Research Program Manager

Job Summary/Basic Function:

Teachers College, Columbia University is seeking a full-time Research Program Manager to work closely with the Vice Dean for Research to strengthen and expand the College’s research initiatives. The Research Program Manager will assist the Vice Dean for Research to implement the vision and strategy for research at Teachers College, support faculty and student researchers, coordinate projects and activities to enhance the research infrastructure, and disseminate information about funding opportunities, the portfolio of funded research projects, and the accomplishments of faculty researchers and students. Candidates should be mission-driven, detail-oriented, clear and responsive communicators, and able to work effectively with a diverse group of faculty, students, and staff.

CHARACTERISTIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Operations Management

• Contribute to the coordination and function of the office, including, creating and maintaining a schedule of projects, events, and activities for each academic year, overseeing daily operations, managing the budget, and setting priorities for projects.
• Assist with outreach, engagement, and regular communication with faculty, students, and staff.
• Assist with management of the internal funding opportunities for faculty and students, including distribution of the call for proposals, receipt and acknowledgement of applications, and review logistics.
• Assist in the development and dissemination of information about policies and procedures to strengthen research at the College and grow the research portfolio.
• Assist in risk mitigation, identification, tracking, management, and resolution of urgent and important issues related to grant making, grants management, and human subjects’ research.
• Provide meeting support for Research Infrastructure Improvement Committee meetings and other working group meetings with faculty students, and staff.
• Organize and promote research community engagement activities; assist in planning and implementing programs that foster inter-disciplinary collaboration and partnerships between faculty to carry out initiatives that support the research priorities and mission of the College.
• Assist in the development, coordination, and facilitation of trainings and workshops to build capacity for large-scale, collaborative research projects.
• Serve as a data champion, including collecting and summarizing data for reports, briefs, and presentations.
• Track success metrics for the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) and the College’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) and provide regular updates, detailed reports, and recommendations to the Vice Dean for Research (VDR).
• Review and summarize monthly reports from the Office of Sponsored Programs and provide updates to the VDR to monitor grant submissions, grant awards, and workflow.
• Gather information and collect data from the IRB office to inform efforts to strengthen the research infrastructure.
• Assist in the preparation of quarterly and annual reports about the College’s research portfolio.
• May recruit, train, and supervise student workers, ensuring effective support for project tasks and activities.

Budget Analysis, Management, and reporting

• Manage the research office budget, including monitoring expenditures on a regular basis, preparing financial reports, and maintaining budget records for annual projects and activities. Produce financial summaries to the VDR.
• Assist with budget forecasting and budget planning for each fiscal year.
• Monitor expenditures to ensure that expenses are within established fiscal and administrative guidelines.
• Monitor budget awards and expenditures for internal faculty awards, student awards, and other internal funding opportunities, and provide timely updates and reports to awardees.
• Develop and maintain a system to track technical assistance requests and proposal preparation support requests from faculty researchers and payments for grant writing and grant reviewer awards.
• Purchase equipment and supplies needed for the office.

Communications, Writing, and Outreach

• Supports the office of the VDR’s communications functions including newsletters, reports, infographics, and website/social media posts and updates.
• Respond to internal and external requests for information.
• Update and maintain existing content on the research at TC website and work with OSP and the IRB office to align the online presence and dissemination of information about research at the College.
• Track data analytics for the research newsletter, website content, and social media posts and online engagement, and provide regular updates, re