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Mass General Brigham relies on a wide range of professionals, including doctors, nurses, business people, tech experts, researchers, and systems analysts to advance our mission. As a not-for-profit, we support patient care, research, teaching, and community service, striving to provide exceptional care. We believe that high-performing teams drive groundbreaking medical discoveries and invite all applicants to join us and experience what it means to be part of Mass General Brigham.
Job Summary
As a not-for-profit organization, Mass General Brigham (MGB) is committed to supporting patient care, research, teaching, and service to the community by leading innovation across our system. Founded by Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital, MGB supports a complete continuum of care including two academic medical centers (AMCs), community and specialty hospitals, a managed care organization, a physician network, community health centers, home care and other health-related entities.
The MGB Neuroscience Institute (NSI) Administrative Director of Research Operations is the operational leader for the Institute's grant-funded research portfolio, supporting investigators in the MGB Departments of Neurology and Neurosurgery. Reporting to the NSI Senior Director of Research, the Administrative Director translates Institute research strategy into high-quality daily execution. The Administrative Director accountable for operating performance, workforce deployment, service standards, process execution, financial stewardship, and operational risk escalation across the grant-funded portfolio.
The Administrative Director leads the NSI research administration team of approximately 30 research administrators and financial analysts, organized into Research Administration Units (RAUs), a support structure that aligns dedicated research administration teams with related research and clinical divisions, giving each division consistent, end-to-end support from proposal through closeout. The Administrative Director directly supervises the NSI Senior Manager, Research Financial Planning & Analytics and the NSI Senior Manager, Sponsored Research Operations & Compliance. The role's scope is standing, grant-funded research supported primarily by federal and foundation sponsors. The NSI currently manages approximately $420M in annual research expenditures and more than 2,000 active grants across many research sites throughout MGB.
The Administrative Director ensures that NSI investigators and research programs receive responsive, dependable, and high-quality research administration support. This includes well-defined pre- and post-award workflows, clear ownership across the award lifecycle, effective use of institutional systems, reliable staffing and backup coverage, and strong financial stewardship and compliance, enabling NSI research to continue to grow and thrive.
Strategic and visionary qualifications
The ideal candidate brings operational depth along with a thoughtful, collaborative approach to helping NSI build a shared, consistent way of supporting research across both departments.
- Institute-wide perspective: fosters NSI as one research community, helping its research administration teams work in a connected, consistent way for all NSI investigators.
- Bringing strategy to life: partners with the Senior Director to shape the Institute's priorities into practical plans, shared service standards and meaningful goals.
- Thoughtful operating model design: has experience helping shape shared service models, such as aligning teams with divisions and creating smooth handoffs across the award lifecycle.
- Collaborative change leadership: guides teams and faculty through organizational change with transparency and a thoughtful, inclusive approach, building on existing strengths and incorporating stakeholder input throughout the process.
- Informed decision-making: uses portfolio data, forecasts and feedback to understand trends, anticipate needs and support shared decisions.
- Planning for growth: anticipates future staffing, systems, and process needs to support expansion of the research portfolio while maintaining consistent, responsive, and effective operational support.
- Investigator-centered focus: keeps the investigator experience central to the work, so every PI feels well supported.
- Relationship building: fosters trusted partnerships with department leaders, the Clinical Trial Center, central offices and staff, working together toward shared goals.
Key responsibilities
Operational leadership
- Translate Institute research strategy into operating plans, annual priorities, measurable service standards, and clear accountability for the grant-funded portfolio.
- Direct the NSI Research Administrative Operating Model day to day, keeping services organized, resourced and aligned with Institute and department priorities.
- Design and refine the RAU structure with Chairs, Vice Chairs and the Sr. Director; assign new programs and awards to RAUs.
- Set clear ownership across the award lifecycle, including re-budgets, no-cost extensions and modifications.
- Track and report performance metrics: proposal turnaround, reconciliation timeliness, closeout status, staff-to-award ratios and service quality.
- Lead process improvements that make operations more efficient, consistent and scalable.
- Fosters strong partnerships between PIs and their research administration teams, ensuring a supportive service model that understands each PI's portfolio and anticipates their needs. Stays accessible and uses PI feedback to improve research operations.
Sponsored research operations
- Oversee pre-award work across RAUs: consistent workflows, proposal development support and timely, accurate submissions.
- Ensure strong post-award management: award setup, monthly reconciliation, effort reporting, cost transfers, progress and financial reports, subcontract monitoring and checklist-based closeout.
- Oversee SOPs, practice standards, training, quality reviews and internal controls.
- Partner with central research management offices to ensure compliance with federal (NIH, DOD, NSF) and non-federal sponsor requirements and hospital policies, and ensure that relevant policy and regulatory changes are communicated promptly to investigators and staff.
- Maintain audit readiness and serve as the primary operational escalation point, raising enterprise risks to the Sr. Director.
- Promote effective use of research systems and set clear troubleshooting and escalation paths.
- Act as operational liaison to Research Management, Research Finance, Materials Management/Accounts Payable, Human Resources and other central offices.
Financial operations and analytics
- Oversee forecasting, trend analysis, resource planning and financial modeling.
- Ensure investigators receive accurate monthly, quarterly and annual financial reports, and that leadership has timely dashboards on portfolio performance and risk.
- Monitor sponsored accounts; flag shortfalls and over- or underspending early and recommend corrective action.
- Maintain consistent practices for grant budget preparation, including direct and indirect costs, and for the review and approval of sponsored expenditures, in coordination with the Senior Director.
- Work with PIs and department leaders to identify salary sources and process salary distribution changes on time.
- Provide operational data and financial analysis to help plan for the Institute's research growth, investments and budget challenges.
People leadership
Lead the two Sr. Managers and RAU-based research administrators and financial analysts; foster a collaborative, team-oriented environment with clear roles, strong communication, and effective workflows.
- Set staffing models and staff-to-award ratios by portfolio size and complexity; build cross-training and backup coverage.
- Oversee recruitment, onboarding, training, retention and career development.
- Manage personnel actions with HR: hiring, Workday transactions (salary, distributions, training records), performance reviews and corrective action up to termination.
- Balance workloads across RAUs and provide interim leadership to RAUs in transition.
- Lead change management and continuous improvement, including efficiency and resource-use projects.
- Ensure salary equity and a diverse, inclusive, development-focused workplace.
Other
- Attend Institute and department meetings to advance research activities.
- Perform other related duties assigned by the Sr. Director.
Qualifications
Required
- Bachelor's degree in business, finance, health administration or a related field.
- Minimum of 6 years in research administration at an academic medical center or research university, covering both pre- and post-award.
- Minimum of 3 years managing managers and large teams, ideally spread across several departments or units.
- Deep working knowledge of federal sponsored research regulations and policies, including NIH Grants Policy, effort reporting, cost transfers, and related research administration requirements.
- Track record of standardizing workflows, writing SOPs a