About Whitman-Walker

Whitman-Walker envisions a society where all persons are seen for who they are, treated with dignity and respect, and afforded equal opportunity to health and wellbeing. Through care, advocacy, research, and education, we empower all persons to live healthy, love openly, and achieve equality and inclusion. For over 40 years, we have been meeting the needs of our communities with the endless dedication of our diverse teams.

About Whitman-Walker Institute

Whitman-Walker Institute’s (the “Institute”) mission is to expand the body of knowledge needed to strengthen Whitman-Walker’s programmatic foundation of care, advocacy, research and education. The Whitman-Walker Institute focuses on the strategic integration of research, policy, and education to improve the health and wellbeing of underserved communities nationwide, particularly LGBTQ people and people living with HIV. We do so through innovative research, effective stakeholder education, and shaping the systems of care that erect barriers to good health. The Institute is a part of the Whitman-Walker Health System. The Institute also supports Whitman-Walker Health in their mission of caring for the community, providing mission-critical support to Whitman-Walker Health through expanded research, education, policy and advocacy initiatives.

Job Summary

The Director of Research oversees the management, implementation, and operations of Whitman-Walker Institute’s research program, providing programmatic leadership of all federally-funded, foundation-sponsored, industry-sponsored, and other research awards. In this role, the Director of Research provides indirect oversight of all research protocols; oversees the management of clinical, quality assurance, and regulatory operations for all research studies and protocols; and ensures the ongoing cost-effective, compliant, ethical, and methodologically sound implementation of all research activities. The Director of Research ensures a well-functioning staffing model for all research projects, providing supervision and training of key management staff within Research and works directly with Principal Investigators and departmental leadership to ensure all aspects of the research program operations are fully implemented according to study protocol and Institute standard operating procedures. As a departmental director, the Director of Research is expected to work closely with the leads of other relevant departments regarding the research portfolio and departmental needs and serve as a key member of departmental leadership to achieve short-term and long-term success of research within Whitman-Walker Institute.

• Financial Impact: Develop operational models that increase cost-effectiveness of research projects
• Staffing Impact: Promote departmental staff satisfaction and support effective staff management
• Operational Impact: Support project teams across the department, ensuring comparable onboarding, training, and operational experiences and coordinating effective work across sites

Core Institute Primary Essential Duties:

• Performs and behaves in accordance with Whitman-Walker’s mission, cultural norms and core values of dignity, respect, affirmation and humility.
• Maintains a respectful, non-judgmental, and compassionate manner with patients/clients/staff.
• Demonstrates excellent care and concern for research participants, following all relevant protections and safeguards to minimize risks and ensure voluntary participation and confidentiality.
• Adheres to Whitman-Walker policies and procedures, with special attention given to research ethics, compliance, funder policies, privacy/confidentiality, and HIPAA requirements.
• Maintains data integrity through conscientious use of relevant tools and employing a system of checks and balances.
• Demonstrates organizational skills necessary to multi-task, meet deadlines and re-prioritize as needed.
• Participates in organizational quality and performance improvement activities.
• Trains and ensures all staff are following organizational and departmental policies and procedures.
• Reviews and monitors workload and workflow by assigning tasks that assure equity of workload and promote the provision of high-quality service.
• Is responsible for the schedule of tasks that are rotated amongst staff.
• Liaisons between department and other internal departments to discuss workload and workflow.
• Actively works to support the mission of Whitman-Walker by supporting and collaborating with departments throughout the Whitman-Walker Health System and Whitman-Walker Health.

