Research Coordinator

Job Description

Job Description

Who we are: At Arkana Laboratories, everyone has an important role to fill. Come join us and be a part of a team dedicated to making life better for those who need it most.

This place is packed with super-smart people who do their best work together. We work hard every day to advance our understanding of disease and provide world-class care to our patients in hopes of leaving our corner of the world a little better than we found it. While we are committed to improving the lives of thousands of patients, we never lose sight of the realization that they are the reason we get to create change in our field.

Built on generosity, teamwork, and the freedom to try new things, we take great pride in our work. Great ideas come from everywhere in this company and we celebrate each success and failure for the opportunity it gives us to keep reaching. For more than twenty years after our founder, Dr. Patrick Walker, wrote his goals on the back of a napkin, our people, culture, and values have remained strong.

Arkana's research program sits at the center of our mission, advancing the understanding of kidney disease through federal grants, industry collaborations, and contract research projects. The Research Coordinator provides the administrative and operational backbone for that work, supporting the Director of Research Administration across regulatory compliance, grant submissions, and reporting.

This role touches nearly every part of our research portfolio, from helping investigators navigate IRB approvals to keeping federal grant accounts in good standing to coordinating biospecimen requests from partner institutions. It is a highly visible position that requires discretion, organization, and comfort working across departments.

Regulatory Compliance

• Provide technical assistance to researchers on IRB study approval and modifications, ensuring institutional and investigator compliance and the protection of human subjects
• Assist the Director in assessing and ensuring regulatory compliance among collaborators and sponsors, including federal, state, and private institutions
• Attain and maintain Good Clinical Laboratory Practice and Human Subjects Training certifications

Grants and Contracts Administration

• Assist the Director in monitoring, tracking, and reporting achievement metrics and budgets for grants to principal investigators, Board members, and other leadership
• Assist with effort reporting documentation and time and effort tracking for federally funded or sponsored projects
• Support excellence in the preparation, implementation, monitoring, management, and reporting of multiple grants and contracts across Arkana's portfolio

Systems and Account Management

• Support investigator onboarding into eRA Commons and Login.gov, including account creation, role assignment, and multi-factor authentication setup
• Monitor expiration dates and renewal requirements for federal account credentials, notifying the Director in advance of any lapses

Cross Functional and Research Support

• Work with Finance, Human Resources, and other departments as needed to resolve research hurdles and answer inquiries
• Assist with fulfillment of external biospecimen and materials requests from partner institutions
• Collaborate with the Biorepository Research Coordinator to fulfill medical records requests from Arkana physician researchers
• Support contract research departments, such as clinical trials and biorepository, by packing slides, preparing kits, and coordinating national and international material requests

Communication and Administrative Support

• Communicate with patients and external institutions regarding new or ongoing clinical and research programs at Arkana
• Draft professional correspondence, schedule meetings, and coordinate venue reservations
• Handle sensitive, confidential, or complex information with discretion
• Support the broader Research department as needed and requested by the Director or CSO

• High school diploma or GED, with two years of related administrative experience; experience in a research setting is preferred
• Demonstrated experience formulating and implementing policies, workflows, and procedures
• Ability to take abstract ideas and organize them into a coherent, actionable picture
• Experience managing multiple long-term projects across different clients and stakeholders
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to translate technical, budgetary, and programmatic details for staff, grantees, and leadership
• Working knowledge of human subjects research compliance and federal regulatory requirements
• Proficiency in MS Office, with strong Excel skills required

• Administrative experience with pre-award or post-award management of NIH grants
• Proficiency with myNCBI, iEDISON, ASSIST, eRA Commons, EndNote, or Zotero
• Experience preparing progress reports across multiple projects with different agencies and timelines
• Familiarity with IRB and CAP reporting requirements

This position is onsite at our Little Rock headquarters, Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm, with limited travel required.

What we offer: We know that health is more than doctor visits and life is more than work. We work hard at Arkana but in turn provide competitive salaries and generous benefit offerings.

Specifically, we offer the following benefits to full-time employees:

• Competitive salary
• Generous paid time off and Paid Holidays
• Minimal cost health insurance for you and affordable options for your family
• 401(k) with immediate eligibility and match
• Company-paid life insurance
• Company-paid long term disability coverage
• Affordable vision and dental plans
• Flexible Spending Account or Health Savings Account availability
• Wellness plan and complimentary yoga classes
• Monthly in-office massages and employer-sponsored lunches

Please see Careers for further information.