The Vice President of Medical Oncology Research is an executive within the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. The VP of Research will serve as the centralized, research-specific point of contact and “go-to” expert for the Department Chair, Division Chiefs, Senior Directors, and other key leaders on broad and complex research issues, with a direct line to the SVP consistent with modern best practices in academic research governance. The VP of Research is responsible for the strategic direction, integration, and oversight of all research activities within the Department of Medical Oncology. This includes leadership of wet and dry lab programs, clinical and translational research, research administration, and research infrastructure across multiple sites. The role requires a seasoned research leader with deep functional expertise in oncology research and research operations, and demonstrated success managing large, complex research enterprises.
Located in Boston and the surrounding communities, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is a leader in life changing breakthroughs in cancer research and patient care. We are united in our mission of conquering cancer, HIV/AIDS, and related diseases. We strive to create an inclusive, diverse, and equitable environment where we provide compassionate and comprehensive care to patients of all backgrounds, and design programs to promote public health particularly among high-risk and underserved populations. We conduct groundbreaking research that advances treatment, we educate tomorrow's physician/researchers, and we work with amazing partners, including other Harvard Medical School-affiliated hospitals.
Primary Duties & Responsibilities
- Strategic Leadership & Vision
- Develop and implement a comprehensive, multi-year research roadmap for transformation, growth, and continuous improvement, aligned with institutional and departmental goals.
- Conduct recurring resource allocation and growth assessments to ensure that research investments are strategic, data-driven, and aligned with departmental priorities.
- Lead strategic planning for research growth across 9 buildings, ensuring optimal use of space, technology, and human capital.
- Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and scientific excellence across basic, translational, and clinical research.
- Centralized Research Leadership & Functional Expertise
- Serve as the centralized research-specific point of contact for the Department Chair, Division Chiefs, Senior Directors, and other leaders on all major research matters.
- Act as the go-to expert and advocate for broad and complex research issues, including scientific strategy, regulatory and compliance challenges, operational bottlenecks, and funding opportunities.
- Maintain a direct reporting line to the SVP to ensure rapid escalation, alignment, and resolution of high-impact research issues.
- Provide functional expertise in research administration, regulatory affairs, and research operations, ensuring that departmental practices are consistent with modern, best-in-class standards.
- Scientific Program Development
- Oversee and support the development of high-impact research programs and multi-investigator initiatives (e.g., SPOREs, program project grants, center grants, large consortia).
- Promote integration of wet and dry lab research, including bioinformatics, computational biology, and data science, to accelerate discovery and translation.
- Facilitate cross-disciplinary collaborations within Medical Oncology and with other departments, institutes, and external partners.
- Mentor and support faculty in developing competitive grant applications and high-impact publications.
- Research Operations & Infrastructure
- Provide executive oversight of research operations across 9 buildings, including core facilities, shared resources, and laboratory infrastructure.
- Oversee Divisional Senior Directors to ensure efficient, compliant, and scalable research administration (pre- and post-award, contracting, budgeting, reporting).
- Ensure robust systems for research compliance, including IRB, IACUC, biosafety, data security, and regulatory requirements.
- Oversee the development and implementation of policies and standard operating procedures that support high-quality, reproducible research.
- Financial & Resource Management
- Develop and manage the research budget for the department, including strategic allocation of institutional support, indirect cost recovery, philanthropy, and other revenue streams.
- Optimize use of research space, equipment, and shared resources across wet and dry labs to maximize productivity and return on investment.
- Work closely with institutional leadership, development, and philanthropy teams to secure philanthropic and strategic investment in research programs.
- Monitor financial performance of research programs and implement corrective actions as needed.
- Faculty Recruitment, Development & Mentorship
- Lead strategic recruitment of research-intensive faculty, including senior investigators and early-career scientists, to build and sustain key programmatic strengths.
- Develop and support mentoring structures for junior faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and trainees to foster career development and retention.
- Promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in all aspects of research recruitment, promotion, and leadership.
- Collaborate with department and institutional leadership on faculty evaluation, promotion, and tenure processes as they relate to research.
- Clinical & Translational Research Integration
- Partner with clinical leadership to align research priorities with clinical programs, ensuring bidirectional translation between bench and bedside.
- Oversee or closely collaborate with clinical research leadership to enhance clinical trial portfolios, including early-phase, investigator-initiated, and multi-center trials.
- Promote integration of real-world data, biobanking, and precision oncology platforms into research and clinical care.
- Ensure that research activities support and enhance the department’s reputation for cutting-edge, patient-centered oncology care.
