• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Salary Range: $90,000 - $100,0000

Position Summary

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the daily operations of the CICET Translational Laboratory, ensuring efficient and high-quality execution of all laboratory activities.
• Oversee laboratory personnel, including direct supervision, training, and performance management of the Cell Therapy Correlative Study Specialists.
• Ensure laboratory readiness, organization, and compliance with institutional biosafety, regulatory, and quality standards.
• Oversee laboratory space planning, workflow optimization, and operational efficiency initiatives.
• Manage laboratory budgets, resource allocation, and cost control to ensure operations remain on time and within budget.
• Ensure all project-related expenses are accurately allocated and charged to the appropriate sponsor-designated budgets in accordance with financial and contractual requirements.

• Partner with Principal Investigators, the Scientific Director of the CICET Translational Laboratory, and the Director of CICET to design and implement correlative study plans for clinical studies.
• Oversee execution of immune monitoring, biomarker, and translational assays using patient-derived samples.
• Ensure scientific rigor, assay reproducibility, and data integrity across all correlative studies.
• Guide development, validation, and implementation of assay panels and analytical workflows.
• Support interpretation of translational data to inform clinical development and mechanistic insights.

• Oversee end-to-end lifecycle of clinical samples, including collection coordination, processing, storage, tracking, and data integration.
• Ensure alignment of laboratory workflows with clinical trial protocols, timelines, and regulatory requirements.
• Collaborate closely with CICET Clinical Trials Management to ensure seamless sample logistics and protocol adherence.
• Establish and maintain robust chain-of-custody, biobanking, and sample tracking systems.

• Oversee validation, maintenance, and lifecycle management of laboratory equipment and instrumentation.
• Coordinate preventive maintenance, service contracts, and vendor relationships for laboratory systems.
• Ensure compliance with institutional, federal, and sponsor requirements, including biosafety, GCP-aligned practices, and data integrity standards.
• Maintain laboratory policies and documentation frameworks to support consistent operations.

• Ensure that laboratory deliverables are achieved according to agreed-upon clinical and operational timelines.
• Monitor project progress, identify risks, and implement mitigation strategies to ensure the successful execution of translational objectives.
• Align laboratory priorities with CICET programmatic goals and clinical development milestones.
• Oversee primary data analysis, including spectral flow cytometry, Olink proteomics, single-cell RNAseq, and spatial transcriptomic datasets in collaboration with Cell Therapy Correlative Study Specialist and bioinformatician support.
• Prepare translational results for internal governance, sponsors, and regulatory submissions.

• Serve as a key interface between the Translational Laboratory and CUIMC stakeholders, including clinical investigators, research teams, and institutional leadership.
• Collaborate with CICET GMP/QC teams, external partners, and collaborators to support integrated translational efforts.
• Facilitate cross-functional communication to ensure alignment across clinical and translational activities.

• Drive continuous improvement of laboratory workflows, assay platforms, and operational processes.
• Implement best practices in translational research, including the adoption of emerging technologies and methodologies.
• Support grant applications, publications, and scientific presentations related to translational research efforts.
  

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor?s degree in Biology, Immunology, Molecular Biology, or related life science discipline.
• Minimum of four (4) years of relevant laboratory experience, including experience in translational or clinical research environments.
• Demonstrated experience managing laboratory operations, personnel, and workflows.
• Experience handling human clinical samples (e.g., blood, bone marrow, tissue).
• Hands-on experience with PCR-based assays.
• Hands-on experience with designing and validating spectral flow cytometry panels of >20 colors.
• Strong organizational, project management, and communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a multidisciplinary and fast-paced academic medical center environment.

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD degree in a related life science discipline.
• Minimum of 1-2 years of relevant laboratory experience supporting correlative studies for cell or gene therapy clinical trials, preferably in immunology-focused research.
• Hands-on experience in sample preparation for single-cell genomics assays.
• Familiarity with immune monitoring, transcriptomics, biomarker development, or translational assay workflows.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.

About Columbia University

Columbia University is one of the world's most important centers of research and at the same time a distinctive and distinguished learning environment for undergraduates and graduate students in many scholarly and professional fields. The University recognizes the importance of its location in New York City and seeks to link its research and teaching to the vast resources of a great metropolis. It seeks to attract a diverse and international faculty and student body, to support research and teaching on global issues, and to create academic relationships with many countries and regions. It expects all areas of the university to advance knowledge and learning at the highest level and to convey the products of its efforts to the world.

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