Operations Research Manager Jobs in Spokane, WA (NOW HIRING)

Job Description

The Department of Genome Sciences has an outstanding opportunity for a full-time Administrator to direct the administrative and operational functions of the Shendure Laboratory and its affiliated cross-institutional programs.

Position Purpose

The Shendure Laboratory is led by Dr. Jay Shendure, HHMI Investigator, Professor of Genome Sciences, Scientific Director of the Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine (BBI) and Lead Scientific Director of the Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology (SeaHub) - a cross-institutional collaboration between the Allen Institute, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), and the University of Washington. The laboratory's research programs are supported by multiple concurrent funding sources, each with distinct compliance, reporting, and administrative requirements, including:

• CZI - Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology (SeaHub) and the Billion Cell Project (BCP)

• NIH - Massively Parallel Characterization of Variants and Elements Impacting Transcriptional Regulation in Dynamic Cellular Systems; Versatile, Exponentially Scalable Methods for Single Cell Molecular Profiling

• NHGRI - Center for the Multiplexed Assessment of Phenotype

• HHMI - Investigator Award; Transformation to Endemicity: The Next Stage of COVID-19

Position Complexities

The Administrator will serve as the primary administrative lead for the Shendure Laboratory, directing the full spectrum of administrative, compliance, financial, and personnel operations across this multi-program, multi-institutional portfolio. This position carries delegated authority to establish and implement administrative policies and procedures, represent the laboratory in institutional and cross-institutional administrative matters, and make independent operational decisions in support of program and research goals. This role requires a sophisticated operational skill set encompassing program administration, research compliance, financial management, personnel coordination, and cross-institutional partnership management.

The Administrator will be responsible for developing, implementing, and maintaining administrative policies, methods, and procedures to ensure compliance with university, departmental, HHMI, and sponsor regulations across all funding sources. Critical thinking, initiative, independent judgment, and sound decision-making are essential to manage complex and concurrent responsibilities. Work is performed with a high level of autonomy, and therefore significant personal drive, proactive problem-solving, emotional intelligence, and discipline are imperative for success in this role.

Position Dimensions and Impact to University

The laboratory supports approximately 40 trainees and staff, including international researchers requiring visa and H-1B coordination. The Administrator also coordinates Dr. Shendure's participation in scientific advisory boards and consortia across more than five peer institutions and programs, including the Allen Institute, Fred Hutch Cancer Consortium, and the IGVF - supporting knowledge exchange and collaboration within the broader biomedical research community. Over the past 4.5 years, the laboratory has supported 12 fellowship recipients across highly competitive national and institutional awards including Jane Coffin Childs, Damon Runyon, NSF GRFP, NIH F31, WRF, NIH T32/SeaBridge, and CMBTG - reflecting the strong trainee development environment this administrative infrastructure enables. High-functioning operations in this laboratory directly translate to greater funding opportunities, stronger partnerships, and continued enhancement of UW's reputation as a global biomedical research leader.

• Develop, implement, and maintain administrative policies and procedures for the Shendure Laboratory, ensuring compliance with university, departmental, HHMI, and sponsor regulations across all active funding sources

• Serve as the primary UW-side administrative representative for the Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology (SeaHub), a cross-institutional collaboration spanning the Allen Institute, CZI, and UW across multiple scientific and administrative workstreams, including All Hands planning and coordination

• Direct Dr. Shendure's obligations across all affiliated institutions and programs, including HHMI, SeaHub/Allen Institute, BBI, UW Genome Sciences, Scientific Advisory Boards (SABs), and external consulting and contractual agreements

• Exercise independent judgment in managing Dr. Shendure's external service commitments, including identifying, triaging, and declining requests that fall outside scope and capacity

• Administer and oversee outside work disclosures and outside activity compliance reporting

• Administer patents and reports of invention in coordination with UW and HHMI technology transfer offices

• Serve as the primary point of contact for press and media inquiries on behalf of the laboratory

• Oversee and maintain the Shendure Lab website; completed full ADA-compliant website redesign in 2026

• Manage laboratory roster, emergency contacts, mailing lists, institutional memberships and calendar

• Manage Dr. Shendure's complex, multi-institutional calendar including scheduling for trainees, collaborators, grant funders, and institutional commitments across HHMI, UW GS, SeaHub, BBI, and external engagements, resolving conflicts with diplomacy and tact

• Manage and administer Dr. Shendure's invited talks, seminars, and honorarium processing

• Coordinate Dr. Shendure's teaching obligations and related commitments

• Direct grant compliance and reporting requirements across multiple concurrent funding sources including NIH, NHGRI, CZI, and HHMI, ensuring adherence to each sponsor's distinct guidelines and deadlines

• Provide grant submission support, including coordination with the GS grants team on extramural funding opportunities, competing renewals, and annual reports

• Administer HHMI Open Access Policy compliance for all lab publications; coordinate paper processing fees and payments

• Coordinate fellowship paperwork, graduate student support funding, and ESCRO renewals

• Establish and maintain systems for tracking all internal and external grant and compliance deadlines across multiple concurrent funding sources

• Maintain publication records

• Work with the Laboratory Manager to oversee and manage lab budgets across UW and HHMI financial systems, analyzing reports, identifying discrepancies, and coordinating with the GS grants team to resolve issues

• Direct administrative purchasing through UW and HHMI procurement systems, including standing purchase order management and quote-based procurement

• Process reimbursements for Dr. Shendure and the laboratory under separate UW and HHMI rules; serve as primary institutional contact for Concur and Emburse Spend systems

• Manage pro card administration and monthly reconciliation

• Process and track invoice payments; coordinate HHMI invoice reconciliation

• Advise Dr. Shendure on funding support strategies for laboratory members and proactively plan for funding transitions across multiple concurrent grants

• Administer procurement and account management for lab-based platforms and services (i.e. Claude, etc.)