- Communication & Interpersonal Interaction
- Reduce inconsistencies in information delivery by establishing clear, standardized communication channels and processes for research-related updates, policies, and decisions.
- Serve as a key liaison between departmental leadership and central offices (e.g., research administration, compliance, legal, finance), ensuring aligned messaging and expectations.
- Negotiate and resolve complex matters with institutional leadership and central offices, advocating for departmental research needs while maintaining institutional alignment.
- Communicate research priorities, opportunities, and challenges effectively to faculty, staff, and external stakeholders.
- External Partnerships & Reputation
- Represent the Department of Medical Oncology’s research enterprise at institutional, regional, national, and international forums.
- Build and maintain strategic partnerships with industry, foundations, government agencies, and other academic institutions.
- Enhance the department’s visibility through leadership roles in professional societies, consortia, and collaborative networks.
- Support communication and dissemination of research achievements to internal and external stakeholders.
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
- Deep ability to listen, learn and assimilate information for action.
- Highly experienced and applies past learning to new setting and does not assume what worked elsewhere will apply at DFCI.
- Superior leadership, communication, facilitation and customer service skills.
- Able to strike the right balance between regulatory and compliance requirements with innovative and entrepreneurial approaches to research.
- Committed to collaborative research across departments and institutions, as opposed to a “silo-oriented” type of thinking; someone who is skilled at building consensus and who is flexible, collaborative and adaptable in approach and demeanor.
- Facilitative leadership style, but able to make decisions and execute upon them. Able to assimilate into the DFCI culture without losing his/her own independence.
- Excellent talent manager, developer and evaluator. Able to delegate appropriately and build strong, independent, high-functioning teams
Minimum Qualifications
- At least 10 years of experience in a scientific academic health care or a like setting with at least 5 to 7 years of experience in a key senior leadership role supporting a research environment.
- A relevant advanced degree such as an MBA, MPH or MHA is preferred.
- Demonstrated experience leading research operations in a complex organization, including interfacing effectively with multiple faculty and staff with a strong customer- service focus.
- Highly knowledgeable about research administration and financial management functions within an academic medical environment, with specific knowledge and experience in the areas of:
- Current and emerging research administration issues and trends
- Federal appropriations processes
- Roles of federal and other sponsors in research and development
- Policy and guideline interpretation, communication, and application
- Demonstrated experience working with large governmental research organizations and the infrastructure of those organizations.
- Demonstrated experience and ability to understand the business of science, in terms of implementing research and taking discovery from the laboratory to the application of new knowledge and insights.
- Strong demonstrated financial planning and management experience.
- Demonstrated ability to directly manage large matrixed teams of administrative and research/technical staff.
- Strong quantitative, analytic, and problem-solving skills to evaluate all aspects of a situation and make appropriate and timely decisions. Proven ability to interpret complex legislation, policies and regulations.An understanding of and experience with information systems as related to data collection, accuracy verification, analyses, and distribution to appropriate stakeholders.
- Track record of working closely and effectively with a diverse constituency, including faculty, administrators, state policy makers, and the private sector in a wide range of disciplines.
- An ability to partner effectively with faculty.
- An executive who understands and embraces the philosophy of and opportunities associated with distributive leadership.
- A highly skilled change agent with demonstrable sensitivity to the interpersonal, group dynamic, organizational, political, and perceptual issues associated with change.
- Demonstrated ability to create and sustain momentum through relationship building, collaborative management; the ability to manage multiple and complex tasks; the ability to prioritize and implement; and experience in developing accountability and monitoring systems within the context of a complex, geographically dispersed, and matrixed system and local health environment.
Supervisory Responsibilities
Patient Contact
None
At Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, we work every day to create an innovative, caring, and inclusive environment where every patient, family, and staff member feels they belong. As relentless as we are in our mission to reduce the burden of cancer for all, we are committed to having faculty and staff who offer multifaceted experiences. Cancer knows no boundaries and when it comes to hiring the most dedicated and compassionate professionals, neither do we. If working in this kind of organization inspires you, we encourage you to apply.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is an equal opportunity employer and affirms the right of every qualified applicant to receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity or expression, national origin, sexual orientation, genetic information, disability, age, ancestry, military service, protected veteran status, or other characteristics protected by law.
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Pay Transparency Statement
The hiring range is based on market pay structures, with individual salaries determined by factors such as business needs, market conditions, internal equity, and based on the candidate’s relevant experience, skills and qualifications.
For union positions, the pay range is determined by the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
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