Senior Research Operations Manager, Construction Industry Institute

University of Texas at Austin • Austin, TX

7d • Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Research Operations Manager serves as the organizational backbone of the Construction Industry Institute’s research program, working closely with the Director of Research to coordinate the interfaces, processes, data, and communications that connect projects, research teams, and CII leadership. The role has independent ownership of contracting and payment processes and regularly interfaces with industry volunteers, member representatives, and contracted academic researchers. It also involves attending a handful of CII events each year.

The position coordinates a portfolio of concurrent research projects and maintains program-level schedules, data repositories, reports, workflows, budgets, and stakeholder communications. It supports research teams and governance groups without directly managing the technical research work. Work is performed in a standard office environment, with occasional work outside standard business hours during peak times. Standard hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, communications, or a related field; relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.
• Five years of experience in management, project/program coordination, research administration, or program support.
• Strong organizational skills and ability to reliably track multiple concurrent tasks and deadlines.
• Data-oriented mindset, attention to detail, and follow-through.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills for coordinating with varied stakeholders.
• Service-oriented mindset.
• Proficiency in Excel or spreadsheet tools for data organization and tracking.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate research project lifecycles, including team formation, Requests for Qualifications, kickoffs, progress updates, closeout, and event presentations, without managing the technical research work.
• Maintain a master calendar and schedule for projects, committee meetings, and milestone events.
• Track project status, timelines, and dependencies; identify and escalate risks or resource conflicts.
• Help ensure projects follow the appropriate structure, scope, and process throughout their lifecycle.
• Maintain program data repositories, including attendance, budgets, team rosters, participation records, and historical project data.
• Build and maintain reports and dashboards on program status, engagement, and performance metrics.
• Design and maintain workflows and role/responsibility frameworks, such as RACI-style matrices.
• Support program budget development; monitor expenditures, manage reconciliations, maintain historical cost data, and support forecasting.
• Prepare budget reports for leadership and coordinate with financial services staff on accurate, timely reporting.
• Manage initiation and completion of agreements with external partners and contractors.
• Coordinate with internal UT offices to ensure contracts comply with institutional requirements.
• Identify and propose improvements to contracting and payment workflows.
• Support collaboration among sponsored research teams, member volunteers, and governance and oversight groups.
• Organize meetings and committee activities, including agendas, materials, and follow-up documentation.
• Serve as a point of contact among academic partners, industry stakeholders, and program leadership.
• Prepare status reports and leadership and oversight materials to support decision-making.
• Coordinate stakeholder communications, including updates, announcements, and public-facing content.
• Establish and maintain a consistent cadence and process for program communications.
• Coordinate review and publication of program deliverables and content.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

What This Job Offers

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