Research Manager.

Purpose
The Research Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operation of CCMI's research, monitoring and coral restoration programs. The role provides leadership for project implementation, field operations, staff supervision and grant administration, and supports the Director of Science in expanding and delivering CCMI's research strategy. The Research Manager is the operational authority for research fieldwork at the Little Cayman Research Centre and is accountable for the safe, compliant and scientifically sound delivery of all research activity in the field.
Research program and project delivery
• Lead the day-to-day operation of assigned research projects, from planning through delivery and close-out.
• Plan and coordinate research field operations, including scheduling, logistics, vessels, equipment, gas and staffing, in conjunction with the operations team.
• Manage project planning, implementation, financial management, reporting and deliverables for assigned projects.
• Support the Director of Science on larger research projects, contributing methods, logistics, budget and feasibility input at proposal stage and taking delivery responsibility once awarded.
• Maintain a forward field calendar that reconciles research, restoration, monitoring, education and visiting researcher demands against station capacity
• Act as custodian of the research data archive: version control, documentation, metadata, secure storage, and deposit of core datasets in agreed repositories.
Coral restoration
• Lead coral restoration activities including nursery management, fragmentation, outplanting, disease response and long-term monitoring of restoration sites.
• Lead restoration planning, reporting and permitting.
• Lead restoration delivery within an expanded programme direction at CCMI, including the transition of restoration reporting from area and count metrics toward measures of ecological function.
• Develop, write and submit grant proposals of up to US$100k per year, and act as named personnel with costed effort on larger awards.

Field operations, safety and compliance
• Hold operational authority for research fieldwork, including the authority to suspend or cancel any activity on safety, weather, equipment or permit grounds.
• Coordinate field teams and scientific diving activities in accordance with CCMI's diving safety programme, working with the designated diving safety function.
• Maintain research equipment to a defined serviceability standard, including scheduled maintenance, calibration records, and removal of unserviceable equipment from service.
• Maintain research permits and ensure all activity, including that of visiting researchers, remains within permit scope. Manage renewals, conditions and reporting obligations in conjunction with the Director of Science.
• Serve as the operational point of contact for visiting scientists and partner institutions, from pre-arrival planning through departure.
• Schedule shared resources including laboratory space, vessels, staff time, and flag capacity conflicts early.
• Maintain records of station use to support fee recovery and to evidence facility utilisation.

Staff leadership and capacity building
• Assist recruiting, training, and supervising daily activities for research interns, and junior staff within the CCMI research group.
• Build field competence in local and regional staff and students, contributing to CCMI's capacity-building objectives.
• Liaise with the operations team for forward planning of accommodation, vessels and logistics.
• Contribute to the interface between research and education programmes, ensuring current science is available to education delivery and that interns receive genuine research training.

Communication and reporting
• Contribute data, imagery, field narrative and results to sponsor reporting, communications and advancement activity.
• Co-author peer-reviewed outputs arising from work led or substantially delivered by the postholder.
• Develop analytical skillset under one or more of the core research group projects with the Director of Science
• Participate in at least one major public science event annually.
• Contribute to the CCMI Research Council as required.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in marine science or related field.
• 3+ years of experience working on coral restoration and/or seagrass ecology
• Demonstrated experience with project coordination for field research teams
• Must be a certified diver with minimum dive certification level of Rescue Diver; AAUS scientific diver certification preferred
• Experience handling and maintaining scientific samples and equipment
• Advanced knowledge of data entry and analysis in Excel and R
• Excellent organizational, communication, and team building skills
• Excellent interpersonal skills and open to direction in a collaborative working environment
• Willingness to work odd hours when required to deliver a program
• Willing to reside on Little Cayman