Manager, Research Ethics and Compliance

Department: Research and Evaluation

Reports to: Director, Research Operations and Compliance                                

Location: Remote

Schedule: Full-time, 8am - 5pm EST Monday - Friday

Salary Range: 58,600.00 - 85,000.00

Formerly the Mental Health Association of New York City (MHA-NYC), Vibrant Emotional Health’s groundbreaking solutions have delivered high quality services and support, when, where and how people need it for over 50 years. Through our state-of-the-art technology-enabled services, community wellness programs, and advocacy and education work, we are building a society in which emotional wellness can be a reality for everyone.

Position Overview

Under the supervision of the Director of Research Operations and Compliance, the Manager of Research Ethics and Compliance supports the review, documentation, and coordination of research and evaluation activities for the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline and other Vibrant research and evaluation activities as applicable. This role conducts initial ethics and compliance screening for research-like activities, including activities that may require IRB review, PRA/OMB review, sponsor/funder clearance, organizational review, or other oversight. The Manager reviews study protocols, data collection tools, research products, and related materials for alignment with ethical standards, participant protections, and research governance requirements. This position prepares documentation and recommendations for Research and Evaluation leadership review, supports appropriate distinctions among quality improvement, evaluation, and research activities, and offers opportunities to contribute to research products such as manuscripts, white papers, reports, and other dissemination materials.

Duties/Responsibilities

• Conduct initial IRB and PRA/OMB screening for research-like activities and prepare documentation, summaries, and recommendations for Research and Evaluation leadership review.
• Review study protocols, evaluation plans, external research request materials, data collection tools, recruitment materials, consent language, and related documents for alignment with ethical standards, participant protections, data access considerations, and applicability to a crisis line context.
• Support appropriate distinctions among quality improvement, evaluation, and research activities and route activities for appropriate review based on established processes.
• Review research and evaluation products for ethical considerations prior to dissemination, sponsor/funder clearance, or organizational review.
• Contribute to the development of research and evaluation products, including manuscripts, white papers, reports, and other dissemination materials as appropriate.
• Support preparation of project review templates, external research request documentation, determination letter drafts, decision logs, and any other needed documentation materials related to research ethics and compliance review.
• Coordinate with the Director of Research Operations and Compliance and, as appropriate, the Lead Research Scientist or Research Scientists to identify ethics, regulatory, data collection/access, participant protection, external research request, or dissemination issues that require escalation.
• Apply established research governance standards, review criteria, documentation expectations, and escalation pathways consistently across assigned activities.
• Provide guidance to internal partners on research ethics review procedures, documentation requirements, and participant protection considerations.
• Support process improvements related to ethics screening, protocol review, documentation quality, and research governance workflows.

Required Skills/Abilities

• Strong understanding of research ethics, human subjects protections, IRB review concepts, participant protections, and research compliance documentation.
• Knowledge of 45 CFR 46 and ethical considerations relevant to behavioral health, crisis services, suicide prevention, overdose prevention, public health, or related research.
• Familiarity with PRA/OMB considerations, data collection review, Federalwide Assurance concepts, and sponsor/funder or organizational review requirements.
• Ability to review study protocols, evaluation plans, external research request materials, data collection tools, consent materials, dissemination products, and research products for ethical and compliance considerations.
• Ability to distinguish among quality improvement, evaluation, and research activities and identify appropriate review pathways.
• Strong analytical skills, including the ability to identify ethical, regulatory, methodological, participant protection, data access, and dissemination risks.
• Strong writing skills, including the ability to prepare clear summaries, recommendations, documentation packets, determination letter drafts, and ethics-related content for research and dissemination products.
• Ability to manage multiple reviews, deadlines, documentation requirements, and stakeholder requests with minimal day-to-day supervision.
• High degree of discretion and sound judgment in handling sensitive research, data access, participant protection, and compliance information.
• Ability to assess whether proposed research questions, methods, and data requests are feasible based on available data, operational context, and crisis line considerations.
   

Decision Making

• Identifies ethics, compliance, participant protection, data collection, data access, and dissemination issues that may affect assigned research and evaluation activities or external research requests.
• Determines whether submitted materials are complete enough for ethics and compliance screening based on established intake and documentation requirements.
• Analyzes protocols, tools, external research request materials, project descriptions, and dissemination materials to identify potential risks and recommend appropriate review pathways.
• Prepares recommendations regarding IRB review, PRA/OMB review, organizational review, sponsor/funder clearance, or other oversight for Research and Evaluation leadership consideration.
• Recommends revisions to protocols, data collection tools, consent language, external research request materials, research products, or documentation to improve alignment with ethical standards and participant protections.
• Escalates complex, high-risk, unclear, or precedent-setting ethics, regulatory, data access, or participant protection issues to the Director of Research Operations and Compliance.
• Implements approved review procedures, documentation practices, and process improvements for assigned work.
   

