Program Manager Division of Rheumatology and Immunology - Onsite, Nashville

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Organization:

DE/RH Admin Core

Job Summary:

• Organization:
• Rheumatology & Immunology

• Job Summary:
• The Division of Rheumatology and Immunology is seeking a Program Manager to serve as a central operational partner for the division’s research, education, and academic programs. Working closely with the Division Director, Division Administrator, faculty, fellowship leadership, clinical leadership, and institutional partners, the Program Manager will coordinate the systems, schedules, documents, and communications needed to support a growing academic division.

This position is the division’s primary operational point person for research administration and will support both basic scientists and physician-scientists across their research portfolios. The Program Manager will monitor grant activity, coordinating contract and agreement workflows, maintain clear ownership of deadlines and action items, facilitate timely handoffs, and use standardized shared tracking and document-management processes, and ensure timely completion of administrative requirements across the research enterprise.

On-site requirement: The Program Manager is required to work on-site a minimum of four days each week. Additional on-site presence may be required based on faculty or trainee needs, guest visits, division events, space coordination, and other operational priorities. Regular office presence is an essential function of the role because the position coordinates research and education strategy, facilitates real-time communication, and serves as a visible point of contact across the division.

This is an office-centered program-management role. A minimum of four full days per week on-site is required to support research and education coordination, faculty and trainee access, grants-management communication, event and visitor logistics, and day-to-day operational needs. Any remote work arrangement must remain consistent with this minimum on-site requirement and operational needs of the division.

Key Responsibilities:

Research Portfolio, Grants, and Research Agreements

· Oversee administrative coordination of research portfolios for the division’s basic scientists and physician-scientists, maintaining visibility of active and planned submissions, awards, reporting milestones, financial-review needs, personnel/effort issues, and closeout requirements.

· Serve as the division’s primary contact person for coordination with T32 leadership, Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) pre-award; OSP post-award and IPA coordination and Clinical Trials Invoicing - while maintaining appropriate communication with the Division Director, Division Administrator and Principal Investigators.

· Maintain a standardized shared grant tracker with the responsible owner, internal and sponsor deadlines, status, required next action, reporting milestones, and unresolved issues for each sponsored project.

· Establish and maintain formal reminder and follow-up workflows for grant submissions, Just-in-Time requests, RPPRs and other reports, award actions, effort-related requirements, invoicing or receivable questions, and closeout activities.

· Support routine review of grant financial and burn-rate status by ensuring that required information and follow-up items are visible to the appropriate PI, Division Administrator, OSP/post-award partners, and other responsible parties. The Program Manager coordinates the process but does not replace institutional financial or compliance authority.

· Maintain current reusable research documents and shared resources, such as Facilities and Equipment documents, and supporting documents when appropriate, templates, institutional information, and other commonly requested grant materials.

· Serve as the division's central coordinator for research-related agreements, including MTAs, DUAs, CDAs, service agreements, and other research contracts. Track status, facilitate required institutional reviews and signatures, coordinate communications among investigators and institutional offices, maintain records of executed agreements, and proactively follow up to prevent delays.

· Coordinate communication among faculty, OSP, financial and invoicing partners, and division leadership; document unresolved items and escalate issues when deadlines, financial issues, or responsibilities are unclear.

· Develop standard operating procedures for recurring research-administration processes.

· Coordinate onboarding of new research personnel with respect to project assignments, effort documentation, and required research training.

Research and Education Strategy Coordination

· Partner with the Division Director and Division Administrator to coordinate operational implementation of the division’s research and education strategy and growth priorities.

· Communicate at least weekly with the Clinical Director and Fellowship Program Director(s) to identify upcoming needs, deadlines, scheduling issues, faculty or trainee activities, and items requiring division-level coordination.

· Maintain calendars and calendar invitations for recurring and strategic division meetings, research and education activities, faculty meetings, program reviews, and other assigned events; ensure invitations contain accurate logistics, materials, and updates.

· Facilitate communication and scheduling for faculty serving as society leads or in major professional-society roles, including coordination of meetings, deadlines, visiting speakers, and division activities related to those responsibilities.

· Support coordination of trainee and faculty research activities, educational programming, and cross-functional initiatives that require communication among investigators, clinical leaders, fellowship leadership, and administrative partners.

Faculty, Guest, and Division Program Coordination

· Organize guest, recruiting, and visiting-professor visits, including invitations, itineraries, faculty meetings, conference schedules, rooms, audiovisual needs, meals or related logistics, and communication with hosts and guests.

· Coordinate division events, retreats, research or education conferences, faculty activities, recruitment-related events, and other special programs from planning through execution and follow-up.

· Manage division space requests and related coordination, maintaining visibility of office, research, meeting, and shared-space needs and working with the Division Administrator and appropriate institutional partners to resolve requests.

· Manage reimbursement requests and associated documentation for assigned faculty, guests, trainees, and division activities in accordance with institutional requirements; track outstanding submissions and resolve missing information promptly.

Process Management, Communication, and Continuous Improvement

· Use standardized workflows, checklists, shared calendars, trackers, and centralized document repositories for recurring research and education processes so that critical information remains accessible to the division rather than dependent on one individual’s email or files.

· For high-risk or deadline-driven activities, clearly identify who is responsible for preparing, reviewing, approving, executing, and monitoring the action; and confirm completion.

· Reduce unnecessary waiting, dupli