Administrative Director

CU
Columbia University

Los Angeles, CA, USA

USD 100k-140k / year

Posted on Aug 28, 2026

Administrative Director

  • 559334
  • Columbia University Medical Center
  • Neurology
  • Full Time
  • Opening on: Aug 27 2026
  • Grade 106
  • Job Type: Officer of Administration
  • Bargaining Unit:
  • Regular/Temporary: Regular
  • End Date if Temporary:
  • Hours Per Week: 35
  • Standard Work Schedule:
  • Building:
  • Salary Range: 100,000.00 - 140,000.00
The salary of the finalist selected for this role will be set based on a variety of factors, including but not limited to departmental budgets, qualifications, experience, education, licenses, specialty, and training. The above hiring range represents the University's good faith and reasonable estimate of the range of possible compensation at the time of posting.

Position Summary

The Administrative Director will report to the Co-Directors of The Carol and Gene Ludwig Center for Research on Neurodegeneration (CGLC); Department of Neurology Chair with a dotted line reporting to Departmental Administrator/COO.

The incumbent will provide administrative and financial support for day-to-day scientific operations and plays a key role in enabling the strategic direction of a complex, multi-institution, multi-investigator effort to employ powerful scientific resources in pursuit of the treatment and cure of Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative diseases.

The candidate will work closely with the Co-Directors to advance a series of research projects by coordinating closely with investigative collaborators, sponsors, and donors; managing administrative aspects of the Ludwig Center wet and dry laboratory operations and personnel; and ensuring compliance and quality within this extensive research program. A key role is in fitting-out, equipping and staffing new research space in the new Vagelos Innovation Laboratories at 167th Street and Audubon Avenue.

The successful candidate will support the entire administrative life cycle of CGLC research projects. Will assist the Ludwig Center investigators with grant applications and working closely with NIH and other key sponsors.

This individual will routinely make decisions with the co-Directors regarding the administration of significant and growing annual research expenses. The complex and rapidly expanding program consists of a rich mixture of both broad and focused research projects funded by multiple federal and philanthropic sources, including CGLFF Pilot Research Awards.

The incumbent will also play a key role in the operations of the CGLC center, providing key support in areas such as strategic planning, development, processes implementation, communications, branding and website management, liaising and building relationships with internal and external collaborators, space and equipment management, events, HR, and the development of research resources in order to meet current and future needs.

Responsibilities

Program Leadership and Strategic Planning:

As a key member of the CGLC leadership team alongside the Co-Directors and faculty investigators, the incumbent will play an important role in promoting the program’s trajectory from basic science research to pre-clinical translational research.

  • Explore and develop new collaborative and funding opportunities to drive the CGLC program, (including NIH, philanthropy and foundations) The individual will facilitate the planning and implementing of new projects based on these new opportunities.
  • Responsible for financial strategic planning including annual and 3–5-year budgetary projections, in coordination with the Department of Neurology and VP&S. Suitable for various internal and external stakeholders.
  • Collaborate with philanthropic sources, physicians, scientists, regulatory professionals, executive staff and others both within CU and externally as necessary for development and execution of the CGLC’s goals, ensuring their successful execution.
  • Working in collaboration with the co-directors to prioritize resource allocation to ensure that all research deliverables are met for the entire CGLC’s program.

Leadership of Program Operations and Financial Administration:

  • Oversee the general operation of the entire CGLC program, ensuring that ongoing administrative and operational processes support the goals and objectives of the program. Plan and lead routine project team meetings.
  • With the co-directors oversee the development and management of the CGLC budget in accordance with the financial goals and expectations of the program. Project budgetary requirements of new projects and work with Department Administrator and grants support personnel to finalize and implement project and sub-project budgets. Work closely with financial personnel to address budgetary constraints and strategize when funding considerations arise such as the need for a project extension or request for additional funding. Review the progress of subcontract sites and make determinations regarding routine financial administration of subcontracts.
  • Manage HR and faculty affairs, Center wet and dry lab personnel hiring, onboarding, offboarding, regulatory training and access to the facilities in collaboration with departmental HR pod.
  • Manage the purchasing and reconciliation functions of the CGLC and of the co-Directors and Center faculty research programs in collaboration with departmental financial personnel and business office
  • Monitor with Center faculty productivity to ensure that all federal research grants deliverables are met in a timely manner and communicated to the funding agencies.
  • Establish mechanisms to continually evaluate and respond to short- and long-term operational and fiscal needs.
  • Liaise with research facilities in the Taub Institute, Dept of Neurology, Stem Cell, Brain Bank, Genome Centers (including the High Throughput Screening and Next Generation Sequencing facilities) to ensure easy access of the CGLC to these facilities.

