Managing Director, Life Sciences Research Initiative (Office of the Vice Provost for Research)
Job Details
Johns Hopkins, founded in 1876, is America's first research university and home to nine world-class academic divisions working together as one university.
As announced in 2024, a new Life Sciences Building is rising on Johns Hopkins’ East Baltimore medical campus, creating space for more than 1,200 lab benches and 920 scientists pursuing foundational biomedical research. This building will anchor a major new life sciences effort centered on rapidly developing technologies in imaging, artificial intelligence, and genetics—fields where scientists are making discoveries at a record-breaking pace. It expands on Johns Hopkins’ extraordinary leadership across the life sciences: 29 Nobel Prize-winning affiliates (including 16 in Physiology or Medicine), decades as the nation’s leading recipient of NIH funding, and a deeply embedded culture of translating discovery into advances that shape clinical care and advance public health worldwide.
To sustain strategic investments in infrastructure, training, and cross-divisional collaboration, Johns Hopkins is establishing a Life Sciences Research Initiative to accelerate discovery across the full continuum of life sciences, from basic science to clinical application and translation. These efforts will unite life sciences research across all Johns Hopkins’ academic divisions. By launching innovative funding programs, they will invest extensively over multiple years in strategically chosen research areas and also provide smaller, high-impact awards to fund bold, investigator-driven projects.
The Opportunity
Johns Hopkins University seeks an accomplished executive to serve as the inaugural Managing Director, Life Sciences Research Initiative. This is a rare opportunity to launch a new initiative in support of one of the world’s leading universities in life sciences.
Reporting directly to the Director, the Managing Director will serve as the senior operational and administrative leader, translating scientific vision into organizational reality. The Managing Director assumes broad responsibility across these initiatives, including day-to-day operations, strategic planning and execution, institutional relationships, budget stewardship, and staff leadership—enabling the Director to provide scientific leadership, advance strategic vision, and build a high-impact research enterprise. They will serve as a critical liaison between the life sciences and its university partners, governing bodies, and external stakeholders.
The ideal candidate is an experienced organizational leader with a track record of building and running complex, mission-driven enterprises. They will bring sound administrative judgment, strong interpersonal skills, and the ability to work effectively across a large, decentralized university with multiple stakeholders. Familiarity with academic research environments, life sciences, or related sectors is highly valued.
Specific Duties & Responsibilities
Strategic Planning and Organizational Leadership
- Partner with the Director to develop, update, and operationalize strategic plans, including mission, vision, goals, programs, organizational structures, and budgets.
- Oversee execution of strategy across all programmatic and operational areas, translating goals into actionable initiatives.
- Establish and maintain robust systems for tracking key performance indicators, timelines, and outcomes; prepare regular reports for the Director, governance committees, advisory boards, and university leadership.
- Identify emerging organizational needs and recommend adaptive strategies to ensure responsiveness, innovation, and long-term impact.
- Cultivate an organizational culture of excellence, collaboration, and accountability across all Institute operations.
Institutional Leadership and Administration
- Advise the Director on organizational priorities, resource allocation, governance, and stakeholder engagement; represent the Institute in key internal and external meetings.
- Lead internal governance processes, including oversight committees, advisory boards, and related charters, agendas, and reporting.
- Direct recruitment, onboarding, professional development, and performance management for the core operations team, fostering a high-performing, mission-aligned workforce.
- Develop and maintain initiative-wide policies, procedures, and administrative practices to ensure effective and compliant operations.
- Oversee budget strategy, financial management, and communications strategy in coordination with central university offices as Institute capacity develops.
- Coordinate with Facilities and Real Estate on planning, construction, and occupancy of the Life Sciences Building, serving as a point of contact for relevant committees and decisions.
Programs, Events, and Academic Initiatives
- Oversee planning and execution of programming, including symposia, workshops, conferences, seminar series, and public events for faculty, fellows, students, and external leaders.
- Manage operational administration of research funding programs, including award processes, reporting, and alignment with strategic priorities.
- Facilitate integration of programming and resources across divisions, departments, and research centers to activate cross-disciplinary collaboration.
External Relationships and Resource Development
- Develop and maintain a robust network of external relationships with peer institutions, federal agencies, foundations, industry partners, and philanthropic organizations to advance collaboration and mission.
- Support philanthropic, translational, and industry engagement activities in coordination with the Director, University Development and Alumni Relations, Johns Hopkins Technology Ventures, and other relevant university partners.
- Ensure alignment and coordination with related initiatives, institutes/centers, and university leadership offices to maximize complementary impact and avoid duplication.
- In partnership with the Director, maintain regular engagement with key university leadership offices—including the President’s Office, Provost’s Office, relevant Deans, Human Resources, General Counsel, Information Technology, Government Affairs, and Central Finance and Administration—to align Institute activities with institutional priorities and policies.
- Other duties as assigned.
Minimum Qualifications
- Advanced Degree required; an MBA, MPA, MPH, or doctoral degree in a relevant field strongly preferred.
- Fifteen plus years of progressively responsible experience in organizational leadership, strategy, and administration.
- Demonstrated success managing complex, multi-stakeholder organizations or initiatives with significant budgets.
- Experience in higher education, academic research, life sciences, or a closely related sector.
- Proven track record in communications strategy, planning, and execution.
- Experience supporting or leading fundraising, development, and external partnership efforts.
- Additional education may substitute for required experience, and additional related experience may substitute for required education beyond a high school diploma/graduation equivalent, to the extent permitted by the JHU equivalency formula.
Preferred Qualifications
- Demonstrated success managing complex, multi-stakeholder organizations or initiatives with significant budgets.
- Experience in higher education, academic research, life sciences, or a closely related sector.
- Proven track record in communications strategy, planning, and execution.
- Experience supporting or leading fundraising, development, and external partnership efforts.
- Prior experience serving in a senior operational role within a research institute, academic center, or comparable enterprise.
- Demonstrated ability to develop and execute strategic plans in dynamic, mission-driven environments.
- Experience with budgeting, financial planning, and resource stewardship at an organizational level.
- Familiarity with research administration, including grants, contracts, and compliance in academic or government-funded settings.
- Experience with translational research, technology transfer, or industry-academic partnerships.
- Exceptional written, verbal, and presentation skills; comfortable engaging at executive and public-facing levels.
- Experience engaging with diverse constituencies, including university leadership, faculty, government officials, industry partners, foundations, and donors.
- Proven skill in staff management, team development, and fostering collegial, high-performance cultures.
- Ability to navigate and succeed within large, complex, decentralized organizations with multiple stakeholders and competing priorities.
- Entrepreneurial orientation with capacity to identify opportunities, build programs from the ground up, and drive results in fast-paced environments.
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