Program Director- Division of Animal Resources, School of Medicine

Emory•Atlanta, GA

About The Position

The Division of Animal Resources (DAR) supports Emory University’s research mission by providing comprehensive animal care, veterinary services, and program oversight across twelve research facilities totaling more than 200,000 gross square feet. DAR supports over 250 investigators and up to 16 species, delivering specialized services including breeding, aquatics, diagnostics, surgery, ABSL3, behavioral support, and logistics. An AAALAC-accredited unit with a $16M operating budget supporting a $215M research portfolio, DAR partners with faculty and institutional leadership to ensure animal welfare, regulatory compliance, and reliable infrastructure in support of high-quality research across Emory University. This position serves as an administrative leader for the Division of Animal Resources (DAR), providing oversight of administrative processes and functions including related SOPs, compliance, and interfacing with SOM centralized human resources and finance. In partnership with School of Medicine (SOM) and DAR leadership, accountable for ensuring that administrative systems, workforce processes, regulatory documentation, and data governance structures support DAR’s accreditation status, institutional accountability, and research mission across its multi-facility program.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in a discipline related to program work and seven years of related experience which includes two years at a management level, OR an equivalent combination of education, experience, and training.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting principal investigators, research administrators, veterinary staff, and institutional leadership, with a track record of building collaborative relationships across operational and scientific teams
Demonstrated ability to develop strong, and capable staff who can manage the business processes of their functional areas with a high level of independence but also with an awareness and ability to function within a cohesive team.

Responsibilities

Directs the strategic planning, development and implementation of a large and complex program or of several smaller programs.
Plans, administers and monitors program budgets.
Develops short and long term goals and objectives.
Oversees related special projects.
May represent the program in various national and international settings.
May manage the solicitation of funding from foundation, corporate, individual and governmental donors.
Collaborates with and seeks the support of representatives from other organizations.
Establishes and administers policies and procedures.
Supervises staff.
Performs related responsibilities as required.
Oversees DAR-wide administrative operations, ensuring SOPs and standardized workflows for internal and external customer service, billing, census management, invoicing, supply chain coordination, workspace coordination and space management in partnership with SOM, maintenance of the workplace environment and protocol documentation to support consistent and timely service delivery across units.
Promote a service-oriented culture across DAR’s administrative functions, ensuring timely, responsive and solutions-focused support to investigators, research staff, veterinary teams and institutional partners.
Establish clear service standards, response benchmarks and escalation pathways to ensure consistent, transparent and accountable service delivery across all facilities.
Maintain and continuously improve administrative SOPs, workflows, and documentation standards to support compliance, audit readiness, and process optimization; ensure the integrity and organization of division-wide records and administrative systems, and support implementation of new tools that strengthen DAR infrastructure.
Support operational readiness by coordinating equipment lifecycle tracking, emergency and inspection preparedness, and cross-facility quality assurance initiatives.
Ensure reporting compliance with the Animal Welfare Act (PL 89-544), PHS Policy, OMB Uniform Guidance, and related institutional requirements, in partnership with DAR leadership.
Assist in preparing annual reports, AAALAC accreditation materials, including program descriptions, facility level documentation, and inspection readiness tasks; coordinate documentation follow-up across facilities.
Provides for internal controls and business processes.
Direct internal administrative compliance monitoring processes to ensure documentation accuracy, census reporting reliability, service billing reliability, and inspection readiness.
Align with SOM centralized structure for oversight of administrative human resources functions, including hiring and onboarding coordination, documentation standards, performance management processes, and employee development, ensuring adherence to DAR and Emory policies and procedures.
Partner with SOM and DAR leadership to support staff and ensure timely escalation of personnel issues or risks that may impact the division or the university.
Supervise administrative staff and establish performance expectations, accountability frameworks, and professional development plans.
Working with SOM leadership and in conjunction with the DAR Director of Finance, align with SOM budget expectations and requirements and any SOM finance policies.
Project and evaluate census and service activity volumes, determine metric-based staffing needs, refine workload indicators and determine infrastructure needs -- to inform resource planning, operational adjustments, and staffing recommendations for DAR leadership.
Oversee DAR’s administrative data governance framework to ensure accuracy, consistency, auditability, defensibility and alignment with reporting and billing requirements.
Provide leadership and oversight of database structures, reporting fields and masterfile data integrity.
Facilitate communication and alignment among SOM and DAR leadership, veterinary teams, and institutional partners regarding administrative standards and compliance expectations.