Leadership of the Carol and Gene Ludwig Center Pilot Grant Program

  • Liaise with the co-Directors and the Scientific Center Advisory Committee and past and present Ludwig Scholars to identify the new annual topic for Symposia, Pilot Grant, Stimulus Grant and other center-wide academic activities.
  • Publicize topics and timelines for the Pilot Award competitions;
  • Establish the peer-review team and organize the review sessions
  • Coordinate with grantees to present their data at 12 and 24 months at Neurology Grand Rounds / CGLFF Pilot Grant Research Day.
  • Ensure timely reporting of progress to the foundation
  • Work with the awardees to access the necessary facilities, and expertise to take their results to the next level (academic, industry support, patent coverage).

Communications and Symposia:

  • Work with the co-Directors to designate the topic of the Annual CGLC Scientific Symposia.
  • Independently identify and book meeting facilities, catering, sponsors and speaker invitations for the Annual CGLC Scientific Symposia.
  • After due consultation with the co-directors and department chair proactively interact with the Carol and Gene Ludwig Family Foundation (CGLFF) personnel on behalf of the co-Directors, to ensure that the CGLFF is fully briefed on progress and plans for the CGLC’s research program.
  • After due consultation with co-directors and center faculty interact with other sponsoring agencies (such as NIH program officers or industry sponsors), key project personnel, new donors and potential donors, and VIP supporters and participants, on behalf of CGLC Principal Investigators.
  • Write formal and informal communications regarding project progress updates and share directly with sponsors, industry collaborators, and other members of the financial/administrative leadership.
  • Communicate weekly progress updates to CGLFF via email and maintain monthly recurring meetings with CGLFF, co-directors and the chair of the department.
  • Draft text related to the CGLC’s program for a wide range of publication contexts, such as draft press releases and text of publications for scientific journals.
  • Represent the CGLC program in development and fundraising efforts.

Staff Management:

  • Support the co-Directors by maintaining oversight of all personnel working for the program.
  • With center faculty, set individual strategies and establish standards for hiring, performance appraisal, and competency assessment. Provide input into personnel compensation and salary setting decisions. Establish job expectations and methods for measurement of standards for all personnel.
  • Coordinate with Human Resources and administrative leadership in the development and implementation of policies and procedures that apply the program.
  • Maintain awareness of team engagement; identify and respond to key challenges and areas of opportunity.

Operations Management:

  • The incumbent will work with the co-Directors and CU space planners to continually monitor and optimize research space and office utilization to meet the ongoing needs of the center, as well as its future needs for fitting-out, equipping and staffing of new research space in the new Vagelos Innovation Laboratories at W167th and Audubon.
  • Work with the co-Directors to develop a plan for acquiring and managing high-end shared equipment (centrifuges, microscopies, computational equipment), and develop sustainable funding models for equipment management.
  • Work with the co-Directors to recruit new staff at investigator, scientist and technical levels.

Regulatory/Compliance Oversight:

  • Work with Center faculty to draft IRB protocols, IACUC protocols and other compliance documentation for multiple projects.
  • Ensure compliance with all regulatory requirements for animal, human issue, human data, clinical and computational research.
  • Convey to project team and ensure compliance with institutional policies and procedures.
  • Perform other related duties and responsibilities as assigned/requested.

Minimum Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree or equivalent in education and experience, plus five years of related experience.

Preferred Qualifications

  • A PhD in a relevant field of neuroscience, bioinformatics, molecular or statistical genetics, spatial omics, or computational biology is strongly preferred.
  • Published scholarly work in a related field.
  • Experience with Columbia University Medication Center administrative systems and processes
  • Experience project managing grants and contracts
  • Experience with Pre-award administration and development.

Other Requirements

  • Strong communication, networking, problem solving, people skills, including via oral and written communication.
  • Comfortable engaging with high-net-worth individuals, board members, senior faculty and politicians. Experience in working with foundations and non-profit organizations.
  • Position requires an ability to effectively communicate complex science in a way that is understandable to non-scientific audiences. Requires engagement with Center faculty to gain an understanding of, and communicate the key components of the CGLC research program. Relevant postgraduate experience in a related position is preferred.
  • Strong project management experience, preferably experience overseeing a large, multi-component project. Strong familiarity with administrative aspects of managing large, sponsored research projects, including knowledge of federal compliance requirements.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

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