education and experience.
• Experience managing a research enterprise.
• >7 years' administrative, research study or other academic health care experience.

Preferred Competencies: (Skills, knowledge, and abilities)

• Proven ability to improve processes and project quality
• Demonstrated capacity to effectively negotiate with multiple parties
• High level of knowledge on methods to solve conflicts
• Background in research methodology
• Background in quality improvement
• Use of Microsoft Office Suite, RedCap, Qualtrics
• IRB CITI trained

Northwestern University is an Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action Employer of all protected classes, including veterans and individuals with disabilities. Women, racial and ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, and veterans are encouraged to apply. Hiring is contingent upon eligibility to work in the United States.