Manager of Tissue Operations

About the role

As the Manager of Tissue Operations at Sarah Cannon Research Institute (SCRI), you will lead the operational and people aspects of Tissue Operations to ensure timely, high-quality procurement, processing, and management of tissue samples supporting clinical research activities.

Responsibilities

• Provide operational and people leadership for Tissue Operations to ensure timely, high-quality procurement, processing, and management of tissue samples supporting clinical research activities.
• Oversee end-to-end tissue operations, including procurement, receipt, processing, documentation, shipment, and return of fresh and archival specimens.
• Directly manage Tissue Operations staff, including hiring, onboarding, performance management, and professional development.
• Establish clear expectations, accountability, and workload prioritization across the team.
• Ensure appropriate coverage, workload distribution, and operational readiness.
• Owes tissue turnaround time (TAT) performance, including prioritization decisions and intervention strategies.
• Track, trend, and analyze key metrics (e.g., fresh, archival, priority TAT) to drive performance improvement.
• Drive accountability for meeting defined operational targets and service-level expectations.
• Ensure compliance with SOPs, work instructions, sponsor requirements, and regulatory standards.
• Develop, implement, and maintain SOPs and work instructions to support consistent operations.
• Ensure adherence to corporate policies, quality standards, and audit readiness expectations.
• Identify process gaps and implement sustainable workflow improvements to enhance efficiency and reduce delays.
• Partner with internal teams (physicians, research nurses, coordinators, laboratory staff) to ensure alignment on study needs and timelines.
• Coordinate with external partners (pathology labs, sponsors, CROs) to support timely specimen procurement and issue resolution.
• Serve as escalation point for complex or time-sensitive issues impacting specimen flow or study timelines and addresses concerns as needed with leadership and physicians.
• Ensure consistent, high-quality communication and service across internal and external stakeholders.
• Support training, competency development, and ongoing education for the team.

Requirements

For this position, you should have:

• Experience in clinical research, laboratory operations, or tissue/specimen management.
• Knowledge of regulatory, sponsor, and quality requirements related to specimen handling.
• Experience in process improvement and performance metric tracking.
• Experience in operational leadership and team management.
• Experience in process design, workflow optimization, and problem-solving.
• Experience in data analysis and performance tracking.

Qualifications

At least three years of experience in clinical research, laboratory operations, or tissue/specimen management.

Skills

Experience in clinical research operations, including tissue and specimen management workflows.

Benefits

Comprehensive benefits to support physical, mental, and financial well-being.

Pay

This is determined by several factors, including performance, experience and skills, equity, regular job market evaluations, and geographical markets.

Schedule

Not specified.