Senior Project Manager, Research
This full-time position offers a unique opportunity to work closely with Principal Investigator [PI], assisting with multi-faceted research and writing projects. The Research Manager will lead and execute high-impact projects on happiness, well-being, and human flourishing, supporting both scholarly and public-facing initiatives. This role integrates academic research design, project management, data collection and analysis, and editorial leadership. The Research Manager will oversee publications, digital communications, and collaborations across campus and external partners. These high-profile initiatives might include long term projects (such as books, columns, feature essays, and academic journal articles), fast-paced communications products (such as PIās column and newsletters), and experimental endeavors in various new and traditional media.
The Research Manager will focus on the written word and bring strong writing and copy-editing skills and interdisciplinary interests to bear on fast-moving social science topics and complex academic questions. The Research Manager will be expected to lead a dynamic group environment. Subjects will range from happiness studies, politics and economics to behavioral science, social psychology, history, and philosophy. They will fulfill specific research requests in these fields with speed and precision, take ownership of inquiries into unfamiliar topics, and assist with efforts to share PIās findings and conclusions with new audiences. The ideal candidate will demonstrate outstanding research leadership, analytical ability, editorial judgment, with strong interdisciplinary expertise in social science research and well-being studies.
Key Functions and Expected Performance:
Under minimal direction, the Research Manager will oversee the execution of a range of academic and general-audience projects. These will include projects across many domains:
Research, data collection, and analysis
Oversee and guide research design, sampling, data collection for large-scale projects related to the well-being space.
Conduct and supervise quantitative research, including survey construction, data cleaning, coding, and statistical analysis (using STATA or similar).
Identify alternative strategies, refine methodologies, and ensure compliance with campus research standards and human subject protocols.
Lead synthesis of findings to inform scholarly and applied publications, distilling complex data for diverse audiences.
Research management and leadership
Manage all operational aspects of PIās research portfolio, maintaining project plans, deliverable timelines, and documentation across concurrent plans.
Coordinate academic conferences, workshops, and fieldwork.
Supervise, train, and evaluate part-time and full-time research assistants and interns, delegating assignments and providing developmental feedback.
Manage facilitators (approx. 30) of PIās large class
Scholarly writing and public presentations
Substantively contribute to academic papers, journal articles, and presentations.
Draft and edit long-form research memos summarizing current literature in the well-being space.
Ensure editorial quality and conceptual rigor in all research products, maintaining consistent voice and alignment with research objectives.
Deliver guest lectures across the school community and across the country, so as to spread research findings and objectives to the university community and broader public.
Research communications and external engagement
Translate academic research for broader audiences by preparing memos, presentations, and summaries for PIās public talks, media appearances, and institutional partners.
Serve as the core liaison between PIās research team and school centers, labs, and communications offices to circulate findings and share research impact.
Field inquiries related to research products and represent PIās work within the HKS community.
This position has supervisory duties as a direct supervisor of the lab staff & students.
Other duties, as assigned
At Vanderbilt University , our work - regardless of title or role - is in service to an important and noble mission in which every member of our community serves in advancing knowledge and transforming lives on a daily basis. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, on a 330+ acre campus and arboretum dating back to 1873, Vanderbilt is proud to have been named as one of āAmericaās Best Large Employersā as well as a top employer in Tennessee and the Nashville metropolitan area by Forbes for several years running. We welcome those who are interested in learning and growing professionally with an employer that strives to create, foster and sustain opportunities as an employer of choice.
We understand you have a choice when choosing where to work and pursue a career. We understand you are unique and have a story. We want to hear it. We encourage you to apply today so that you might become a part of our story.
Vanderbilt University is an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Apply To This Job
The Research Manager will focus on the written word and bring strong writing and copy-editing skills and interdisciplinary interests to bear on fast-moving social science topics and complex academic questions. The Research Manager will be expected to lead a dynamic group environment. Subjects will range from happiness studies, politics and economics to behavioral science, social psychology, history, and philosophy. They will fulfill specific research requests in these fields with speed and precision, take ownership of inquiries into unfamiliar topics, and assist with efforts to share PIās findings and conclusions with new audiences. The ideal candidate will demonstrate outstanding research leadership, analytical ability, editorial judgment, with strong interdisciplinary expertise in social science research and well-being studies.
Key Functions and Expected Performance:
Under minimal direction, the Research Manager will oversee the execution of a range of academic and general-audience projects. These will include projects across many domains:
Research, data collection, and analysis
Oversee and guide research design, sampling, data collection for large-scale projects related to the well-being space.
Conduct and supervise quantitative research, including survey construction, data cleaning, coding, and statistical analysis (using STATA or similar).
Identify alternative strategies, refine methodologies, and ensure compliance with campus research standards and human subject protocols.
Lead synthesis of findings to inform scholarly and applied publications, distilling complex data for diverse audiences.
Research management and leadership
Manage all operational aspects of PIās research portfolio, maintaining project plans, deliverable timelines, and documentation across concurrent plans.
Coordinate academic conferences, workshops, and fieldwork.
Supervise, train, and evaluate part-time and full-time research assistants and interns, delegating assignments and providing developmental feedback.
Manage facilitators (approx. 30) of PIās large class
Scholarly writing and public presentations
Substantively contribute to academic papers, journal articles, and presentations.
Draft and edit long-form research memos summarizing current literature in the well-being space.
Ensure editorial quality and conceptual rigor in all research products, maintaining consistent voice and alignment with research objectives.
Deliver guest lectures across the school community and across the country, so as to spread research findings and objectives to the university community and broader public.
Research communications and external engagement
Translate academic research for broader audiences by preparing memos, presentations, and summaries for PIās public talks, media appearances, and institutional partners.
Serve as the core liaison between PIās research team and school centers, labs, and communications offices to circulate findings and share research impact.
Field inquiries related to research products and represent PIās work within the HKS community.
This position has supervisory duties as a direct supervisor of the lab staff & students.
Other duties, as assigned
At Vanderbilt University , our work - regardless of title or role - is in service to an important and noble mission in which every member of our community serves in advancing knowledge and transforming lives on a daily basis. Located in Nashville, Tennessee, on a 330+ acre campus and arboretum dating back to 1873, Vanderbilt is proud to have been named as one of āAmericaās Best Large Employersā as well as a top employer in Tennessee and the Nashville metropolitan area by Forbes for several years running. We welcome those who are interested in learning and growing professionally with an employer that strives to create, foster and sustain opportunities as an employer of choice.
We understand you have a choice when choosing where to work and pursue a career. We understand you are unique and have a story. We want to hear it. We encourage you to apply today so that you might become a part of our story.
Vanderbilt University is an equal-opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Apply To This Job