Vice President of Research

Position Title

Vice President of Research

Research

President & CEO

Full-Time | Executive Leadership | Exempt

Durham, North Carolina | Hybrid in accordance with DAN policy; regular on-site leadership presence required - 3 days in office, 2 remote

Research leaders, program managers, scientists, analysts, and support staff

Domestic and international travel as required

The Vice President of Research is DAN's senior research executive, a member of the executive leadership team, and the leader of the Research Department. The role is accountable for an interdisciplinary applied-science program that improves understanding of diving-related injuries, human performance in the underwater environment, and practical methods of risk reduction. The Vice President directs research from problem definition through operational application, ensuring that evidence-based findings become tangible safety improvements for divers, dive professionals, DAN programs, and the broader dive industry.

This is an executive leadership and hands‑on department management position. DAN Research is a mission‑driven applied research program, not an academic department. Scientific rigor and peer-reviewed publication remain important, but work is selected and judged by mission relevance, execution quality, and demonstrated safety impact. The Vice President is fully accountable for the department's people, portfolio, budget, conduct, compliance, deliverables, and results.

Mission and strategic direction, department leadership and management, applied research portfolio and execution, safety translation and organizational integration, scientific quality, ethics, data, and compliance, external partnerships, funding, and representation, financial and resource stewardship, Executive and Board support.

• Manage the Research Department and approved portfolio within DAN's strategic plan, budget, policies, and Delegation of Authority.
• Assign work, set project controls, approve scientific and operational milestones, and require corrective action when work is not meeting expectations.
• Recommend the research agenda, budget, organizational structure, staffing actions, capital investments, strategic partnerships, and discontinuation of work to the President & CEO.
• Pause or stop activity presenting a material safety, ethics, compliance, data, scientific-integrity, financial, or reputational concern.
• Commit DAN to contracts, expenditures, external positions, or partnerships only within formally delegated authority and after required legal, financial, communications, and executive review.

• Doctoral degree or equivalent advanced clinical or scientific qualification in diving and hyperbaric medicine or a closely related discipline.
• At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in applied, translational, clinical, operational, or safety research, including at least five years leading multidisciplinary teams, complex programs, budgets, and external collaborators.
• Demonstrated ability to translate scientific findings into practical improvements in safety, clinical practice, education, operations, policy, standards, technology, or risk management.
• Substantive knowledge in one or more mission-relevant areas such as diving or environmental physiology, undersea or hyperbaric medicine, human performance in extreme environments, neuroscience, epidemiology, or injury prevention, and the ability to lead an interdisciplinary portfolio.
• Strong command of research design, quantitative and qualitative methods, data interpretation, research ethics, human-subject protections, IRB processes, and scientific…