Manager, Research Support

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The Manager, Research Support provides program support to facilitate research. Furthermore, the Manager, Research Support oversees research operations to ensure efficiency and compliance with applicable regulations. 

CORE JOB FUNCTIONS

Contributes to applied research activities by collecting and analyzing data and maintaining databases. Understands and interprets research protocols and procedures and ensures all research is undertaken according to best practices. Provides guidance, mentorship, and oversight to junior research staff and students. Conducts meetings with research and other staff, outside agencies, and other applicable organizations and ensures functions are coordinated in a timely and accurate manner. Provides technical and program support and resolves operational problems. Assists in the preparation and publication of manuscripts and other lab-related documents and reports. Stays abreast of developments in the field which may impact department functions. Advances expertise through continued education, training, and research. Adheres to University and unit-level policies and procedures and safeguards University assets.

CORE QUALIFICATIONS

Education:

Bachelor’s Degree in relevant field (minimum)

Master’s degree or higher in a related field (e.g., psychology, public health, implementation science, prevention science) preferred

Certification and Licensing:

Not Applicable

Experience:

Minimum 3 years of relevant experience

Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes:

Knowledge of management principles. Ability to direct, manage, implement, and evaluate research team operations. Ability to establish research team goals and objectives that support the strategic plan for the team. Ability to effectively plan, delegate and/or supervise the work of others. Ability to lead, motivate, develop, and train others.

DEPARTMENT ADDENDUM

Department Specific Functions

The manager will support research activities under the direction of the principal investigator (Audrey Harkness, PhD) or designee of the PI. Dr. Harkness’ research team is focused on addressing HIV and behavioral health (mental health/substance use) disparities affecting key populations affected by the HIV epidemic, with a focus on Latino MSM and using implementation science to achieve HIV health equity.

The position is full-time and in-person at the School of Nursing and Health Studies at the Coral Gables campus of University of Miami.

Ongoing projects in the lab which the manager would support are:

Dime Más: This project is a pilot clinical trial (funded by a K23). We are comparing three conditions to determine which strategy is most promising for improving the reach of PrEP, HIV testing, and behavioral health treatment to Latino MSM. The first condition is “Dime Más” (experimental condition). Participants who are randomized to Dime Más receive intensive outreach from our community partner. Our research team provides biweekly supervision to our community partner who delivers Dime Más to participants. The second condition is “Oye Miami” (another experimental condition). Oye Miami is a website that shows real stories of local Latino MSM talking about their experiences with PrEP, HIV testing, or behavioral health services. The goal of the website is to normalize using these services. The third condition is a referral sheet (control condition). We started recruitment for this trial in January 2024 and aim to complete the study within one year. JUNTOS Referral Network: JUNTOS is a website/app that is a centralized database of South Florida HIV prevention and treatment services, tailored to the needs of Latino MSM. We have a new grant (R34) to pilot test JUNTOS as an implementation strategy to improve the reach of HIV prevention and treatment services to Latino MSM. For the pilot, we are recruiting HIV test counselors and will randomly assign them to either get the JUNTOS tool (experimental condition) or a referral list (control condition). We will assess whether there is a difference in PrEP, PEP, and HIV treatment referral rates for Latino MSM clients of HIV test counselors in the two conditions. Within My Reach / Hombre a Hombre: This is a project that was initiated by our Community Advisory Board. We adapted the original evidence-based relationship education program (Within My Reach) to meet the needs of Latino sexual minority men. We pilot tested the adapted intervention (Hombre a Hombre) in Fall 2023 and we are working, with colleagues at the University of Denver, on next steps (e.g., further evaluation, grant submission). SOMOS Alianza: This project is a strategic alliance of implementers, researchers, and community members in Miami, Orlando, and San Juan. This project was previously supported by an Ending the HIV Epidemic supplement from NIH but is not currently grant funded. We are maintaining the network via quarterly zoom meetings and ongoing email coordination and exploring ways to support this network longer-term. LGBTQ-Affirmative CBT Implementation Trial. Dr. Harkness is a member of the training team of an LGBTQ-affirmative CBT implementation trial (PI: Pachankis, Yale University). This involves training individuals in LGBTQ-affirmative CBT to evaluate the best strategies for implementing this evidence-based intervention. Equitable Implementation Science Core of the Center for HIV and Research in Mental Health. Dr. Harkness is the Director of the Equitable Implementation Science Core. The core provides consultations and support to HIV/mental health investigators within UM and across South Florida. The core also provides training and educational activities, including multi-day seminars in equitable implementation science for researchers and community partners. Overall REACH Equity team: Our team is very active and includes students and staff. We have ongoing grant submissions, are submitting manuscripts based on ongoing and prior projects, and have an active Community Advisory Board with whom we meet once a month. Dr. Harkness is also involved as a Co-Investigator or collaborator on additional projects, including the SGM SOL study (examining cardiovascular disparities among Latino SGM communities), a study examining HIV testing implementation in emergency departments, and others. Opportunities to support these other projects in addition to the projects listed above are likely.

