Program Director

About the Opportunity

This position will lead the strategic operations and translational program for the RNI Innovation Center (RNI IC), serving as the central point of coordination and execution across clinical research, translational development, and commercialization initiatives. The role bridges strategy and execution-translating leadership priorities into actionable plans, aligning multidisciplinary teams, and supporting the advancement of innovations from research through commercialization. This individual partners closely with RNI leadership and external collaborators to provide visibility into performance, risks, intellectual property strategy, and resource needs across the portfolio.

What You'll Do

• Support the planning, coordination, and execution of RNI's clinical, translational, and applied research initiatives, ensuring alignment with institutional and commercialization priorities.
• Translate strategic objectives into structured project plans, timelines, and deliverables that advance technologies from research through validation and commercialization.
• Coordinate across RNI, WVUH, HSC, and WVU teams to align clinical research, translational development, and commercialization activities.
• Facilitate project governance processes, including tracking milestones, identifying risks, and supporting prioritization decisions across the research-to-commercialization continuum.
• Monitor initiative progress and proactively identify risks, bottlenecks, and dependencies; escalate issues as appropriate.
• Support portfolio-level visibility by tracking key initiatives, synthesizing updates, and maintaining centralized reporting across clinical, translational, and commercialization efforts.
• Prepare executive-level presentations and materials summarizing progress, risks, intellectual property considerations, and commercialization pathways.
• Analyze operational and research data to generate insights that inform decision-making, development strategy, and go-to-market planning.
• Assist in coordinating intellectual property activities, including invention disclosures, patent filings, and alignment with institutional IP and licensing strategies.
• Support commercialization efforts, including coordination with industry partners, evaluation of partnership opportunities, and alignment of development milestones with market needs.
• Assist in the development and refinement of standard operating procedures and best practices to enhance efficiency across research, development, and commercialization functions.
• Coordinate with internal teams and external partners to ensure alignment on deliverables, timelines, and expectations.
• Support budget tracking, resource planning, and operational coordination across initiatives.
• Ensure adherence to institutional policies, procedures, regulatory requirements, and intellectual property frameworks.
• Drive day-to-day execution of strategic initiatives, managing multiple priorities simultaneously while maintaining attention to detail.
• Serve as a key operational point of contact for assigned initiatives, ensuring clear communication and follow-through across stakeholders.