Program Director

Overview

PROGRAM DIRECTOR I – The University of Alabama at Birmingham

Position Summary: The Program Director I provides comprehensive administrative, operational, and programmatic leadership for the Nolan Research Group (NRG), a research enterprise encompassing multiple funded projects, personnel, and scholarly activities. The position coordinates research operations, manages personnel workflows, oversees grants and fiscal administration, supports strategic planning, and ensures effective internal and external coordination. This role serves as the primary administrative lead for the research group and partners closely with the Principal Investigator to ensure research activities are executed efficiently, compliantly, and in alignment with institutional and funder expectations.

• Program Administration and Research Operations: Directs day-to-day administrative operations of the research group, ensuring continuity across multiple projects and funding mechanisms. Establishes and maintains standardized operational workflows to support research productivity, accountability, and reporting. Coordinates project timelines, deliverables, and dependencies across the research portfolio. Identifies operational risks and implements mitigation strategies in collaboration with the Principal Investigator.
• Personnel Coordination and Workforce Management: Coordinates assignment and prioritization of administrative and programmatic tasks across postdoctoral fellows, research staff, trainees, and support personnel. Supports workforce planning, including workload balancing, role clarification, and succession planning. Facilitates onboarding, training logistics, and offboarding processes in coordination with departmental administration and human resources. Supports a professional and collaborative work environment consistent with institutional policies.
• Grants, Contracts, and Fiscal Administration: Oversees administrative and fiscal management of grants, contracts, and subawards, including budget tracking, effort allocation, invoicing, and reporting deadlines. Coordinates with institutional offices to ensure compliance with sponsor, institutional, and audit requirements (excluding IRB oversight). Supports development and submission of administrative components of grant proposals, renewals, and progress reports. Assists with financial forecasting and sustainability planning for the research portfolio.
• Meetings, Events, and Dissemination Support: Plans and coordinates research-related meetings, symposia, community engagement activities, training sessions, and dissemination events. Oversees logistical coordination for abstracts, manuscripts, presentations, and reports to ensure timely submission and dissemination. Maintains records of scholarly and dissemination activities for institutional and sponsor reporting.
• Principal Investigator Administrative Support: Manages scheduling, calendar coordination, and logistical planning related to research, administrative, and dissemination activities. Prepares meeting agendas, briefing materials, minutes, and action-item tracking. Provides operational input to support prioritization and alignment of activities across the research portfolio.

Performs other duties as assigned.

$47,665 – $77,455

Minimum Requirements: Bachelor’s degree in a related field and three (3) years of related experience required. Work experience may NOT substitute for education requirement.

UAB is an Equal Employment/Equal Educational Opportunity Institution dedicated to providing equal opportunities and equal access to all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin, sex (including pregnancy), genetic information, age, disability, and veteran's status. As required by Title IX, UAB prohibits sex discrimination in any education program or activity that it operates. Individuals may report concerns or questions to UAB's Assistant Vice President and Senior Title IX Coordinator.

The Title IX notice of nondiscrimination is located /titleix.

Primary

Location:

University

Job Category: Clerical & Administrative

Organization:  General Internal Med & Population Science

Employee Status: Regular

Shift: Day/1st Shift

Work Arrangement: Hybrid Eligible (final schedule to be determined by the department/hiring manager)