Primary duties and responsibilities:

Overall project management across the lab (e.g., tracking recruitment milestones, assisting with NIH progress reports, tracking overall project progress and coordinating team members to ensure timely completion of projects) Attending weekly lab meetings and project-specific meetings and supervising staff in preparing agendas and minutes for these meetings. The manager may also assist with running meetings, preparing agendas and minutes when needed. Holding weekly group or individual staff meetings to provide overall supervision to research team members Attending/leading meetings with community partners for ongoing projects or building new relationships with new community partners. Facilitating transitions between staff (e.g., developing job postings for new research assistants, reviewing applications, helping with hiring and training research assistants in the lab) Completing weekly individual meetings with PI to report on overall study progress, as needed Providing staff supervision (e.g., staff reviews, supervision, approval of time off) Preparing materials for IRB review, processing approved materials, and supervising other team members on this. Ensuring team members’ compliance with IRB approved protocols and working with PI to report non-compliance and address through corrective action plans. Leading “root cause analysis” discussions with team members if non-compliance occurs and developing corrective action plans as needed. Developing and providing feedback on SOPs for studies, projects, and the lab. Ensuring team members’ compliance with SOPs and supervising updates to SOPs based on emerging issues. Supervising other team members’ recruitment and retention efforts (e.g., problem solving recruitment barriers, creating actionable recruitment plans, etc.). The hire may also assist directly with these efforts, as needed. Identifying potential measures for studies and problem-solving ways to access them if need be. Training team members in programming surveys in REDCap and checking programmed surveys to ensure their accuracy and functioning. This may also involve directly programming when needed. Supporting or potentially supervising qualitative analyses and data cleaning. Developing new and scaffolding old organizational systems and infrastructure for the lab and ensuring consistent use of these systems among team members. Supporting or potentially supervising data cleaning of quantitative data (e.g., preparing scoring guidelines / checking other team members’ development of scoring guidelines, checking syntax for data cleaning, working with data analysts to ensure data is cleaned properly, etc.). Managing petty cash for the lab (e.g., meeting with SONHS finance to ensure petty cash is accurate at all times, submitting reimbursements to SONHS finance, tracking reimbursements, administering participant payments, providing annual reports to UM on payments and petty cash) Assisting with setting up consultant and vendor agreements for the lab (e.g., preparing paperwork, coordinating with finance and PI to ensure payments are sent as planned by the lab) Supporting manuscript development and submission processes. Supporting grant development and submissions (e.g., preparing sections of grants, coordinating multiple Co-I’s on a grant submission, working with finance to assist with administrative side of grant submission, etc.) Supporting adherence to School of Nursing and Health Studies Quality Assurance procedures for human subjects research Supporting collaborations with other research teams, schools, universities, partners, or investigators.

Department Specific Qualifications

Education:

See above

Certification and Licensing:

See above

Experience:

Prior experience coordinating NIH funded research studies Prior experience with managing large, complex projects involving multiple team members and/or working in a research lab Experience programming data collection instruments in REDCap Experience managing IRB for studies (e.g., submitting, processing approvals, coordinating with IRB) Experience with supervising students (undergraduate and/or graduate) or staff (research assistants, research coordinators, etc.) Experience with managing private and confidential data Experience with recruiting participants from underserved and marginalized backgrounds Experience with supporting qualitative or quantitative analyses

Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes:

Skills in managing/supervising other team members to ensure projects are completed in a timely manner Detail oriented and methodical Excellent time management and general organizational skills Ability to analyze, organize, and prioritize own and others’ work under pressure while meeting multiple concurrent deadlines Ability to process and handle confidential information with discretion (and supervise others in doing the same) Ability to work in a collaborative environment Proactive and solutions oriented Can work well in a fast-paced environment, must be highly flexible and adaptable

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Job Status:

Full time

Employee Type:

Staff

Pay Grade:

A10

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