Administrative Director - Division of Animal Resources, Emory School of Medicine

Emory•Atlanta, GA

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Administrative Director is a senior administrative leader in Emory University's Division of Animal Resources (DAR), which supports the university's research mission through animal care, veterinary services, and research support. DAR is AAALAC-accredited and serves more than 250 investigators across 12 research facilities, supporting up to 16 species. The Director reports directly to the DAR Executive Director and has a dotted-line reporting relationship to the Senior Executive Administrator for Research Administration within the School of Medicine (SOM). The position provides division-wide leadership and oversight of administrative services, workforce administration, operational support processes, IT operations, and administrative infrastructure. The Director establishes service standards, develops and implements policies and procedures, supervises assigned administrative personnel, and leads operational improvements across DAR facilities and units. The role works with DAR leadership, the DAR Finance team, SOM leadership, and institutional partners to align administrative and operational priorities with strategic goals, staffing needs, and available resources. Responsibilities include modernizing and standardizing administrative processes; supporting workforce planning and employee development in partnership with SOM Human Resources; leading cross-functional improvement initiatives and special projects; coordinating administrative support for accreditation, inspections, and compliance; ensuring accurate administrative data and service documentation; and overseeing assigned unit budgets. Financial reporting, forecasting, reconciliations, and financial analysis remain the responsibility of the DAR Finance team. The position is generally performed in person at an Emory University location; remote-work days may be granted at department discretion, and Emory may change remote-work status with notice.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in business administration, healthcare administration, public administration, human resources, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience.
Seven years of progressively responsible administrative or operational management experience, including supervisory experience.
Experience overseeing administrative operations, workforce management, process improvement, and organizational policies and procedures.

Nice To Haves

Experience leading complex administrative operations in an academic, research, healthcare, or similarly regulated environment.
Demonstrated success guiding teams through organizational change and modernization while maintaining employee engagement and morale.
Demonstrated ability to supervise staff, lead cross-functional initiatives, improve processes, and work effectively with senior operational and institutional leaders.
Experience with workforce administration and human resources, institutional compliance documentation, administrative systems, and operational data governance.
Experience overseeing unit-level budgets and collaborating with a centralized or dedicated finance team.
Experience with federal award requirements and animal research grant compliance.

Responsibilities

Lead and oversee division-wide administrative services, IT operations, and operational support functions.
Modernize and automate administrative processes, evaluate and implement solutions, support adoption, and measure outcomes.
Establish service standards, accountability measures, response expectations, and escalation procedures for administrative support.
Develop and implement standardized administrative policies, procedures, records management practices, and workflows.
Oversee administrative coordination of billing inputs, invoicing documentation, animal purchasing requests, supply chain activity, and workspace needs, collaborating with Finance on transactions and controls.
Supervise, develop, and evaluate assigned administrative staff; establish expectations, delegate responsibilities, and build team capacity and accountability.
Oversee workforce administration with SOM Human Resources, including recruitment, onboarding, employee transitions, personnel documentation, and performance-management workflows.
Advise DAR leadership on staffing, employee development, compensation recommendations, promotions, organizational changes, engagement, and retention.
Serve as a liaison among DAR leadership, operational managers, and SOM Human Resources to address workforce issues and personnel decisions.
Develop strategies and procedures for employee engagement, cross-training, workforce continuity, and retention; communicate administrative decisions, policy updates, and organizational changes.
Translate strategic priorities into administrative and operational improvement plans with DAR and SOM leadership.
Lead cross-functional process improvement initiatives, evaluate workload and service trends, and recommend improvements to staffing coverage, service delivery, and resource use.
Oversee assigned special projects, change-management activities, and division-wide administrative initiatives.
Support operational readiness, space coordination, and administrative infrastructure planning with veterinary, animal care, facilities, and institutional partners.
Lead process documentation, knowledge transfer, and cross-training to standardize workflows and support operational continuity.
Coordinate administrative documentation and follow-up for AAALAC accreditation, inspections, annual reports, and related requirements with responsible leaders.
Establish and monitor administrative controls, recordkeeping standards, SOPs, and documentation practices; identify process gaps and coordinate corrective actions.
Ensure accuracy, consistency, access, and documentation of administrative data, including census and service activity records; oversee master files, validation protocols, reporting-field standards, and documentation quality.
Coordinate with the DAR Finance team on operational data and service documentation that support billing, reporting, budget planning, and financial analysis.
Oversee assigned unit budgets by monitoring spending against approved allocations, reviewing budget-to-actual information from Finance, and addressing operational variances with unit managers.
Provide staffing, workload, and operational assumptions to inform resource planning and budget development.
Perform other duties as assigned.