Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Yoga Research Director

🎯 Role Definition

The Yoga Research Director is a senior research leader responsible for conceiving, directing, and scaling rigorous yoga and mind‑body research programs that advance scientific understanding and clinical translation. This role combines expertise in clinical trial design, mixed-methods research, grant development, regulatory compliance (IRB/Human Subjects), team leadership, and stakeholder engagement. The Director will lead multi-site studies, manage budgets and personnel, publish high-impact manuscripts and white papers, and translate evidence into curricula, clinical protocols, and community interventions.

Primary SEO and LLM keywords: Yoga Research Director, yoga research, mind‑body interventions, clinical trials, mixed‑methods, IRB, grant writing, program evaluation, translational science, physiological outcomes.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Research Scientist (behavioral medicine, integrative health, or kinesiology)
Clinical Trials Manager or Clinical Research Coordinator with a focus on mind‑body studies
Program Manager in public health or integrative medicine research

Advancement To:

Director of Research & Innovation (Integrative Health)
Chief Scientific Officer / VP of Research (wellness company or academic center)
Principal Investigator on major multidisciplinary grants and clinical networks

Lateral Moves:

Program Director for Clinical Integration (health system)
Clinical Trials Operations Director (behavioral health or rehabilitation)
Director of Training & Curriculum for Yoga Therapy Programs

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead the strategic vision, design and execution of a portfolio of yoga and mind‑body research projects, including randomized controlled trials (RCTs), pragmatic trials, feasibility/pilot studies, longitudinal cohort studies, and implementation science evaluations to generate high‑quality, publishable evidence.
Serve as Principal Investigator or Co‑Investigator on externally funded grants (NIH, PCORI, foundations) — develop hypotheses, write compelling grant proposals, prepare budgets and justifications, manage submissions, and steward awarded funds to deliver project milestones.
Design and oversee rigorous study protocols for yoga interventions, including standardized intervention manuals, teacher training and fidelity monitoring, dose and progression, comparator arms, and safety monitoring to ensure reproducibility and clinical relevance.
Direct mixed‑methods research integrating quantitative outcomes (clinical scales, physiological biomarkers, actigraphy, imaging) with qualitative interviews, focus groups, and implementation assessments to generate rich, translatable findings.
Manage regulatory compliance and human subjects protection: prepare IRB applications and amendments, maintain study documentation, ensure informed consent processes adhere to policy, and coordinate data safety monitoring boards (DSMB) where applicable.
Supervise and mentor a multidisciplinary research team (research coordinators, postdocs, biostatisticians, data managers, interventionists, community liaisons), setting performance goals, providing career development, and managing hiring and performance reviews.
Develop and maintain robust data collection and management systems: define outcome measures, establish secure databases, ensure data quality control, and oversee data cleaning and codebook documentation for reproducible analysis.
Oversee statistical analysis planning and execution: collaborate with biostatisticians to define primary/secondary endpoints, power calculations, pre‑specify analysis plans, and interpret model outputs for publication and stakeholder reports.
Drive dissemination and knowledge translation: write manuscripts, prepare conference abstracts and posters, produce white papers and practitioner toolkits, and lead media and public engagement to maximize scientific and practical impact.
Build and steward strategic partnerships with academic institutions, health systems, community organizations, yoga teacher training institutions, and industry partners to support recruitment, intervention delivery, and implementation of findings into practice.
Lead participant recruitment and retention strategies for often-hard-to-reach populations: craft culturally informed outreach plans, manage recruitment budgets, and oversee community advisory boards to ensure representativeness and equity in research samples.
Oversee biospecimen and physiological data collection logistics when relevant (e.g., cortisol, blood markers, HRV, actigraphy, EEG/fMRI collaborations), ensuring protocol fidelity and coordination with labs and core facilities.
Manage program budgets, resource allocation, vendor contracts, and procurement for devices, software, and intervention materials; produce financial reports and projections for funders and institutional leadership.
Implement fidelity assessment and quality assurance systems for intervention delivery — develop checklists, conduct session observations, and provide feedback loops to instructors to preserve internal validity.
Lead systematic reviews, scoping reviews, and meta‑analyses when required to synthesize literature, identify gaps, and inform new trial design and grant strategy.
Translate evidence into evidence‑based curricula, training modules, clinical practice guidelines, and digital health products (apps, online programs) to support scale and sustainability of proven yoga interventions.
Oversee community‑based participatory research (CBPR) approaches and culturally responsive methodologies to ensure interventions are acceptable, scalable, and equitable across diverse populations.
Negotiate and manage subawards, memorandum of understanding (MOUs), and contracts with collaborating institutions, ensuring alignment on deliverables, timelines, and data sharing agreements.
Represent the program at national and international conferences, advisory boards, funder meetings, and policy forums to increase visibility, secure funding, and influence integrative health research priorities.
Implement project management best practices (Gantt charts, milestones, risk logs) to keep multi‑site and multi‑component studies on schedule and within scope; troubleshoot delays and reallocate resources proactively.
Ensure high research integrity and reproducibility: pre‑register trials, share code and de‑identified datasets where appropriate, and adhere to reporting guidelines (CONSORT, PRISMA, SRQR).
Evaluate and scale translational and commercialization pathways for validated interventions, including collaborations with product teams, commercialization offices, and external partners.
Lead metrics and impact evaluation for the research program, producing regular performance dashboards and outcomes reports for leadership and funders.
Champion diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) in research design, hiring, participant recruitment, and dissemination strategies to broaden the reach and relevance of findings.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Provide subject-matter expertise for marketing, education, and clinical integration teams to align research outputs with product and service offerings.
Assist development teams in designing user studies for digital yoga interventions and wearables validation.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Advanced competency in clinical trial design and operations (RCTs, pragmatic trials, power analysis, endpoints).
Proven grant writing and fund development skills (NIH, PCORI, foundation grants), including budget development and grant submission workflows.
Expertise in mixed‑methods research: quantitative analysis (linear models, survival analysis, multilevel modeling) and qualitative methodologies (thematic analysis, grounded theory).
Proficiency with statistical and data tools: R, Python, SAS, SPSS, or Stata; experience producing reproducible analysis scripts and version control (Git).
Experience with qualitative analysis software (NVivo, Atlas.ti, Dedoose) and techniques for coding and integrating qualitative and quantitative findings.
Knowledge of human subjects protection, IRB submission processes, and regulatory compliance for multi-site research.
Familiarity with physiological and biomarker collection protocols (salivary cortisol, HRV, actigraphy) and collaboration with lab cores and imaging centers.
Strong data management skills: REDCap, electronic data capture (EDC) systems, secure cloud storage, data dictionaries, and SOP development.
Track record of publishing peer‑reviewed manuscripts and presenting at national/international conferences; experience with manuscript submission and peer‑review processes.
Experience designing and implementing fidelity monitoring, intervention manuals, and training materials for instructors and interventionists.
Budget and financial management skills for grant administration, subawards, vendor contracts, and fiscal reporting.
Competence in evaluation frameworks (RE‑AIM, CFIR) and implementation science methodologies to translate evidence into practice.
Familiarity with open science practices: trial registration, data sharing plans, and reproducible workflows.

