Senior Director, Research Administration

The University of Pennsylvania, the largest private employer in Philadelphia, is a world-renowned leader in education, research, and innovation. This historic, Ivy League school consistently ranks among the top 10 universities in the annual U.S. News & World Report survey.

The Senior Director, Research Administration serves as the senior administrative leader and final departmental authority for all research administration functions supporting the Department of Surgery (DOS) across the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP), Penn Presbyterian (PMC), Pennsylvania Hospital (PAH), and the Perelman School of Medicine (PSOM). Reporting to the CFO and working in close strategic partnership with the Chair, Vice Chairs of Research, and COO, this role holds enterprise-level accountability for advancing the strategic growth and national competitiveness of the DOS research enterprise.

The position leads the full pre and post-award lifecycle for a $26M+ sponsored programs portfolio, inclusive of basic, translational, and clinical research, as well as industry and PI-initiated clinical trials (IDE/IND).

Job Responsibilities

• Provide strategic leadership and enterprise-level oversight of pre- and post-award administration across the DOS sponsored research portfolio.
• Lead onboarding new and recruited faculty research programs.
• Direct divisional research administrators in portfolio monitoring, financial operations, and compliance.
• Deliver monthly and quarterly financial reports to the Chair, Vice Chairs, Division Chiefs, and Administrators.
• Provide strategic oversight of financial and administrative operations supporting the department's research, academic, and teaching missions.
• Exercise overall responsibility for pre- and post-award administration of the department's $26M+ sponsored programs portfolio.
• Provide senior leadership and direct supervision of a multidisciplinary research administration team of 10 staff.
• Provide enterprise-level oversight and final departmental authority for all DOS sponsored program submissions.

Qualifications

• Master's degree (MBA/MPA or related field preferred).
• Bachelor's and 7-10 years of progressively responsible leadership experience in academic medical center research administration or equivalent combination of education and experience required.
• Expert knowledge of federal and sponsor regulations (e.g., NIH, NSF, FDA/IDE/IND), clinical research compliance (IRB/IACUC), and University/PSOM sponsored programs policies.
• Demonstrated success leading pre- and post-award administration, financial planning and analysis, and research operations at scale.
• Proven experience integrating research administration with clinical research finance and improving processes through KPIs and continuous improvement.
• Experience supervising managers and multidisciplinary teams.
• Exceptional communication, stakeholder management, and change leadership across faculty, divisional administrators, and central offices.

This position is contingent upon funding.