Assistant Director

A global higher education leader in innovative teaching, research and public service, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill consistently ranks as one of the nation's top public universities. Known for its beautiful campus, world-class medical care, commitment to the arts and top athletic programs, Carolina is an ideal place to teach, work and learn.

One of the best college towns and best places to live in the United States, Chapel Hill has diverse social, cultural, recreation and professional opportunities that span the campus and community.

University employees can choose from a wide range of professional training opportunities for career growth, skill development and lifelong learning and enjoy exclusive perks for numerous retail, restaurant and performing arts discounts, savings on local child care centers and special rates on select campus events. UNC-Chapel Hill offers full-time employees a comprehensive benefits package, paid leave, and a variety of health, life and retirement plans and additional programs that support a healthy work/life balance.

The UNC School of Medicine has a rich tradition of excellence and care. Our mission is to improve the health and wellbeing of North Carolinians, and others whom we serve. We accomplish this by providing leadership and excellence in the interrelated areas of patient care, education, and research. We strive to promote faculty, staff, and learner development in a diverse, respectful environment where our colleagues demonstrate professionalism, enhance learning, and create personal and professional sustainability. We optimize our partnership with the UNC Health System through close collaboration and commitment to service.
OUR VISION
Our vision is to be the nation's leading public school of medicine. We are ranked 2nd in primary care education among all US schools of medicine and 5th among public peers in NIH research funding. Our Allied Health Department is home to five top-ranked divisions, and we are home to 18 top-ranked clinical and basic science departments in NIH research funding.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to improve the health and well-being of North Carolinians and others whom we serve. We accomplish this by providing leadership and excellence in the interrelated areas of patient care, education, and research.
Patient Care: We will promote health and provide superb clinical care while maintaining our strong tradition of reaching underserved populations and reducing health disparities across North Carolina and beyond.
Education: We will prepare tomorrow's health care professionals and biomedical researchers by facilitating learning within innovative curricula and team-oriented interprofessional education. We will cultivate outstanding teaching and research faculty, and we will recruit outstanding students and trainees from highly diverse backgrounds to create a socially responsible, highly skilled workforce.
Research: We will develop and support a rich array of outstanding health sciences research programs, centers, and resources. We will provide infrastructure and opportunities for collaboration among disciplines throughout and beyond our University to support outstanding research. We will foster programs in the areas of basic, translational, mechanistic, and population research.

UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center ( LCCC) oversees and coordinates oncology clinical trial research for UNC School of Medicine and UNC Cancer Care. UNC Lineberger Clinical Research (CR) is responsible for organizing, managing, conducting, and supporting oncology clinical trials. The Assistant Director of Clinical Operations serves as a key member of CR non-faculty leadership overseeing the clinical operations unit responsible for oversight of clinical translational trials (e.g., specimen, population science, basic science). This position oversees LCCC CR strategic planning deliverables related to clinical trial accrual on clinical translational trials leading process improvement initiatives to increase clinical translational research accrual such as efforts focused on optimization of the use of clinical staff bandwidth, screening efforts, recruitment efforts, publicization of available clinical trials and diverse patient recruitment efforts.

This position leads collaborations with key teams including other functional groups (e.g., Regulatory, Sponsor Operations), translational core facilities, and UNC correlative laboratories. This position leads training of LCCC investigators and staff on clinical operations for clinical translational trials and develops and maintains standard operating procedures (SOPs), work instructions, and templates for clinical translational trials.

This position provides training and on-going mentorship to help the leaders and staff within the unit reach their full potential. It is responsible for recruiting appropriate individuals for the right roles, recognizing the need for talents and passions to collide. This position leads the building of a culture of trust, empathy, collaboration, and accountability within the unit.

This position continually steers and monitors the direction, goals, and needs of the clinical operations unit charged with overseeing clinical translational research. It oversees capacity planning and determines staffing levels needed to successfully deliver compliant services. This position leads development and maintenance of a standardized clinical trial complexity tool for workload planning (e.g., OPAL). This individual leads and continually re-evaluates the clinical translational career ladder. This individual troubleshoots all operational issues and optimizes efficiencies by identifying areas of need and leading process improvement initiatives. It collaborates with investigators and core facility directors to identify needs, develop expertise, improve operational capacity, and refine/develop/expand services offered. This position develops and maintains systems to oversee compliance of clinical translational research studies that do not qualify based on risk for monitoring and/or auditing. It monitors the clinical translational research portfolio and trial progress relative to established timelines and contractual obligations, facilitating timely resolution of sponsor concerns. The position is responsible for implementing report out systems on the clinical translational portfolio, academic impact/productivity, financial status, and staffing.

This position leads process improvement initiatives to optimize the interactions between UNC Hospital and LCCC CR infrastructure to facilitate operations of clinical translational trials. It aids with clinical translational research infrastructure expansion into offsite Cancer Clinics and UNC Hospital System network sites.

This individual is responsible for overseeing the operating budget of the clinical unit overseeing clinical translational research. This individual collaborates with the Director, Clinical Trial Activation to develop and continually refine cost structures and budget assumptions for clinical study operations, providing guidance and direction in negotiation of scope of work, timelines, budgets, and payment schedules. This individual assists with budget development for clinical operations budgets.

Relevant post-Baccalaureate degree required (or foreign degree equivalent); for candidates demonstrating comparable independent research productivity, will accept a relevant Bachelor's degree (or foreign degree equivalent) and 3 or more years of relevant experience in substitution. May require terminal degree and licensure.

In depth knowledge of, and skill in applying applicable clinical research regulatory requirements; i.e., Good Clinical Practice ( GCP), Food and Drug Administration ( FDA) regulations and International Conference on Harmonization ( ICH) Guidelines.

Possess excellent interpersonal skills including leadership, team building, motivation, communication, influencing, decision-making, political/cultural awareness, negotiation, trust building, conflict management and coaching. Possess a broad understanding of psychology, human behavior, organizational behavior, interpersonal relations, and communications. Ability to identify, build, maintain, motivate, lead, and inspire teams to achieve high team performance and to meet the project's objectives. Ability to create an environment that facilitates teamwork. Comfortable interacting with individuals at all levels of the organization including internal and external to UNC Lineberger. Candidate must enjoy working collaboratively with multidisciplinary groups of colleagues. Excellent customer service skills and good judgement required.

Strong organization and problem-solving skills required. Must enjoy leading a team and be able to direct the efforts of the functional group with minimal oversight from senior leadership. Demonstrated ability leading process improvement initiatives. Demonstrated ability analyzing trends and evaluating data to suggest process improvements. Strong software and computer skills, including MS Office applications required.

Previous experience working in clinical research at an academic medical center, or similar, required.

Demonstrated ability to train and/or teach individuals.

Background in oncology clinical research highly preferred.

Master's degree of public health ( MPH), business ( MBA), or science (MS), advanced clinical health science degree or life science PhD preferred. Prior supervisory experience preferred.

Lean Six Sigma preferred. Previous experience working for a comprehensive cancer center, preferred. Prior experience with OnCore preferred.

Certified clinical research professional ( CCRP) or similar, preferred.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is an equal opportunity and affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, color, disability, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or status as a protected veteran.