Senior Vice President – Health Sciences Research - Chicago

NORC at the University of Chicago • Chicago, IL

4d • Hybrid

About The Position

NORC at the University of Chicago is seeking a Senior Vice President (SVP) for Health Sciences to provide overall leadership and direction for the Health Sciences department. This role is part of the organization’s senior leadership team within the Health Group (HG) division. The SVP will report to the Executive Vice President and Chief Research Officer for HG and will be accountable for advancing NORC’s mission and goals by shaping department strategy, leading and managing client relationships, maintaining the current portfolio, talent retention and acquisition, building new business, and ensuring the financial performance of the department. The SVP will also be responsible for fostering an excellent employee experience for the department's researchers. The SVP will partner closely with health division department heads, other department leaders, NORC’s Executive Council, NORC Research Science, Society Economics and Global Research, and NORC’s technology and operations teams. The SVP will lead a department of approximately 80 professional research staff, with 4-6 direct reports, primarily Vice Presidents and Associate Directors. This is an opportunity for a leader to join the senior leadership team of a nationally renowned organization and help shape NORC’s future. The department's work spans large, complex federal research programs; longitudinal health studies; administrative health data systems; data access initiatives; implementation science; patient-centered outcomes research; patient safety; health informatics; and aging research. The department utilizes innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence, linked data, and modern research platforms. The role requires a strategic, collaborative, and decisive leader who can maintain scientific excellence while navigating changing client priorities, budgets, technological changes, and new market opportunities. The Health Sciences department brings together health expertise, research methods, program delivery, and data capabilities to help clients generate and apply evidence that improves health and health systems. The department serves federal and non-federal clients including NIH, AHRQ, ASPE, PCORI, foundations, academic partners, and state and local entities. The portfolio includes significant programs and research platforms. The department also houses the Health Implementation Science Center. The next SVP must respond to a changing federal procurement environment, pressure on program scope and budgets, evolving technology and client expectations, the need for portfolio diversification, and the importance of sustaining staff engagement and leadership pipelines.

Requirements

• Advanced degree in public health, health services research, health policy, epidemiology, sociology, economics, psychology, medicine, nursing, biomedical informatics, implementation science, or a related field.
• At least 15 years of progressively increasing leadership responsibilities in research, academic, government, nonprofit, health system, consulting, or related environment.
• Nationally recognized expertise in one or more areas relevant to NORC Health Sciences, demonstrated through significant research, program leadership, publications, presentations, professional service, or policy and practice impact.
• Proven success leading large, multidisciplinary research portfolios, organizations, or programs with responsibility for scientific quality, client relationships, delivery, budgets, and staff.
• Demonstrated success identifying, pursuing, winning, and delivering complex research or analytic work, from a diversified set of funders that includes federal contracts, and grant-funded research.
• Experience building durable relationships with senior clients, funders, investigators, partners, and other stakeholders.
• Strong financial and operational leadership, including budgeting, forecasting, resource allocation, risk management, and performance accountability.
• Experience recruiting, developing, mentoring, and retaining senior professionals and diverse, high-performing teams.
• Exceptional communication and relationship-building skills, with the ability to work effectively across scientific, programmatic, technical, operational, executive, and external audiences.
• Leadership approach characterized by scientific integrity, collegiality, transparency, accountability, sound judgment, decisiveness, adaptability, and commitment to NORC’s mission.
• Qualified applicants must be eligible to work in the U.S.
• We regret that we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this position.

Nice To Haves

• Leadership of major work for NIH, AHRQ, ASPE, PCORI, or related federal and non-federal health research clients.
• Experience with large longitudinal studies, health data platforms, implementation science, health informatics, patient-centered outcomes research, evidence synthesis, data linkage, administrative or clinical data, or AI-enabled research.
• Experience guiding organizations through market, funding, technological, or structural change.
• A record of expanding into new clients, sectors, methods, or partnership models while maintaining a strong core portfolio.
• Experience leading geographically distributed teams and building collaboration across organizational boundaries.
• Established relationships in relevant health research, policy, data, and professional communities.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Health Sciences department with overall accountability for strategy, client relationships, project delivery, financial and operational performance, business development, risk management, staffing, and organizational health, including oversight of budgets, forecasts, resource allocation, and performance against plan.
• Develop and champion a long-term department strategy that strengthens the established portfolio, diversifies the client and funding base, and positions NORC for growth across federal, state, and local, foundation, academic, commercial, and nonprofit markets.
• Maintain trusted senior relationships with contracting officers, program officials, scientific leaders, partners, and other key stakeholders, and ensure disciplined account planning for priority clients.
• Provide senior oversight for complex, multidisciplinary projects, ensuring scientific quality, client satisfaction, responsible fiscal management, timely delivery, and effective risk escalation.
• Lead department-based business development, including market and client intelligence, opportunity identification, capture strategy, proposal leadership, partnership formation, and transition from award to delivery.
• Partner with the Health Division EVP on enterprise and cross-department bids, strategic investments, program-area growth plans, speculative hiring, and capabilities that cut across the health portfolio.
• Advance business development in areas such as AI-enabled research operations, health data integration and dissemination, implementation science, health informatics, longitudinal research, evidence synthesis, and privacy-conscious use of health survey, healthcare claims, administrative and clinical data.
• Recruit, develop, mentor, evaluate, and retain a high-performing and inclusive leadership team and workforce; strengthen succession planning and create visible pathways for emerging leaders.
• Foster a collegial, transparent, accountable, and collaborative culture across a geographically distributed department, with effective communication and intentional staff engagement.
• Delegate decisions appropriately to vice presidents, associate directors, and project leaders while maintaining clear accountability, decision rights, and escalation pathways.
• Represent NORC externally as a visible thought leader through client engagement, professional service, publications, presentations, partnerships, and participation in relevant scientific and policy communities.
• Contribute actively to NORC-wide strategy, executive decision-making, scientific quality, workforce development, compliance, innovation, and continuous improvement.

Benefits

• Generously subsidized health insurance, effective on the first day of employment
• Dental and vision insurance
• A defined contribution retirement program, along with a separate voluntary 403(b) retirement program
• Group life insurance, long-term and short-term disability insurance
• Benefits that promote work/life balance, including generous paid time off, holidays; paid parental leave, bereavement leave, tuition assistance, and an Employee Assistance Program (EAP).
• This role is bonus eligible.

What This Job Offers

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