Research Scientist Navigator

Research Scientist Navigator

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago provides superior pediatric care in a setting that offers the latest benefits and innovations in medical technology, research and family-friendly design. As the largest pediatric provider in the region with a 140-year legacy of excellence, kids and their families are at the center of all we do. Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago is ranked in all 10 specialties by the U.S. News & World Report.

The Research Scientist Navigator is located within the Stanley Manne Children's Research Institute Office of Research Development and facilitates research across the research enterprise by providing a single point of entry to manage requests for research support. The Research Scientist Navigator advocates for researchers and research teams, identifies barriers to optimal research execution, formulates, implements, and assesses solutions to those barriers, identifies resources needed for the timely & successful completion of research projects, refers investigators to appropriate research services and/or cores within or outside of the Manne Research Institute, consults on and provides input to institutional polices, and identifies and promotes research best practices.

This position initiates, develops, and maintains relationships with key central research contacts within various offices to facilitate the timely and proper initiation and ongoing operation of research projects within the research institute. The Research Scientific Navigator is also responsible for tracking and reporting on outcomes of research institute initiatives, including scientific peer review, internal grant awards, and trainee programs. Implements and continuously improves strategic and tactical research navigation activities.

Essential Job Functions:

• Serves as a central resource for investigators to provide expertise, guidance, and support for investigator research programs.
• Provides navigation through institutional practices, policies, and workflow. Maintains a working knowledge of institutional research administration and scientific service areas, committees, and best practices.
• Facilitates the advancement of investigator-initiated research by linking investigators with relevant internal and external resources, tools, and collaborators. Advises investigators on the logistics of conducting research, refer investigators to other research navigators within Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (NUCATS) when indicated and to appropriate Manne Research Institute, Lurie Children's, and Northwestern University core services, labs, and programs.
• Assists investigators in identifying and solving research design, implementation, and execution problems and providing expert advice on the logistics of conducting research, interfacing with people and resources on behalf of the investigator when appropriate.
• Conducts outreach, relationship development and coordination with other research support areas at Lurie Children's as well as NU and other NUCATS-affiliated partners including Northwestern Medicine, Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, and external entities pertinent to child health research.
• Provides navigation services for teams working on grant proposals, assuring incorporation of and access to appropriate research services, providing institutional grant language, facilitating access to personnel to help with budget development while engaging cross campus interdisciplinary programs and development, when appropriate.
• Performs initial evaluation of research requests and connects research teams to research support.
• Manages coordination of resources to investigators in a predictable and organized manner. Ensures successful referral to consultant resources through management of processes that not only link Navigator Program clients with resources to meet their needs, but also ensure subsequent evaluation of successful engagement with the referred resource.
• Develops new, and reinforces existing, connections to the research enterprise community through attendance of conferences, seminars, workshops, and networking events.
• Creates and implements systems to track and evaluate consultations provided by the Navigator Program. Tracks and reports on outcomes of research institute initiatives, including scientific peer review, internal grant awards, and trainee programs.
• Develops and manages continuous improvement activities to evaluate both service needs and the effectiveness of program services.
• Oversees development of program marketing strategies with Research Education and Research Communications teams. Develops and implements strategies to raise awareness of services and to increase utilization of all research services. Leads efforts to communicate with the research community, including its affiliated partners, to ensure that researchers have engagement with program services and are educated about the existence of resources, services, and the Navigator…