Role-Specific Essential Duties

• Works in close collaboration with the Executive Director and investigators to maintain high-level oversight of all research programmatic operations and implementation duties assigned and supervises senior managers, managers, and supervisors responsible for the day-to-day coordination and implementation of such functions.
• Provides on-site supervision at each of Whitman-Walker’s active research facilities to ensure effective multi-site operations, including overseeing and maintaining site-specific inventory and ongoing availability of necessary materials, equipment, and supplies.
• Works with investigators and department leadership to oversee, evaluate, and enhance all research protocols and related operations.
• Oversees a cost-effective, well-functioning, and well-supported project staffing model, ensuring the successful management of dedicated project staff for all research protocols by ensuring continuity, appropriate coverage, task distribution, and overall needs.
• Oversees the successful management of staff onboarding and trainings, including phlebotomy, the handling of biospecimens, laboratory processing, and ensuring data quality.
• Oversees the use of all departmental systems for the management of source documentation, tracking, and invoicing for research studies and clinical trials.
• Oversees the development of concise, well-written Standard Operating Procedures, in accordance with departmental and Institute policies and procedures, with support from project staff; conducts training on, supervises, and conducts quality assurance checks to ensure consistency with all Standard Operating Procedures used within research.
• Manages the administrative team with the development, review, and maintenance of budgets for all individual research grants, contracts, and other projects and activities, including staff effort allocations and ongoing spending.
• Oversees the management of regulatory activities, including initial IRB submissions, protocol modifications, continuing reviews, reporting, and corrective actions, serving as key regulatory point person with study monitors, external funders, and other relevant internal and external bodies and providing supervision of the relevant research staff who work directly on such documentation and procedures.
• Coordinates the receipt and reviews of new requests for industry-sponsored research studies and works closely with the Medical Director of Research and other staff to oversee site selection and activation.
• In consultation with investigators, oversees the design, implementation, and improvements of quality control and quality assurance activities for all studies and protocols within the Institute’s research portfolio.
• Oversees communication between external and internal research partners and staff; serving as the primary point person and/or participating in relevant trainings from collaborating institutions, as needed.
• Oversees the coordination of any necessary consultations with or referrals to internal and external resources for research participants, such as behavioral health support, primary care, and specialty care.
• Other duties as assigned.
• Participates in management meetings to act upon a variety of matters including personnel matters and provides updates and reports as requested.
• Supporting management in fact finding efforts concerning managerial actions or union grievance processing.
• Reviews and makes recommendations for changes to collective bargaining agreements and the Employee Handbook to ensure ongoing compliance.

Budget Responsibilities

Supports oversight of individual project budgets/accounts and departmental budgets in collaboration with the Executive Director.

Management Responsibilities

Supervises and trains senior managers, managers, and supervisors to ensure uniform, proactive, and highly functional management of research projects and programming.

Core Knowledge, Skills, and Talents Required

• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
• Ability to manage time and effort in order to meet strategic objectives.
• Knowledge of all Institute and applicable Whitman-Walker Health policies and procedures.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to collect, organize, analyze, and disseminate significant amounts of information with attention to detail and accuracy.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Knowledge of healthcare information systems with the ability to adapt to new electronic medical record and population health platforms.
• Ability to maintain records and information in an accurate, timely, and confidential manner.
• Ability to adapt to changes in the service delivery model, re-prioritizing as necessary.
• Ability to prepare accurate, concise and comprehensive reports.
• Flexibility to work various shifts, including afternoon, evening and weekend shifts, as necessary.
• Flexibility to work within the organization's various locations as necessary.
• Commitment to health equity.

Role Specific- Knowledge, Skills and Talents Required:

• Knowledge of HIV and LGBTQ+ health and approaches to both quantitative and qualitative research focused on health equity.
• Knowledge of and experience with general protocols for biomedical, public health, and social/behavioral research studies, including clinical trials, cohort studies, and related programs.
• Strong management skills and ability to conduct ongoing training and supervision.
• Highly developed oral and written communication skills, including the ability to function efficiently as part of a multidisciplinary team in facilitating the applied research programs.
• Ability to conduct sensitive, empathetic interviews that respect the dignity and diversity of clients.
• Ability to prepare accurate, concise and comprehensive reports.
• Ability to maintain records and information in an accurate, timely and confidential manner.
• Excellent organizational skills, including proficiency in use of computer word processing and data entry programs and the ability to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Excellent communication skills, in person, in writing and via telephone to diverse audiences such as patients, clients, other employees and Board members.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a fast-paced, complex work environment with competing priorities.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to maintain important executive records in an accurate, timely and confidential manner.
• Clear, concise written communication skills with good attention to grammar and punctuation.
• Knowledge of general office terminology, standards, practices and demands.
• Strong word processing, proofreading, and database management skills.
• Sensitivity to all areas of diversity, including HIV status, race, ethnicity, ability, age, sexual orientation and gender identity.

Education and Experience Required

• Master’s degree in a research or related field required or at least 5 years of equivalent work experience required; relevant educational training beyond this degree may be considered as additional years of experience.
• A minimum of 5 years of work experience in research project coordination within the context of federally-funded or industry-sponsored research is required, which should include no fewer than 3 years in a management position with evidence of effective staff supervision.
• Experience working with a broadly diverse population and ability to work harmoniously with diverse groups of individuals required.

Working Conditions:

Working conditions for this position are normal for an office environment. Individual may be required to work evenings and/or weekends and organization events.

Physical Demands:

• Lifting: No more than 20 lbs. and infrequently.
• Movement: Standing and sitting for long periods.
• Visual: Long periods on computer.
• Concentration: Extended periods of engagement with computer systems where concentration is key to accuracy in data entry. Intermittent periods of engagement with a telephone system to respond to inquiries where concentration is key to task performance.
• Communication: Direct and indirect communication. Written and verbal competency.