Senior Manager, Research Operations

Job description / Role

Job: Senior Manager, Research Operations
Work Location: Qatar
Organization: WCM-Q, Research Division
Work Days: Sunday-Thursday
Sponsorship Eligibility: Yes
Classification: Full Time
Posting End Date: 05/26/2025

Position Summary
The position is responsible for research grants financial and operational aspects, ensuring compliance with guidelines, developing budgets, approving changes, overseeing financial planning, and collaborating with PIs, finance teams, and staff for effective management and reporting.

Job Responsibilities
- Develop comprehensive budget development pre-award guidelines to ensure all grant proposals comply with sponsor rules and internal policies.
- Approve all budget proposals for submissions for pre-award vetting.
- Reviews and approves grant-related changes, including sub-award modifications, sub-award invoice payments, and position requisition requests for both academic non-faculty and non-academic roles.
- Oversee the financial aspects of grants, reviews and approves including supporting the development of labs forecasting for short—and long-term planning, which aids decision-making.
- Oversee and approve interim and final reports prepared for submission to external funding agencies, including annual grant sponsor reporting and year-end financial adjustments.
- Ensures accurate personnel cost allocation in alignment with the college and sponsor guidelines.
- Conducts internal quality assurance review of financial transactions to ensure compliance with financial policies and procedures and ensure integrity and reliability of the financial figures.
- Monitors budget performance, proactively identifying potential risks and recommending solutions. Identifies irregularities across a variety of funding sources and budget year-end dates and spending restrictions.
- Build relationships with PIs, lab managers, grants and contracts, and central administration teams.
- Collaborates with the finance division to ensure the correct financial support of research faculty and prompt and accurate financial reporting.
- Regularly engages with PIs to identify staffing needs and initiate and track recruitment and offboarding of research staff.
- Lead and mentor the research operations team, ensuring effective work distribution, prioritization, and timely completion of tasks and reporting.
- Develops, implements, and monitors internal departmental policies and procedures and makes recommendations for improvement.
- Manages the development of research operations reports and maintenance of research metrics and KPIs.
- Work closely with the research technology team to assess, test and enhance applications related to research operations.
- Performs other duties as assigned.

Education and Experience
- Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business Administration or related discipline
- 9 - 10 years of relevant experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
- Extensive knowledge of budgeting, financial management, and grant management, preferably in higher education or a research-intensive organization.
- Strong analytical and planning skills with a proven track record in budget management.
- Demonstrated leadership skills and ability to influence and motivate constituencies.
- Strong customer orientation with advanced organization skills and a process improvement mindset.
- Proficient in MS Office Suite of products Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc.
- Well-versed in written and spoken English (preferably bilingual Arabic speaker).










Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar was established in 2001 as a partnership between Cornell University and Qatar Foundation (QF). The first medical school in Qatar and a pioneer of coeducation at the university level, WCM-Q offers an integrated Six-Year Medical Program that incorporates pre-medical and medical studies and leads to the Cornell University M.D. degree.

Teaching is by Cornell and Weill Cornell faculty, including physicians at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) who hold Weill Cornell appointments. Enrollment has grown rapidly from 25 first-year pre-medical students in the fall of 2002 to over 300 students from more than 30 countries today.

WCM-Q is part of Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, which was founded over 100 years ago, and shares the same mission:



to provide the finest education possible for medical students

to conduct research at the cutting edge of knowledge

to improve healthcare both now and for future generations

to provide the highest quality of care to the community



WCM-Q’s home city is Doha, a thriving cosmopolitan metropolis with a culturally diverse population, a rapidly growing economy, and modern infrastructure. WCM-Q is a member of Qatar Foundation, a not-for-profit organization with multiple centers focused on education, research and innovation, and community development. WCM-Q is located within Education City, the flagship development of QF, which occupies more than 12 square kilometers and is home to some of the world’s leading educational institutions, including Hamad Bin Khalifa University, and overseas campuses of elite universities, such as VCUarts Qatar, Texas A&M University at Qatar, Northwestern Qatar, Georgetown University in Qatar, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, and HEC Paris in Qatar.



Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Minorities/Females/Vet/Disabled employer.

About the Company

Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar was established in 2001 as a partnership between Cornell University and Qatar Foundation (QF). The first medical school in Qatar and a pioneer of coeducation at the university level, WCM-Q offers an integrated Six-Year Medical Program that incorporates pre-medical and medical studies and leads to the Cornell University M.D. degree.

Teaching is by Cornell and Weill Cornell faculty, including physicians at Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) who hold Weill Cornell appointments. Enrollment has grown rapidly from 25 first-year pre-medical students in the fall of 2002 to over 300 students from more than 30 countries today.

WCM-Q is part of Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City, which was founded over 100 years ago, and shares the same mission:

• To provide the finest education possible for medical students
• To conduct research at the cutting edge of knowledge
• To improve healthcare both now and for future generations
• To provide the highest quality of care to the community

WCM-Q’s home city is Doha, a thriving cosmopolitan metropolis with a culturally diverse population, a rapidly growing economy, and modern infrastructure. WCM-Q is a member of Qatar Foundation, a not-for-profit organization with multiple centers focused on education, research and innovation, and community development. WCM-Q is located within Education City, the flagship development of QF, which occupies more than 12 square kilometers and is home to some of the world’s leading educational institutions, including Hamad Bin Khalifa University, and overseas campuses of elite universities, such as VCUarts Qatar, Texas A&M University at Qatar, Northwestern Qatar, Georgetown University in Qatar, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, and HEC Paris in Qatar.