• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Bargaining Unit:
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Standard Work Schedule:
• Building:
• Salary Range: $100,000 - $140,000 annually

Position Summary

The Administrative Director will report to the Co-Directors of The Carol and Gene Ludwig Center for Research on Neurodegeneration (CGLC); Co-Directors of Taub, Department of Neurology Chair with a dotted line reporting to Tina Xue, Sr. Director of Finance and Research Administration.

The incumbent will provide administrative and financial support for day-to-day scientific operations and plays a key role in setting the strategic direction of a complex, multi-institution, multi-investigator effort to employ powerful scientific resources in pursuit of the treatment and cure of Alzheimer???s disease and related neurodegenerative diseases.

The candidate will work closely with the co-Directors to advance a series of research projects by coordinating closely with investigative collaborators, sponsors, and donors; overseeing diverse wet and dry laboratory operations and personnel; and ensuring compliance and quality within this extensive research program.

The successful candidate will oversee the entire lifecycle of CGLC research projects, from working closely with the co-Directors on the design of the overall research plan, to writing scientific components of grant applications and working closely with NIH and other key sponsors, to supervising the execution of individual projects that relate to the program's overall research strategy.

This individual will routinely make decisions regarding the administration of significant and growing annual research expenses. The complex and rapidly expanding program consists of a rich mixture of both broad and focused research projects funded by multiple federal and philanthropic sources, including LFF Pilot Research Awards.

The incumbent will also play a key role in the operations of the CGLC center, providing key support in areas such as strategic planning, development, processes implementation, communications, branding and website management, liaising and building relationships with internal and external collaborators, space and equipment management, events, HR, and the development of research resources in order to meet current and future needs.

A key future role will be in fitting-out, equipping and staffing new research space in the new Biomedical Research Building at 167th Street and Audubon Avenue.

Responsibilities

Program Leadership and Strategic Planning:

• As a key member of the CGLC leadership team alongside the co-Directors and faculty investigators, the incumbent will play an important role in promoting the program???s trajectory from basic science research, to pre-clinical translational research, clinical trials and ultimately the integration of results into mainstream patient care.
• Explore and develop new opportunities to drive the CGLC program, which includes coordinating with multiple NIH-funded centers of excellence and eventually working with the Clinical Trial Office (CTO) and collaborating with existing Columbia infrastructure for pre-clinical and clinical trials. The individual will facilitate the planning and implementing of new projects based on these new opportunities.
• Collaborate with philanthropic sources, physicians, scientists, regulatory professionals, biostatisticians, executive staff and others as necessary for development and execution of the CGLC???s goals, ensuring their successful execution.
• Direct and prioritize resource allocation to ensure that all research deliverables are met for the entire CGLC???s program.

Leadership of Program Operations and Financial Administration:

• Oversee the general operation of the entire CGLC program, ensuring that ongoing administrative and operational processes support the goals and objectives of the program. Plan and lead routine project team meetings.
• Oversee the development and management of the CGLC budget in accordance with the financial goals and expectations of the program. Project budgetary requirements of new projects and work with Department Administrator and grants support personnel to finalize and implement project and sub-project budgets. Work closely with financial personnel to address budgetary constraints and strategize when funding considerations arise such as the need for a project extension or request for additional funding. Review the progress of subcontract sites and make determinations regarding routine financial administration of subcontracts.
• Oversee the purchasing and reconciliation functions of the CGCL and of the co-Directors research programs in collaboration with departmental financial personnel.
• Evaluate productivity to ensure that all federal research grants deliverables are met in a timely manner and communicated to the funding agencies.
• Establish mechanisms to continually evaluate and respond to short- and long-term operational and fiscal needs. 
• Liaise with research facilities in the Taub Institute, Dept of Neurology, Stem Cell, Brain Bank, Genome Centers (including the High Throughput Screening and Next Generation Sequencing facilities) to ensure easy access  of the CGLC to these facilities.

Leadership of the Carol and Gene Ludwig Center Pilot Grant Program

• Liaise with the co-Directors and the Scientific Center Advisory Committee and past Ludwig Fellows to identify the new annual topic.
• Publicize topics and timelines for the Pilot Award competitions;
• Establish the peer-review team and organize the review sessions.
• Coordinate with grantees to present their data at 12 and 24 months at Neurology Grand Rounds / LFF Pilot Grant Research Day.
• Ensure timely reporting of progress.
• Work with the awardees to access the necessary facilities, and expertise to take their results to the next level (academic, industry support, patent coverage).

Communications and Symposia:

• Work with the co-Directors to designate the topic of the Annual CGLC Scientific Symposia.
• Independently identify and book meeting facilities, catering, sponsors and speaker invitations for the Annual CGLC Scientific Symposia.
• Independently interact directly with the Ludwig Family Foundation (LFF) personnel on behalf of the co-Directors, looping in the co-Directors and LFF personnel to ensure that the LFF is fully briefed on progress and plans for the CGLC???s research program.
• Independently interact with other sponsoring agencies (such as NIH program officers or industry sponsors), key project personnel, new donors and potential donors, and VIP supporters and participants, on behalf of CGLC Principal Investigators.
• Write formal and informal communications regarding project progress and share directly with sponsors, industry collaborators, and other members of the financial/administrative leadership.
• Draft text related to the CGLC???s program for a wide range of publication contexts, such as draft press releases and text of publications for scientific journals.
• Represent the CGLC program in development and fundraising efforts.

Staff Management:

• Support the co-Directors by maintaining oversight of all personnel working for the program.
• With center PIs, set individual strategies and establish standards for hiring, performance appraisal, and competency assessment. Provide input into personnel compensation and salary setting decisions. Establish job expectations and methods for measurement of standards for all personnel.
• Coordinate with Human Resources and administrative leadership in the development and implementation of policies and procedures that apply the program.
• Maintain awareness of team engagement; identify and respond to key challenges and areas of opportunity. 

Operations Management:

• The incumbent will work with the co-Directors and CU space planners to design research space and offices to meet the current needs of the center, as well as its future needs for fitting-out, equipping and staffing of new research space in the new Biomedical Research Building at W167^th and Audubon.
• Work with the co-Directors to develop a plan for acquiring and managing high-end shared equipment (centrifuges, microscopies, computational equipment), and develop sustainable funding models for equipment management.
• Work with the co-Directors to recruit new staff at investigator, scientist and technical levels.

Regulatory/Compliance Oversight:

• Independently draft IRB protocols, IACUC protocols and other compliance documentation for multiple projects.
• Ensure compliance with all regulatory requirements for animal, human issue, human data, clinical and computational research.
• Convey to project team and ensure compliance with institutional policies and procedures.
• Perform other related duties and responsibilities as assigned/requested.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent in education and experience, plus five years of related experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• A PhD in a relevant field of neuroscience is strongly preferred.
• Published scholarly work in a related field.
• Experience with Columbia University Medication Center administrative systems and processes
• Experience project managing grants and contracts
• Experience with Preaward administration and development.

Other Requirements

• Position requires strong familiarity with key components of the CGLC research program and long-range vision, such as computational biology/bioinformatics, molecular biology, cell biology, stem cell biology, neurobiology, cell and brain imaging, animal and cellular modelling, and systems biology. Relevant postgraduate experience in a related position is required.
• Experience with writing scientific components of grant proposals and reports. Sufficient familiarity with scientific aspects of research to draft text independently.
• Strong project management experience, preferably experience overseeing a large, multi-component project. Strong familiarity with administrative aspects of managing large sponsored research projects, including knowledge of federal compliance requirements.
• Strong communications and writing skills.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.

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