Scientific Program Manager

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Overview

The Neuroimmune-PAIS Program investigates the neuroimmune mechanisms underlying Long COVID, ME/CFS, and related post-acute infection syndromes through two complementary hubs. The Discovery Science Hub is multi-institutional, while the Translational Medicine Hub is based entirely at Yale. We are seeking a PhD-level Scientific Program Manager to serve as the operational and administrative backbone of the program.

This person will work closely with the Program Director and lead investigators across both hubs and will represent the program in day-to-day dealings with Yale administration, funders, and collaborating institutions. We are looking for someone who finds genuine satisfaction in making complex science run smoothly, and who takes pride in work that is often invisible to the outside world but essential to everything the program accomplishes.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary point of coordination across the program's two hubs — the multi-institutional Discovery Science Hub (Yale, Stanford, and Harvard) and the Yale-based Translational Medicine Hub — keeping investigators, staff, and collaborators aligned on timelines, deliverables, and decisions.
• Lead and support the preparation of grant proposals, progress reports, and renewal applications, including drafting narrative sections, assembling budgets and budget justifications, and coordinating input from multiple PIs and institutions.
• Manage the full lifecycle of Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs), Data Transfer/Use Agreements (DTAs/DUAs), and subcontracts, working with Yale's Office of Sponsored Projects, General Counsel, and counterpart offices at Discovery Science Hub partner institutions.
• Coordinate IRB submissions, amendments, and continuing reviews across sites, and help ensure human-subjects protocols and reliance agreements stay current and compliant.
• Track program budgets and subaward spending, working with departmental and grants administrators to monitor burn rate, effort reporting, and re-budgeting needs.
• Plan and run program meetings, site visits, and scientific retreats, including agenda-setting, minutes, and follow-up on action items.
• Serve as a liaison to Yale administration (Sponsored Projects, General Counsel, Human Research Protection Program, department finance), proactively resolving issues before they reach the PI.
• Support donor- and funder-facing materials, including scientific summaries, slide decks, and progress updates for philanthropic and federal sponsors.
• Maintain shared documentation: org charts, timelines, protocol trackers, and a central repository of program agreements and correspondence.
• Anticipate bottlenecks and administrative risk before they become urgent — this role is as much about foresight as follow-through.
• Required Skills and Abilities
• 1. Prior experience in research program coordination, project management, or research administration within an academic or biomedical setting.
• 2. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to work diplomatically across many investigators, institutions, and administrative offices.
• 3. Strong written communication skills, including experience contributing to grant proposals, reports, or scientific/administrative documents.
• 4. Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent projects and deadlines with a high degree of independence and sound judgment.
• 5. Working familiarity with sponsored research administration (e.g., budgets, subawards, compliance) or a demonstrated ability to learn these systems quickly.
• Preferred Skills and Abilities
• 1. Direct experience with MTAs, DTAs, IRB protocols, or multi-site collaboration agreements.
• 2. Background in immunology, virology, or neuroimmunology sufficient to engage meaningfully with the program's scientific content.
• 3. Proven experience at Yale or with Yale's administrative systems (Sponsored Projects, InfoEd, IRB systems).
• 4. Familiarity with NIH and/or philanthropic funding mechanisms for large collaborative programs (e.g., U19, P01, foundation grants).
• Principal Responsibilities
• Principal Responsibilities
• 1. Initiate and support innovative research and interdisciplinary research partnerships.
• 2. Cultivate an active and engaged Collaborative to connect, support, and amplify a pipeline of investigators.
• 3. Translate and disseminate science local, nationally and internationally
• 4. Serve as primary scientific architect for major submissions. This would entail leading grant writing efforts as a writer, editor, coordinator, and liaison to ensure successful submission.
• 5. Identify and pursue opportunities in consultation with the Director for federal, foundation, and private funding to support the growth of the center's research portfolio and infrastructure.
• 6. Support investigators on funding strategy, competitiveness, and portfolio development.
• 7. Prepare the non-scientific regulatory and shell of the grant (parts other than research strategy) such as budgets and budget justification, human subject protection plans, etc. Be able to perform any background or pertinent literature search to support development of these documents and workflows including data-driven study workflows and standard operating procedures (SOPs) for use in the lab and with study collaborators.
• 8. Collaborate with other departmental staff for grant submissions, regulatory document management, financial reporting, effort reports.
• 9. Provide regulatory oversight for on going and new studies.
• 10. Lead and manage the preparation, writing, review, and publication of scientific manuscripts.
• 11. Coordinate with research investigators, fellows and trainees to develop manuscript drafts and integrate feedback.
• 12. Advise Director and research staff on up-to-date National Institutes of Health (NIH) policies, procedures, and compliance requirements related to grant applications and progress reports, ensuring institutional consistency while addressing grant-specific needs.
• 13. Support post-award activities including presentations, progress reports, renewals, and sponsor communications.
• Required Education and Experience
• Master's degree in a scientific or life sciences discipline and a minimum of four years of experience managing a scientific or research program, or an equivalent combination of education and professional experience.
• Preferred Education and Experience
• 1. PhD in a scientific discipline integrating basic and clinical science.
• 2. Experience in interdisciplinary research environments and variable funding sources.
• 3. Strong leadership, organizational, and communication skills in complex, multi-stakeholder academic settings.
• 4. Demonstrated proficiency in scientific and scholarly writing.
• Job Posting Date
• 11/11/2026
• Job Category
• Professional
• Bargaining Unit
• NON