Behavioural Research Ethics Board (BREB) Manager

Staff - Non Union

Job Category
M&P - AAPS

Job Profile
AAPS Salaried - Research and Facilitation, Level D

Job Title
Behavioural Research Ethics Board (BREB) Manager

Department
Leadership | Research Ethics

Compensation Range
$8,785.08 - $13,703.08 CAD Monthly

The Compensation Range is the span between the minimum and maximum base salary for a position. The midpoint of the range is approximately halfway between the minimum and the maximum and represents an employee that possesses full job knowledge, qualifications and experience for the position. In the normal course, employees will be hired, transferred or promoted between the minimum and midpoint of the salary range for a job.

Posting End Date
May 31, 2024

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.

Job End Date

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career. 

Job Summary

The Behavioural Research Ethics Board (BREB) Manager is responsible for providing strategic direction and leadership with respect to behavioural ethics review at the University.  Reporting to the Director, Research Ethics, the Manager oversees a team of research ethics administrators, and is the key point of contact for the University’s Behavioural Research Ethics Boards (BREB) and behavioural and social sciences research ethics policy.  A key responsibility is to oversee the development and delivery of education and outreach programs concerning research ethics to faculty, staff and students across the UBC campus. This position trains and mentors incoming members of the REB.  The Manger is a non-voting member of the BREB and oversees directly the review and approval of certain behavioural studies. 

The Manager directs and oversees changes in process and guidelines which ensure compliance with national and international research ethics standards and requirements.

Organizational Status

The position reports to the Director, Research Ethics. The position provides advice and direction to the UBC REB Chairs and Managers, as well as to UBC faculty, staff and students concerning compliance with national and international guidelines and regulations
Work Performed

• This position manages BREB administrative staff.  It sets performance expectations and conducts regular staff performance reviews, identifying areas requiring improvement and taking follow-up action as required to address performance problems.
• Consults with faculty, researchers, students and staff throughout the ethics review process to assist in the development and conduct of ethically sound research protocols, providing advice in accordance with international, national, provincial and institutional requirements and best practices.
• Develops and implements policies and procedures to be used by the Office of Research Ethics, REBs, academic administrators, researchers, students and their faculty supervisors.
• Works closely with the RISe services team and consults with UBCs REBs and with Research Ethics BC (REBC) to develop and implement changes to the Provincial Research Ethics Platform (PREP) and the behavioural research ethics application.
• Is a liaison with Research Ethics BC (REBC). This is an important and influential responsibility in terms of ongoing collaboration, harmonization and streamlining of ethics processes at the University, among REBC partner organizations, provincially and nationally.
• Develops and maintains a broad network of professional contacts among post-secondary, funding, industry, government, and not-for-profit partners.
•  Develops recruitment and retention strategies for BREB members.  The manager maintains board membership records and monitors quorum at meetings.
• Serves as a non-voting member of the Behavioural Research Ethics Board.
• Is responsible for review and approval of certain studies delegated by the BREB Chair to staff, in keeping with relevant standard operating procedures and policies.
• Directs staff in the development of education and other programs to increase awareness of research ethics review policies, requirements and best practices.
• Collaborates with the Director, Research Ethics, staff and the REB Chairs to ensure that TCPS2 and other relevant standards are maintained and to facilitate and share best practices and consistency in processes. ensure that the research ethics operations and processes are in compliance with applicable national, international and provincial requirements, and for fostering a culture of compliance amongst staff, researchers and students
• Is responsible for alerting the Director of areas of vulnerability or concern with respect to research ethics and leads efforts to resolve complex and/or high-risk issues during the review and approval of behavioural research at the University. 
• Other related duties as required.

Consequence of Error/Judgement
Inappropriate advice to researchers may result in poorly crafted applications to the REB.  This can negatively impact the review cycle's efficiency, project timelines, and possibly project budgets.  It can also result in reputational risk to the University, and possibly bring harm to research participants.
Supervision Received
Reports to the Director, Research Ethics.  Works with full latitude.  Work reviewed in terms of achievement of long-term goals.
Supervision Given
Manages the Behavioural Research ethics staff, currently a team of four administrative professionals. 
Minimum Qualifications
For research project leadership, a post-graduate degree or an equivalent professional designation is required with a minimum of five years of related experience, including experience in a field of specialization, or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Otherwise, an undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline is required with a minimum of seven years of related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own

- Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with human participant research and research administration, ideally at a large research-intensive institution.
• Knowledge of research methodologies common in the social sciences, humanities and behavioural research.
• Demonstrated success in developing, implementing and analyzing policy.
• In depth knowledge of institutional, provincial, national and international standards, guidelines and regulations pertaining to behavioural research and behavioural research ethics.
• Expertise in developing educational and training material for scholars, researchers, students and staff.
• Expert project-management and problem-solving skills.
• Expert communications skills and demonstrated ability to exercise tact and diplomacy in complex situations. 
• Demonstrated comfort and effectiveness when engaging with senior leaders in a large, complex organization.
• Acknowledged by others as a trusted advisor.
• Demonstrated track record of effective critical thinking, and the ability to analyze and synthesize significant amounts of sometimes conflicting information.