Chief Operating Officer - School of Medicine / Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine is a premier academic medical center located in the heart of Richmond. Accounting for almost half of VCU’s sponsored research, the School of Medicine is internationally recognized for patient care and education. All full-time university staff are eligible for our generous benefits package that includes choices for health, vision, and dental coverage, life-insurance, short and long-term disability coverage, retirement planning, tax-deferred annuity and cash match programs, flexible spending accounts, tuition benefits, significant paid-time off, 12 paid holidays, and more.  Explore our benefits further here: https://hr.vcu.edu/current-employees/benefits/university-and-academic-professional-benefits/

Summary

The Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health is seeking a highly qualified and skilled candidate for a Chief Operating Officer (COO).  The COO will report to the Director of the Institute.  The principal role of the COO is to execute the strategic operations related to the implementation of the plan to translate the vision for the institute into an actionable set of activities and to coordinate the implementation of these activities.  The COO, along with the Director, is directly responsible for the operational success of the institute in fully realizing its mission and strategic initiatives as a world-class research and clinical institute.  The COO provides constructive and forward-thinking leadership for all business-related functions of the institute.  All administrative units report up through this position, who will provide leadership and oversight in the areas of finance and grants administration, human resources, clinical research, affiliates and partnerships, informatics/data analysis, shared resources, and marketing/communications/public relations. This position serves on the institute’s senior leadership committees which includes direct accountability to the institute’s Oversight Committee and managing the structure and organization of the Steering Committee.  The COO assists in developing, assessing, and implementing the overall strategic vision and direction of the management of the institute.  This strategic partnership with the institute’s director will provide metrics for assessment, establishment of timelines, and milestones for key objectives for the institute.

Duties and Responsibilities

Strategic Planning 
-- Participate in strategic planning including the design of new programs, facilities and research initiatives
-- Participate in recruitment of investigators and member scientists to the Liver Institute, including guidance on the Institute’s financial and space commitments and other resources in support of recruits
-- Provide leadership and guidance to the oversight committee, the steering committee (will chair this committee when the director is unavailable for any reason), and the external advisory committee
-- Provide strategic partnership with the School of Medicine Development office, VCU Development Office and VCU’s Legal and Government Relations staff with lobbying efforts to legislatures and state/local government boards
-- Work with the chief scientific officer, chief clinical officer and chief technology officer to oversee implementation of the strategic plan and integration of clinical care and research
-- Oversee recruitment and activities of the business development officer who will oversee (1) new clinical referral lines working in conjunction with Hume-Lee center, Pauley Heart center and other relevant entities, and (2) new external collaborations to establish specific centers of excellence within the institute etc.
-- Will support the director and represent the institute in its external collaborations including but not limited to device and pharmaceutical industry, clinical trial organizations, federal agencies in the USA and globally, WHO and other global organizations, external academic collaborations and an academic research organization as needed
-- Support the director in preparation of reports to VCU leadership and to the external advisory committee
-- Oversee the organization of annual external advisory committee and academic events
-- Periodically evaluate the institute’s program services, shared resources, staffing and recruitments for alignment within the strategic plan
-- Oversee development of marketing and communication strategies to build the institute’s awareness regionally and nationally, as well as in the local community
-- Measure progress in achieving targeted performance outcomes and meeting strategic and operational goals-- Participate in strategic planning including the design of new programs, facilities and research initiatives

Research and Grant Administration
-- Develop and maintain infrastructure to support the institute’s mission
-- Develop the institute’s research plan to include faculty recruitment and the setup of new clinical and research labs
-- Facilitate development and growth of collaborative research programs
-- Facilitate operations and development of shared resource facilities
-- Oversee the project management for the institute’s support grant, training grants, and other federally funded grants, including preparing applications and reports
-- Provide leadership of staff to support pre and post-award grants management
-- Oversee the tracking function and billing for all research grants and programs
-- Provide leadership of staff to support clinical research administration
-- Ensure compliance to federal, state and VCU research standards

Financial Management
-- Develop and control the institute’s operational/capital budgets
-- Provide fiscal accountability and stewardship to the Oversight Committee as outlined in the gift agreement
-- Oversee disbursements from Rockefeller Capital Management (RCM) to the institute with full transparency to the institute’s director and oversight committee on the current use of funds, ensuring that spending aligns with donor intent
-- Provide fiscal oversight for all funding sources, including state, institutional, donor, contract and grants

Operations and Administrative Management
-- Oversee the management of the institute’s physical facilities and equipment
-- Oversee HR functions, staffing and recruitment of faculty and staff
-- Oversight for the institute’s program activities, such as seminars, events, retreats, etc.
-- Oversight for network and desktop support, office staff support and other central support functions

Development/MCV Foundation Relations 
-- Manage and coordinate the relationship with the Rockefeller Capital Management group
-- Coordinate with development director to establish annual development targets and report quarterly on progress
-- Maintain communication and collaborative relationship with VCU Office of Development leadership and MCV Foundation leadership

Represent the Liver Institute and Maintain Strong Relationships
-- With external sponsors
-- With other liver institutes/centers, external organization, and affiliate partnerships
-- With VCU administration, including VP Health Sciences, School of Medicine, VP Development and Alumni Relations, MCV Foundation, Legal Affairs, Government Relations, and President's Office

Essential Qualifications

Individual must routinely:
-- Assess and prioritize multiple requests for resources (e.g., finances, facilities, staffing)
-- Assess legal and political impact of decisions on public image of a highly visible matrix Liver Institute that is dependent on federal funding, corporate and private gifts
-- Make sound funding and staffing decisions that will maximize resources
-- Balance the short-term financial needs of the Liver Institute with long-term strategic priorities and core competencies required to build and sustain the Liver Institute’s research and clinical enterprise.

-- Bachelor's degree in business administration, public administration, health administration, or a related discipline or equivalent training and/or experience
-- Five or more years of experience in a similar senior administrative leadership role and/or complex academic/research environment
-- Extensive experience and knowledge in strategic resource analysis within a complex multi-cost center environment, and financial/budget management
-- Excellent communication, management and interpersonal skills, demonstrated ability to manage conflict in working environment
-- Highly collaborative and energetic management style
-- Demonstrated ability to plan and manage competing priorities in multiple programs and projects
-- Demonstrated experience working in and fostering a diverse faculty, staff, and student environment or commitment to do so as a staff member at VCU.

Preferred Qualifications

-- Master’s degree in business administration, public administration, health administration, or a related discipline                        
-- Ten or more years of experience in higher education finance and administration functions with the majority of experience in an academic health setting
-- Experience planning and bringing a new research institute on-line and managing space allocations
-- Experience serving in an executive leadership role at an academic medicine and healthcare institution