• Direct administrative onboarding and offboarding of all lab members, including postdoctoral appointment paperwork, system access setup, and applicable institutional policies and requirements, as well as administrative processing of lab interest inquiries for postdoctoral, graduate student, undergraduate, and volunteer positions, in collaboration with the Laboratory Manager and GS/HHMI HR

• Oversee visa and H-1B administrative coordination for international trainees in collaboration with GS faculty affairs, UW International Scholars Operations, and HHMI

• Track trainee academic milestones including RR talks, committee meetings, general exams, dissertation defenses, Individual Development Plans, conference attendance, and internal mentorship commitments

• Coordinate trainee external opportunities including conference travel and external fellowship applications

• Perform complex document preparation assignments, including research, writing, proofreading, and editing of correspondence, reports, letters, award nominations, letters of support for external nominees, and other materials for Dr. Shendure and the lab

• Maintain and update Dr. Shendure's professional documents including CV, biosketch, headshot, and operating statement

• Coordinate Lab Meeting rotation, visiting guest speakers, and postdoctoral recruitment visits, including associated travel, accommodations, logistics, and reimbursements

• Foster and sustain laboratory culture through planning and execution of community events including Lasagna Fest, Lab Retreat, Happy Hours, publication toasts, dissertation defense celebrations, and other recognition events as needed

To be considered for this opportunity your application must demonstrate you meet both the minimum qualifications and additional qualifications listed below. Equivalent education and/or experience may substitute for minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license, certification, and/or registration."

Bachelor's degree in business, communications, arts or a related field, or equivalent combination of education and experience AND three years of increasingly responsible administrative experience with some combination of human resources, compliance, financial administration, and program operations.

Applicants who do not meet these qualifications WILL NOT be forwarded to the Hiring Department.

• Demonstrated experience directing administrative operations across multiple concurrent funding sources with distinct compliance requirements

• Prior experience in an academic research environment, preferably supporting a multi-funded PI or cross-institutional program

• Experience working across multiple institutions or with complex, multi-workstream programs

• Demonstrated proficiency with UW and/or HHMI administrative systems (Workday, ARIBA, Concur, Emburse)

• Experience with grant compliance, publication compliance, and sponsored research administration across federal and private funding sources

• Knowledge and understanding of visa administrative processes for international researchers (H-1B, J-1)

• Strong proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, Google Workspace, and project management tools

• Exceptional organizational, analytical, and prioritization skills with the ability to direct concurrent responsibilities across multiple programs and institutions

• Demonstrated ability to exercise independent judgment, maintain confidentiality, and communicate diplomatically with a wide range of stakeholders including faculty, staff, institutional administrators, sponsor representatives, and external partners

• Actively seeks opportunities to increase skills and expertise and to increase efficiency and effectiveness in the job; remains technically and administratively current in the role

• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively; builds trust and demonstrates readiness to lead teams as needed

• Ability to manage a variety of responsibilities at once; ability to remain flexible and handle changing priorities

This position has flexibility to be remote, with occasional travel to the Seattle campus to support laboratory events and activities, consistent with UW's telework policy.

The Shendure Lab is part of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine, Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology and the Department of Genome Sciences at the University of Washington (Seattle, WA). The mission of our lab is to develop and apply new technologies and methods at the intersection of genomics, molecular biology and developmental biology. Our research group pioneered exome sequencing and its earliest applications to gene discovery for Mendelian disorders and autism; cell-free DNA diagnostics for cancer and reproductive medicine; massively parallel reporter assays, saturation genome editing; combinatorial single cell molecular technologies; and genome editing based molecular recording technologies. Lab website: https://shendurelab.github.io/

The Department of Genome Sciences (GS) is part of the University of Washington School of Medicine (UW SoM) and is comprised of 34 labs addressing leading edge questions in biology and medicine by developing and applying genetic, genomic, and computational approaches taking advantage of genomic information now available for a host of species. GS is making major contributions in the application of genome science to understand the fundamentals of biology and to improve human health and well-being.

Genome Sciences is a collaborative department supported by very different academic disciplines. We work with a multitude of Program Investigators (PIs) in departments both on the UW campus as well as worldwide. The department has gone through significant expansion since its beginning in 2001 with annual grant awards of $39M in FY25. The department has 63 training, teaching, and research faculty. Departmental website: https://www.gs.washington.edu/

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