Manager of Research Operations

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OUR MISSION

The Motivation Lab exists to help people do the ordinary behaviors that can have an extraordinary impact on their health and well-being. Our work is guided by three values:

• Creativity - we look for new and better ways of doing our work, not change for its own sake, but change that improves our process or our results.
• Collaboration - we take a team approach, hold each other accountable for our individual roles, and share a real stake in the team's success.
• Competence - we operate at a high level, deliver on time, and produce work that impresses the people we're accountable to.

The NIA-funded Roybal Center is part of the broader Motivation Lab portfolio. It aims to translate basic discoveries about motivation into scalable and potent interventions that can promote physical activity and prevent Alzheimer's Disease and related dementias.

ABOUT THE SCHOOL OF KINESIOLOGY

The School of Kinesiology is currently the fourth largest school at the University of Michigan - the top public research institution in the country. Currently, we have three undergraduate majors, six graduate degree programs, and 35 research labs and centers. We are proud to occupy the fully renovated School of Kinesiology Building, a 221,600 gross square foot space adjacent to the Diag.

It is an exciting time to be in the School of Kinesiology; check out our facts and figures here !

The School of Kinesiology (SoK) is seeking an experienced Manager of Research Operations to oversee the Roybal Center for Promoting Adherence to Behavior Change and Enhancing Cognitive Function (an NIA-funded P30 center, roybal.umich.edu ) and the Motivation Laboratory ( kines.umich.edu/motivation ), reporting to Faculty Director David

E. Conroy, Ph.D., Bickner Endowed Chair and Professor. This is an established, actively funded research program spanning multiple federal sponsors (including NIA, NIDDK, and NHLBI), with concurrent clinical trials, a P30 infrastructure grant, and an active grant‑writing pipeline. Our research focuses on developing, evaluating, and disseminating technology‑based behavioral interventions that make it easier and more enjoyable for adults to lead lifestyles that support health, well‑being, and cognitive function.

Our team actively builds and uses AI‑assisted tools - including Lab BrAIn, a multi‑agent AI system we built in‑house to manage lab deliverables and project tracking - to help our staff focus on high‑value scientific and administrative work rather than repetitive tracking and coordination tasks. We're looking for someone who is genuinely energized by that way of working, not just tolerant of it, and who is committed to ethical and responsible use of AI.

The Manager of Research Operations holds full operational responsibility for the center and lab - spanning budgets, personnel, communications, events, sponsor reporting, regulatory compliance, and coordination across multiple concurrently funded projects - and is accountable for operational excellence across all of these areas, not just execution of individual tasks within them.

This is an established position with defined workflows and a documented lab operations manual; responsibilities below reflect the current scope of an actively growing, multi‑project research program.

Project & Operations Management (35%)

• Plan and run regular center/lab meetings, including recurring lab operations meetings, the annual Roybal Center meeting, site visits and other events (EF)
• Plan, schedule, and track research activities across multiple concurrently funded projects to optimize productivity and manage resources efficiently, using the lab's internal Lab BrAIn system to maintain shared visibility across the team (EF)
• Develop, manage, and refine standard operating procedures and the lab's documented manual of operations; assist the director in prioritizing tasks and…