Soft Skills

Strategic leadership and vision-setting for multi-disciplinary research programs.
Excellent written and verbal communication tailored to scientific, clinical, funder, and community audiences.
Strong mentorship and team development capabilities; ability to coach early-career researchers and interdisciplinary staff.
Stakeholder engagement and relationship building across academia, clinical partners, community organizations, and industry.
Project management agility with a bias toward outcomes, timelines, and practical problem solving.
Cultural competence and sensitivity when working with diverse populations and community partners.
High ethical standards, integrity, and accountability in research conduct.
Negotiation and contract management skills to align collaborators and protect institutional interests.
Adaptability and innovation orientation to evolve research programs in response to emerging evidence and funding landscapes.
Attention to detail and commitment to data quality, reproducibility, and transparent reporting.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

PhD, ScD, DrPH, or MD with significant research experience in behavioral medicine, integrative health, public health, psychology, neuroscience, kinesiology, or a related field.

Preferred Education:

Postdoctoral training or equivalent experience in clinical trial leadership, implementation science, or translational research in mind‑body interventions.
Additional certifications related to yoga therapy (e.g., IAYT certification) or clinical experience in integrative medicine are a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Behavioral Medicine, Public Health, Clinical Psychology, Neuroscience
Integrative/Complementary Medicine, Rehabilitation Science, Kinesiology
Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Health Services Research

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 7–15+ years of progressive research experience with at least 3–5 years in a leadership role managing complex, multi‑site studies.

Preferred:

Proven record as PI or Co‑I on externally funded clinical trials or large-scale intervention studies.
Demonstrated success publishing in peer‑reviewed journals and translating research to practice.
Experience with multi-disciplinary teams that include clinicians, basic scientists, community partners, and digital product teams.
Prior experience working with vulnerable or underserved populations and implementing culturally responsive research strategies.