Job Title:
Senior Associate Vice President for Research Operations

Position Overview

The Senior Associate Vice President for Research Operations (SAVP) is a senior executive leader within the Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge (ERIK) and serves as a strategic partner to the Vice President for Research. This position provides leadership, oversight, and direction for Ohio State’s research operations infrastructure, ensuring excellence in research administration, regulatory compliance, research integrity, and operational effectiveness across the university’s research enterprise.

The SAVP leads critical research support and compliance functions, including Sponsored Programs, Responsible Research Practices, University Laboratory Animal Resources, the Animal Care and Use Program, the Biosafety Program, and ERIK’s Instructional Design team. Serving as the university’s designated Institutional Official, the SAVP ensures compliance with federal, state, and institutional regulations governing research activities and oversees institutional research assurances, regulatory relationships, and university-wide compliance programs.

Working collaboratively with university leadership, the Wexner Medical Center, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Office of Legal Affairs, Office of Academic Affairs, and other campus stakeholders, the SAVP advances operational excellence and develops best-in-class research administration practices that support faculty, staff, and student researchers. The position plays a central role in implementing ERIK’s strategic plan, driving growth in externally sponsored research, reducing administrative burden, and enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of research support services.

The SAVP is accountable for substantially enhancing day-to-day operations across the research operations portfolio, with a focus on improving service quality, strengthening process discipline, increasing consistency across units, reducing unnecessary administrative burden, and ensuring that operational practices are aligned with institutional strategy. This position is expected to translate ERIK and university-level research strategies into actionable operating plans, measurable priorities, implementation roadmaps, and consistent management practices across the functions within the SAVP portfolio.

The SAVP serves as a visible ambassador for Ohio State’s research enterprise, representing the university at the state and national levels through professional organizations, boards, councils, and external partnerships. The successful candidate will bring extensive experience in research administration and compliance, a collaborative and consensus-building leadership style, exceptional communication and relationship management skills, and a demonstrated ability to lead complex organizations and engage diverse stakeholders within a large research-intensive university environment. An earned doctorate, terminal degree, or equivalent combination of leadership experience and expertise is require

Position Details

The Senior Associate Vice President for Research Operations (SAVP) is a member of the core leadership team of the Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge (ERIK) and reports directly to the Vice President of Research (VPR). This position plays a key role in ensuring Ohio State is a leading university in research and creative expression. This individual must possess the personal, intellectual, and leadership qualities to implement strategy, oversee administration, and enable the growth of Ohio State’s research operations.

The SAVP will direct the operations of multiple teams, including Sponsored Programs, Responsible Research Practices, University Lab Animals Resources, Animal Care and Use Program and Biosafety Program. This focus allows the position to address some of the most complex and consequential challenges facing the institution in research.

The SAVP will be responsible for converting research enterprise strategies into clear operational priorities, integrated work plans, resource decisions, process improvements, and measurable outcomes. This includes establishing operating rhythms, clarifying ownership across teams, identifying and resolving process bottlenecks, improving cross-functional coordination, and ensuring that the day-to-day work of the research operations portfolio directly advances ERIK’s strategic priorities.

At the direction of the vice president for research, the SAVP will serve as the university’s research Institutional Official, ensuring oversight and compliance with all regulatory, ethical, and administrative obligations tied to that role. This individual will manage institutional duties including authorization of research assurances, coordination with federal agencies, and stewardship of university-wide research compliance programs.

The SAVP will oversee the PI status process at Ohio State and be expected to work with college associate deans for research (ADRs) to create best-in-class operations to facilitate leading research operation programs at Ohio State. The SAVP will have close working relationships with the Wexner Medical Center, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Office of Legal Affairs, Office of Academic Affairs, and college deans and ADRs. The SAVP will collaborate with other senior leaders within the Enterprise for Research, Innovation and Knowledge (ERIK) and across the university to collectively empower strong linkages for research operations.  

The SAVP will lead ERIK’s Instructional Design team, guiding high‑quality learning solutions and ensuring instructional training excellence aligned with ERIK and university goals. The SAVP will be engaged in the implementation of the ERIK strategic plan that leads to operational excellence, significant growth in external research funding, and optimizes services to create highly efficient research and creative expression support that reduces administrative burdens to faculty, staff, and students.

The SAVP will establish, monitor, and report on a rigorous set of key performance indicators to demonstrate operational performance, service effectiveness, compliance reliability, process improvement, stakeholder responsiveness, and accountability. The role will be accountable for using these measures to drive transparency, continuous improvement, timely escalation, and disciplined follow-through with ERIK leadership, university partners, and other key stakeholders.

The SAVP will represent Research Operations across Ohio and at the national level by serving on boards, councils, and professional associations to advance institutional priorities and influence the research enterprise.

Key Accountabilities

The SAVP will be accountable for:

• Translating ERIK and university research strategies into actionable operational plans, implementation milestones, and measurable outcomes.
• Substantially improving day-to-day operations across the SAVP portfolio through process redesign, service optimization, cross-functional coordination, and continuous improvement.
• Establishing and managing a rigorous KPI framework that demonstrates performance, progress, risk management, and accountability.
• Using operational data and stakeholder input to identify barriers, prioritize improvements, and drive timely resolution of issues.
• Communicating performance, progress, risks, and improvement plans to ERIK leadership, university partners, and other internal and external stakeholders.
• Building operating practices that support growth in externally sponsored research, reduce administrative burden, and improve the experience of faculty, staff, and student researchers.

Required Qualifications

It is expected that the SAVP will have exemplary communication skills as well as strong service orientation and interpersonal skills to complement administrative and financial management expertise. The SAVP will have significant knowledge and direct experience in multiple regulatory areas impacting researchers at Ohio State. The SAVP must have a consensus-building leadership style, demonstrated commitment to team building and organization development. 

The SAVP must show demonstrated ability to lead/engage/inspire a large, complex research community; must possess experience interacting with a broad range of public and private constituencies; must demonstrate ability to bring a national/international perspective on major research issues; and possess extensive experience in a higher education institution.

Possession of an earned doctorate, other appropriate terminal degree or possession of equivalent experience is required. 

Desired Qualifications

Strong research background, prior leadership role and experience within a large, leading research university.

Experience with human subject research and/or serving on IRB committees/operations.

Application Materials

A CV and cover letter are required to be submitted at the time of application to be considered for this position.

Salary

The salary for this position is commensurate with experience.

Additional Information

Work hours may often exceed forty hours per week and may require non-traditional work hours, including evenings and weekends depending on work projects and volume. 

Candidates seeking an academic appointment will be evaluated based on their qualifications, professional experience, and scholarly record, consistent with the criteria outlined in the governance documents of the applicable department or academic unit. Eligibility for an academic appointment will be determined through this review process.

Ohio State will not sponsor applicants for a work visa for this position.

Starting Day One: Comprehensive Benefits

give you options to take care of what matters most to you — and opportunities to make adjustments as your life and needs change, including:

• Medical, dental and vision coverage, with Ohio State paying a significant portion of the cost.
• Paid time off, including sick and vacation time and 11 holidays.
• State retirement plan or an alternative retirement plan, both with generous employer contributions.