Scope of Responsibility/Accountability

• Responsible for conducting ethics and compliance screening for assigned research-like activities and preparing recommendations for Research and Evaluation leadership review.
• Accountable for the quality, accuracy, and completeness of assigned ethics review documentation, summaries, decision logs, and recommendation materials.
• Responsible for reviewing assigned materials for alignment with ethical standards, participant protections, data access considerations, and applicability to a crisis line context.
• Supports consistent implementation of internal review processes related to IRB/PRA screening, organizational review, sponsor/funder clearance, data access review, and dissemination review.
• Supports documentation needed to demonstrate Research and Evaluation compliance with Vibrant’s Federalwide Assurance, federal grant requirements, 988 Lifeline Network Agreement research and evaluation requirements, and organizational standards.
• Responsible for identifying and escalating ethics, compliance, participant protection, data access, or documentation issues that require Director or AVP review.
• Performance is reviewed by the Director of Research Operations and Compliance and other leaders as applicable.
   

Managing/Directing Work

• Manages assigned ethics and compliance review tasks with minimal day-to-day supervision.
• Organizes review timelines, documentation needs, follow-up items, and assigned deliverables to support timely completion of research governance processes.
• Coordinates with internal partners, external researchers, and Research and Evaluation scientific staff to obtain missing materials, clarify project details, and support completion of required review documentation.
• Provides constructive feedback to internal partners and external researchers on project plans, data collection tools, consent materials, research products, and external research request materials based on established review standards.
• Participates in planning, implementing, and evaluating improvements to ethics screening, documentation, review templates, and related workflow processes.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in public health, social sciences, health sciences, public policy, or a related field required.
• Three to five years of relevant experience in research ethics, research compliance, research administration, evaluation operations, public health research, behavioral health, grants compliance, or related work.
• With a Master’s degree or higher in a relevant field, three or more years of relevant experience will be accepted.
• Experience supporting research or evaluation activities involving IRB review, human subjects protections, research ethics, data collection review, data access review, or participant protection considerations.
• Experience reviewing protocols, external research request materials, data collection tools, consent materials, project summaries, research products, or related documentation.
• Experience or exposure to crisis line operations, crisis intervention, behavioral health services, or similar direct service environments, with an understanding of the experiences of both crisis line users and crisis line staff.
• Experience supporting research projects in an academic, applied, public health, behavioral health, evaluation, or research lab setting, including exposure to research design, data collection, analysis planning, or study implementation.
• Experience preparing written summaries, recommendations, documentation packets, decision logs, reports, or compliance files.
• Experience working with sensitive behavioral health, crisis services, suicide prevention, overdose prevention, public health, or human services data preferred where applicable to the role.
• Proficient use of software tools needed to manage daily tasks, documentation, collaboration, tracking, and reporting (e.g., Asana, Microsoft Excel, Jira).

Physical Requirements

• Must be able to remain in a stationary position 50% of the time.
• Will constantly operate a computer and other office productivity machinery, such as a calculator, copy machine, and computer printer.
• Will frequently communicate over video calls with internal and external stakeholders to provide status updates, identify potential roadblocks, and support timely resolution.

We determine base pay through a comprehensive review of skills, experience, education, certifications, geographic location, and other relevant factors. The range listed reflects the compensation parameters for the role and does not represent the full compensation package. A complete overview of compensation and benefits will be provided by the Talent Acquisition team during the hiring process.

Full time employees will be eligible for excellent comprehensive benefits, including medical, dental, vision, supplemental income insurance, employer paid disability insurance, employer paid life insurance, pre-tax FSA for medical and dependent care, and 401K available.

Studies have shown that women and people of color are less likely to apply for jobs unless they believe they are able to perform every task in the job description. We are most interested in finding the best candidate for the job, and that candidate may be one who comes from a less traditional background. Vibrant will consider any equivalent combination of knowledge, skills, education and experience to meet minimum qualifications. If you are interested in applying, we encourage you to think broadly about your background and skill set for the role.

Vibrant Emotional Health is an equal opportunity employer. Applicants are considered for positions without regard to veteran status, uniformed service member status, race, creed, color, religion, gender, gender identity, sex, sexual orientation, citizenship status, national origin, marital status, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, caregiver status or any other category protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.

Please be aware that fictitious job openings, consulting engagements, solicitations, or employment offers may be circulated on the Internet in an attempt to obtain privileged information, or to induce you to pay a fee for services related to recruitment or training. Vibrant does NOT charge any application, processing, or training fee at any stage of the recruitment or hiring process. All genuine job openings will be posted on our careers page and all communications from the Vibrant recruiting team and/or hiring managers will be from an @vibrant.org email address.