Research Specialist

Art and Wellness Enterprises • Alice, AR

23h • Onsite

About The Position

The Research Specialist supports Alice L. Walton School of Medicine’s commitment to ethical, high-quality research by providing research administration, regulatory support, investigator services, and program operations. The role serves as a key contact for faculty, students, research staff, institutional committees, external collaborators, sponsors, and federal agencies, helping ensure research activities are organized, responsive, ethical, and aligned with institutional standards.

The position supports development and operation of the Human Research Protection Program (HRPP), research administration infrastructure, federal and sponsor reporting processes, and investigator-facing tools and workflows. It supports submissions and committee processes, evaluates regulatory requirements, monitors research obligations, maintains documentation, implements review and oversight activities, and helps investigators navigate administrative and regulatory expectations throughout the research lifecycle. Success requires research administration and regulatory knowledge, attention to detail, sound judgment, collaboration, service orientation, and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic environment.

The role is based on-site in Bentonville, Arkansas, in a professional, climate-controlled office. The work schedule is Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., with occasional evening and weekend hours and a flexible schedule potentially required to meet business needs. Some local travel is required.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in health sciences, life sciences, public health, research administration, healthcare administration, education, business administration, or a related field.
• Four years of experience in research administration, regulatory coordination, research program support, grants support, academic administration, healthcare administration, or a related operational role.
• Ability to analyze regulatory issues, evaluate research risks, and make independent recommendations regarding research administration processes and requirements.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple workflows, deadlines, documents, and stakeholder requests.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including professional communication with internal and external stakeholders.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment, maintain confidentiality, follow established procedures, and escalate questions or concerns appropriately.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, calendar and meeting platforms, shared document systems, and project tracking tools.

Nice To Haves

• Certification or eligibility for certification such as Certified IRB Professional (CIP), Certified Research Administrator (CRA), or a similar research administration credential.
• Experience in an academic, healthcare, clinical research, medical school, IRB, HRPP, or grants administration setting.
• Experience supporting federal grants, multi-site studies, FDA-regulated research, reliance arrangements, or external IRB coordination.
• Demonstrated ability to interpret and apply research regulations, institutional policies, and sponsor requirements in support of research operations.
• Familiarity with 45 CFR 46, FDA human-subject regulations, HIPAA privacy considerations, conflict of interest processes, sponsor requirements, or AAHRPP-aligned HRPP standards.
• Experience with electronic IRB systems, ClinicalTrials.gov, federal reporting systems, CITI or equivalent training systems, or grant management platforms.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and manage day-to-day Office of Research operations, prioritizing activities, resolving operational issues, monitoring regulatory obligations, and maintaining research administration processes.
• Advise investigators, students, research staff, committees, sponsors, and external IRBs on research processes and complex regulatory requirements.
• Administer and improve HRPP operations, including intake, workflow design, submission and deadline tracking, reporting, metrics, operational tools, guidance documents, and standard operating procedures.
• Evaluate regulatory requirements and research risks, determine appropriate review pathways, and provide guidance on institutional, federal, sponsor, and ethical research requirements.
• Facilitate and review protocol development, IRB submissions, amendments, continuing reviews, reportable events, study closures, and reliance activities.
• Review research submissions for regulatory and administrative completeness and readiness, identify issues, recommend modifications, and resolve routine submission problems.
• Monitor investigator and key-personnel research requirements, identify deficiencies and risks, recommend corrective measures, and advise stakeholders on resolution strategies.
• Evaluate protocol deviations, complaints, and corrective or preventive action plans; assess regulatory implications, recommend resolutions, and escalate significant or high-risk matters.
• Maintain calendars and deadline trackers for IRB submissions, federal and sponsor reporting, ClinicalTrials.gov obligations, grant-related requirements, audits, inspections, and committee reviews.
• Coordinate federal and sponsor submissions, review documentation for accuracy and completeness, and advise on reporting obligations, award conditions, and risk mitigation.
• Consult on grant and award applications by evaluating human-subject protections, consent, privacy, data sharing, regulatory approvals, and post-award requirements.
• Develop and maintain investigator training materials, guidance, educational resources, and research communications.
• Maintain accurate records in electronic systems, shared drives, project management tools, and regulatory platforms, while protecting confidentiality.
• Lead or facilitate quality improvement, monitoring, auditing, and program assessment; analyze findings and trends, recommend improvements, and implement changes.
• Analyze research operations metrics, identify emerging risks and trends, and provide recommendations to leadership.
• Collaborate with legal, privacy, conflict of interest, clinical operations, finance, grants administration, academic leadership, and other stakeholders to resolve complex matters and support research objectives.
• Perform other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level