Research Compliance Specialist

Research Compliance Specialist

Alice L. Walton School of Medicine (AWSOM) is seeking experienced, motivated, and dedicated leaders and educators to participate in the design and delivery of an innovative four-year medical school curriculum that engages medical students in active and novel learning.

The Research Compliance Specialist supports the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine's commitment to ethical, compliant, and high-quality research by providing research administration, regulatory support, compliance oversight, investigator services, and program operations. This position serves as an important point of contact for faculty, students, research staff, institutional committees, external collaborators, sponsors, and federal agencies, helping ensure that research activities are organized, responsive, ethical, and aligned with institutional standards.

This role supports the development and operation of AWSOM's Human Research Protection Program (HRPP), research compliance infrastructure, federal and sponsor reporting processes, and investigator-facing tools and workflows. The Research Compliance Specialist contributes to a service-oriented research environment by supporting research submissions and committee processes, evaluating regulatory requirements, monitoring compliance obligations, maintaining accurate documentation, implementing review and oversight activities, and helping investigators navigate regulatory and administrative expectations throughout the research lifecycle.

Success in this role requires strong knowledge of research administration and regulatory compliance, exceptional attention to detail, sound judgment, and the ability to interpret and apply complex regulatory requirements. The role requires a collaborative, service-oriented approach, the ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic environment, and a commitment to supporting compliant, ethical, and effective research operations.

Essential duties and responsibilities include:

• Coordinate and manage day-to-day Office of Research regulatory and compliance operations.
• Serve as a subject matter resource to faculty investigators, students, research staff, institutional committees, sponsors, and external IRBs.
• Administer and continuously improve HRPP operations.
• Evaluate regulatory requirements and compliance risks associated with human subjects and other regulated research activities.
• Facilitate and review protocol development, IRB submissions, amendments, continuing reviews, reportable events, study closures, and reliance activities.
• Conduct regulatory and administrative review of research submissions.
• Monitor investigator and key personnel compliance obligations.
• Evaluate protocol deviations, noncompliance events, participant complaints, and corrective or preventive action plans.

Research administration duties include:

• Maintain compliance calendars and deadline trackers for IRB submissions, federal and sponsor reporting, Clinical Trials.gov obligations, grant-related regulatory requirements, audits, inspections, and committee review activities.
• Analyze regulatory and sponsor reporting requirements, coordinate preparation of federal and sponsor submissions, review documentation for compliance and completeness, and advise stakeholders regarding reporting obligations, award conditions, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Provide regulatory and compliance consultation for grant and award applications by evaluating human subjects protections, consent processes, privacy considerations, data-sharing requirements, regulatory approvals, and post-award compliance obligations.
• Develop and maintain investigator-facing training materials, guidance documents, educational resources, and compliance communications that support regulatory understanding, promote ethical research conduct, and advance institutional compliance objectives.
• Maintain accurate records in applicable electronic systems, shared drives, project management tools, and regulatory platforms while exercising appropriate confidentiality and discretion.

Program improvement duties include:

• Lead or facilitate quality improvement, monitoring, auditing, and compliance assessment activities;…