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Job Type:

Employee

Duration in Months (for fixed-term jobs):

N/A

Job Family:

Research and Program Support

# of Open Positions:

1

Faculty/Service - Department:

Senior Manager, Research Ethics & Integrity

Campus:

Main Campus

Union Affiliation:

SSUO

Date Posted:

July 04, 2024

Closing Date:

July 15, 2024

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the Posting End Date above

Hours per week:

35

Salary Grade:

SSUO Grade 11

Salary Range:

$87,272.00 - $110,239.00

Position Purpose

This position is central to the Office’s mandate to promote and respect University and regulatory, including tri-agency, requirements in relation to the ethical conduct of research involving humans. The incumbent provides strategic leadership in the development and planning of activities and operations within the Office of Research Ethics and Integrity (OREI) and the Research Ethics Boards (REB). The incumbent reviews and analyzes ethics applications and evaluates associated risks to ensure compliance with federal regulations and institutional policies for all projects that fall under the auspices of the University; provides expert advice to researchers in developing their research projects and securing ethics approval; assists the REBs in interpreting ethical principles as they pertain to risks, confidentiality, consent, and data security, and acts as a liaison between the researchers and the REBs.

Typical Accountabilities

• Performs regulatory review and analysis of research projects for consistency, completeness, and compliance with federal regulations and institutional policies. Makes recommendations concerning ethical principles in research as they pertain to risks, confidentiality, consent, and data security. Approves research projects on behalf of the REB as a delegated reviewer. Collaborates with team members to discuss complex ethical problems and determine future action.
• Acts as an expert-resource person by advising internal and external stakeholders on matters of research compliance and ethical research practices. Communicates with researchers to facilitate the review process and articulates required modifications to project documentation in order to secure ethics approval. Provides concise and direct written feedback to researchers in a neutral and professional tone. Consults with stakeholders, researchers, REB members, and other services to coordinate the ethics approval of research projects. Deals with a variety of situations with confidentiality, diplomacy and tact.
• Provides REB members with expert advice and professional support in their review of ethics applications and approval decisions. Provides guidance regarding the interpretation of the TCPS-2 and relevant policies to REB members. Develops and delivers a comprehensive training program for the REB and provides feedback to its members in order to ensure optimal performance and consistency. Coordinates the REB by organizing meeting documents, offering ethics expertise, and communicating REB decisions to researchers.
• Provides strategic and operational leadership in the development, planning and implementation of internal procedures and administrative policies in order to ensure their relevance and efficiency. Recommends changes and/or initiatives to internal procedures and best practices in order to respond to evolving operational demands. Ensures effective communication around ongoing changes and improvements to policies and systems among the team members. Identifies, manages, and solves complex administrative issues within the framework of federal regulations related to the protection of human participants in research. Initiates and serves as lead on a number of administrative tasks to optimize the overall functioning of the office. Analyzes and interprets granting agencies’ requirements and guidelines to ensure compliance by uOttawa researchers and REBs.
• Works with researchers in the preparation of high-quality ethics applications prior to submission. Designs training material and delivers workshops to the university research community in order to educate and provide clarity on the ethics review process and relevant ethical considerations. Maintains active knowledge of evolving policies and ethical norms that are applicable to human research activities and maintains awareness of the changing requirements of sponsors, publishers, and other collaborators.

Knowledge, Experience, and Skills

• Master’s degree in a relevant field, or an equivalent combination of education and work experience
• Minimum seven years of demonstrated experience in a similar role
• Excellent knowledge of research methods
• Excellent knowledge of policy and regulatory requirements regarding the ethical conduct of research involving human participants, e.g., the Tri-council Policy Statement (TCPS 2)
• Experience in a research-related domain (e.g., as a researcher, research coordinator, project administrator, etc.)
• Ability to interpret and apply policies and guidelines
• Strong interpersonal, organizational, and analytical skills
• Excellent communication and customer service skills
• Ability to handle competing priorities and meet strict deadline
• Excellent bilingual writing and speaking skills
• Experience managing and/or leading large committees
• Experience developing and delivering workshops and/or training sessions
• Team player, excels at working collaboratively as well as independently
• Demonstrated ability to create, maintain and build relationships within the University and externally
• Experience using computer systems and applications such as Windows, word processing software, spreadsheets, databases, presentation software, the internet, and email
• Bilingualism – English and French (spoken and written)

*This position may be eligible for a telework arrangement. Learn more about our telework guidelines click here

#LI-Hybrid

Key Competencies at uOttawa:
Here are the required competencies for all or our employees at uOttawa:

Planning: Organize in time a series of actions or events in order to realize an objective or a project. Plan and organize own work and priorities in regular daily activities.
Initiative: Demonstrate creativity and initiative to suggest improvements and encourage positive results. Is proactive and self-starting. Show availability and willingness to go above and beyond whenever it is possible.
Client Service Orientation: Help or serve others to meet their needs. This implies anticipating and identifying the needs of internal and external clients and finding solutions on how to meet them.
Teamwork and Cooperation: Cooperate and work well with other members of the team to reach common goal(s). Accept and give constructive feedback. Able to adjust own behaviour to reach the goals of the team.

The University of Ottawa embraces diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We are passionate about our people and committed to employment equity. We foster a culture of respect, teamwork and inclusion, where collaboration, innovation, and creativity fuel our quest for research and teaching excellence. While all qualified persons are invited to apply, we welcome applications from qualified Indigenous persons, racialized persons, persons with disabilities, women and LGBTQIA2S+ persons. The University is committed to creating and maintaining an accessible, barrier-free work environment. The University is also committed to working with applicants with disabilities requesting accommodation during the recruitment, assessment and selection processes. Applicants with disabilities may contact hrtalentmanagement@uottawa.ca to communicate the accommodation need. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

Note: if this is a union position: The hiring process will be governed by the current collective agreement related to the union affiliation noted above; you can click here to find out more.

If this is a front-line position with responsibilities to interact with students, selected candidates must be rated at the Low Advanced proficiency level or higher for both oral comprehension and reading comprehension in their second official language. The rating is determined by a proficiency test designed by the Official Languages and Bilingualism Institute.

Prior to May 1, 2022, the University required all students, faculty, staff, and visitors (including contractors) to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 as defined in Policy 129 – Covid-19 Vaccination. This policy was suspended effective May 1, 2022 but may be reinstated at any point in the future depending on public health guidelines and the recommendations of experts.