Research Coordinator Jobs in Tennessee

INTRODUCTION

Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center: Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery, and patient care, VUMC is a community of individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. Vanderbilt Health is committed to an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and where your uniqueness is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt’s mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research.

ORGANIZATION:

Section Surgical Research

JOB SUMMARY:

In your pivotal role as a Clinical/Translational Research Coordinator II (CTRC II), you will join the Critical Illness, Brain Dysfunction, and Survivorship (CIBS) Center’s Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Hub—a collaborative program managing multiple federally funded, local, and multi-center interventional and observational studies.

Our mission is to improve clinical care and long-term outcomes for patients with acute brain injury, including individuals with disorders of consciousness. To advance this mission, our team identifies, screens, enrolls, and follows patients from the acute hospital setting through long-term recovery.

As a CTRC II, you will partner with local and national Principal Investigators (PIs) and multidisciplinary clinical teams to support the development, implementation, and day-to-day execution of research protocols and standard operating procedures (SOPs). You’ll play a key role in ensuring studies are conducted with accuracy, consistency, and a strong commitment to participant-centered research.

What success looks like in this role:

Our environment is dynamic, fast-paced, and mission-driven. The strongest candidates bring:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong attention to detail and organizational skills
• Initiative and sound judgment in a clinical research setting
• Adaptability and comfort managing competing priorities
• A mindset of continuous improvement and process optimization

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent experience)
• 1 year of relevant experience
• Prior to advancing to a Clinical/Translational Research Coordinator II, must have completed a Research 101 course such as RSS Boot camp; applicant/new hire must complete a Research 101 course within six (6) months of hire.

WORK LOCATION AND SCHEDULE:

• On-site at Vanderbilt Medical Center North (21st Ave., Nashville, TN)
• Schedule is primarily Monday–Friday, daytime business hours
• Flexibility is essential, with occasional weekend work as needed.

DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:

For over 40 years, our Vanderbilt Acute Care Surgery faculty have provided expertise in disciplines of trauma, burn, emergency general surgery and surgical critical care across VUMC for Middle Tennessee and outlying communities. Essential for the delivery of quality of surgical care are our facilities, which include our Trauma, Burn and Surgical ICUs, and our partnership with LifeFlight, our active ground and air medical transport program. We are the only Level I Adult Trauma center for our region, with state and national certifications by the American College of Surgeons.

KEY COMPETENCIES

• Knowledge and understanding of policies, procedures, and regulations governing human subject's research and incorporates them in securing approval for and the conduct of research
• Knowledge and understanding of the Federal regulations and guidelines governing the protection of human subjects, e.g., FDA, OHRP, GCP/ICH, and HIPAA regulations
• Knowledge and understanding of the implementation, coordination, management and reporting of clinical/translational research operations

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Prepare, submit, and manage IRB applications (new studies, amendments, continuing reviews, and adverse event reports) in compliance with institutional policies and federal regulations.
• Conduct and support study procedures, including participant screening, recruitment, scheduling, informed consent, interviews, assessments, specimen collection, and assisting with EEG/MRI and other protocol-required activities.
• Accurately collect, document, and enter study data from source documents into paper or electronic case report forms, ensuring completeness, accuracy, and timeliness.
• Prepare, maintain, and organize regulatory and essential study documents to ensure ongoing compliance with Good Clinical Practice (GCP).
• Monitor participant safety by identifying, documenting, and reporting adverse events in accordance with protocol, IRB, FDA, sponsor, and institutional requirements.
• Coordinate packaging and shipment of biological specimens in compliance with sponsor, laboratory, and shipping regulations, maintaining required documentation.
• Participate in site visits, audits, and monitoring activities by sponsors and regulatory authorities, addressing queries and resolving findings in a timely manner.
• Collaborate professionally with investigators, participants, sponsors, and multidisciplinary teams, serving as an advocate for human subject protections.
• Assist with study operations, including equipment and supply procurement, budget development and tracking, invoicing, and ensuring clinical trial billing compliance.
• Engage in ongoing professional development through required training, certifications, research councils, and continuous education to maintain and advance clinical research expertise.

TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES

• Clinical Research (Novice): Can research problems that span several areas of the department. Develops and writes basic trial protocols. Knows what information is available in the company. Designs data collection forms. Has developed networking skills which assist in researching issues.
• Study Design & Conduct (Novice): Applies qualitative and quantitative research methods to perform preparatory, regulatory, and analytic tasking within the life cycle of a study.
• Project Coordination (Novice): Reviews specific project related documents for completeness and accuracy and ensures project status reports are received, when due, from project managers for all approved projects. Provides administrative and logistics support for various project meetings, training, workshops and facilitated sessions. Coordinates and tracks all work requests to ensure on time project delivery. Keeps project plans updated and ensures key milestones and dependencies are understood. Responsible for record keeping for project meetings such as issues logs, gap analysis sheets, meeting minutes, making copies, team event planning and execution, team travel, on-boarding activities for contractors or consultants, set up and maintenance of project repositories.
• Communication (Novice): Clearly, effectively and respectfully communicates to employees or customers.

CORE ACCOUNTABILITIES:

• Organizational Impact: Executes job responsibilities with the understanding of how output would affect and impact other areas related to own job area/team with occasional guidance.
• Problem Solving/ Complexity of work: Analyzes moderately complex problems using technical experience and judgment.
• Breadth of Knowledge: Has expanded knowledge gained through experience within a professional area.
• Team Interaction: Provides informal guidance and support to team members.

CORE CAPABILITIES:

Supporting Colleagues:
- Develops Self and Others: Invests time, energy, and enthusiasm in developing self/others to help improve performance and gain knowledge in new areas.
- Builds and Maintains Relationships: Maintains regular contact with key colleagues and stakeholders using formal and informal opportunities to expand and strengthen relationships.
- Communicates Effectively: Recognizes group interactions and modifies one's own communication style to suit different situations and audiences.

Delivering Excellent Services:
- Serves Others with Compassion: Seeks to understand current and future needs of relevant stakeholders and customizes services to better address them.
- Solves Complex Problems: Approaches problems from different angles; Identifies new possibilities to interpret opportunities and develop concrete solutions.
- Offers Meaningful Advice and Support: Provides ongoing support and coaching in a constructive manner to increase employees' effectiveness.

Ensuring High Quality:
- Performs Excellent Work: Engages regularly in formal and informal dialogue about quality; directly addresses quality issues promptly.
- Ensures Continuous Improvement: Applies various learning experiences by looking beyond symptoms to uncover underlying causes of problems and identifies ways to resolve them.
- Fulfills Safety and Regulatory Requirements: Understands all aspects of providing a safe environment and performs routine safety checks to prevent safety hazards from occurring.

Managing Resources Effectively:
- Demonstrates Accountability: Demonstrates a sense of ownership, focusing on and driving critical issues to closure.
- Stewards Organizational Resources: Applies understanding of the departmental work to effectively manage resources for a department/area.
- Makes Data Driven Decisions: Demonstrates strong understanding of the information or data to identify and elevate opportunities.

Fostering Innovation:
- Generates New Ideas: Proactively identifies new ideas/opportunities from multiple sources or methods to improve processes beyond conventional approaches.
- Applies Technology: Demonstrates an enthusiasm for learning new technologies, tools, and procedures to address short-term challenges.
- Adapts to Change: Views difficult situations and/or problems as opportunities for improvement; actively embraces change instead of emphasizing negative elements.

POSITION QUALIFICATIONS:

Responsibilities:

CERTIFICATIONS:

WORK EXPERIENCE:

Relevant Work Experience

EXPERIENCE LEVEL:

1 year

Education:

Bachelor's

This role offers the opportunity to make a meaningful impact within Vanderbilt Health, supported by a comprehensive benefits package which may include health, disability, retirement and/or wellness offerings to enhance your well-being and professional growth.

Vanderbilt Health is committed to fostering an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and is committed to the principles of equal opportunity. EOE/Vets/Disabled.