Biological Safety Associate Director and Biological Safety Officer

The Associate Director for Biological Safety and Institutional Biological Safety Officer is part of the Environmental Health Safety and Sustainability (EHSS) organization at Vanderbilt Associate Directoris a key leader responsible for developing and managing researchfocused biological safety programs in EHSS. The Associate Director will act as the universitys Institutional Biological Safety Officer (BSO) as well as the Institutional Contact for Dual Use Research (ICDUR) to fulfill the universitys regulatory and granting agency obligations and will report directly to the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Environmental Health Safety and Sustainability. The Associate Director will be responsible for providing innovative strategic and tactical leadership for a comprehensive biological safety laboratory program providing a safe work environment for all VU research community members preventing loss of life and injury to faculty staff students and visitors protecting the environment and protecting VU property. The program impacts the teaching and research mission of the university and individuals within the university community. The Associate Director has oversight and leads responsibility for university compliance to applicable laws and regulations granting agency requirements and applicable guidance such as that of the National Institutes for Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Associate Director supports the activities of the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) the Institutional Review Entity (IRE) for dual use research and might serve on multiple committees such as workplace safety committee emergency management operations risk management committee etc. The Associate Director maintains extensive and frequent interaction with university research faculty staff and students; Medical Center research faculty and staff; representatives of federal State and local agencies who have a vested interest in EHSS activities; and the broader university community. They will support the success of a highperforming organization by championing and driving efficiency and effectiveness using safety informatics and metrics databases software and technology.

About the Work Unit:

Environmental Health Safety and Sustainability is part of the Facilities department and consists of researchcentric safety services and university sustainability leadership. EHSS is a 20member team that supports a top13 worldclass research university with a community of 27000 faculty staff and students on 12 million square feet of academic administrative residential and recreational space on 330 acres in downtown Nashville TN.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Act as the universitys subject matter expert for biological safety biological materials and dual use research of concern.
• Act as the universitys official Institutional Biological Safety Officer and Institutional Contact for Dual Use Research (ICDUR).
• Act as lead in compliancerelated regulatory inspections or granting agency inspections.
• Collaboratively develop vision mission budget policies procedures and key performance indicators for their area of EHSS at Vanderbilt.
• Act as primary support subject matter expert and voting member of the universitys Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC).
• Establish and maintain productive and collegial relationships with applicable VUMC faculty and staff.
• Manage external relationships with the CDC National Institutes of Health etc.
• Lead the implementation and adoption of EHS Assist software system related to their area of EHSS.
• Ensure regulatory and audit findings are timely and effectively addressed.
• Develop opportunities for improvement in current biological safety services faculty support processes training and information systems.
• Ensure effective biological safety training modules are assigned to appropriate VU faculty staff and students in Oracle Learn provide inperson training sessions when needed and ensure regulatoryrequired training completion data is tracked and reported appropriately.
• Support VU Facilities projects which require biological safety guidance impacting laboratories.
• Set EHSS biological safety and customer service standards to meet customer and administrative expectations.
• Identify and implement best practices and corrective actions across the biological safety program
• Manage and develop standard operating procedures and protocols for laboratory operations to safely manage any highly hazardous operations.
• Develop effective emergency response plans for VU laboratories serve as an emergency responder when needed and provide leadership in any incidents or exposures in their area of EHSS.
• Ensure EHSS staff have appropriate technical and required training.

As a leader in the Environmental Health Safety and Sustainability Team the Associate Director develops and maintains strong collaborative and communicative relationships with the other EHSS teams as well as Vanderbilts research and administrative community and identifies additional ways to be of service and ensure customer satisfaction. This position supports the success of a highperforming organization by championing and driving efficiency and effectiveness through the use of safety informatics databases software and technology.

Supervisory Relationships:

This position will initially supervise 4 professional staff might possibly supervise student interns in the future and may take lead with a team of peers both within and across functions on specific projects. This position reports administratively and functionally to the Assistant Vice Chancellor of EHSS.

Qualifications:

• A masters degree in biology or biomedical engineering is preferred with a masters degree in environmental engineering or health industrial hygiene chemistry safety or other related technical specialty required.
• Certification as a Certified Biological Safety Professional (CBSP) or Registered Biosafety Professional (RBP) is required. Additional certifications are preferred such asCertified Safety Professional (CSP) Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH) Certified Hazardous Materials Manager (CHMM) Professional Engineer (PE) or other applicable certifications.
• 8 years related experience with at least 2 years in a supervisory role is required. 10 years experience including some portion in the university research/laboratory environment strongly preferred.
• Expert knowledge in biological safety and biological materials concepts standards of performance best practices granting requirements and regulations.
• Ability to quickly and effectively respond to emergencies is required.
• Advanced skills in Microsoft and Adobe products such as TEAMS PowerPoint Excel and Word are necessary. Captivate Articulate Oracle or database skills a plus.
• Experience with EHS Assist software is preferred.
• Advanced data management analytical quantitative technical and problemsolving skills required.
• Ability to quickly learn and adapt is required.
• Ability to successfully plan and execute multitask multistaff and multiproject requirements and deliverables to meet objectives and deadlines strongly preferred.
• Must have strong interpersonal communication and customer service skills.
• Ability to build and maintain effective respectful and working relationships in a service oriented environment with a diverse range of people and understand their needs and goals. Exhibiting sensitivity tact and inclusion is required.
• Ability to work effectively with others as a team as opposed to working separately or competitively is necessary as is the ability to understand and appreciate different and opposing perspectives on an issue is required.

Preemployment Screening

Please note all candidates selected for an offer of employment are subject to preemployment background checks which may include but are not limited to based on the role for which they have been selected: criminal history education verification social media review motor vehicle records credit history and professional license verification.