The mission of the CTSA Program is to bring more therapies to more patients, faster. In its more than two decades of existence, the Program has grown to over 60 research Hubs and core resources such as the Trial Innovation Network. To help manage and bring cohesion to such a large and distributed structure, NCATS created a coordination center (CC) with the mission to facilitate the work of the collaborative scientific teams, provide logistical support, and ensure a seamless flow of information across the network. The current CTSA CC is the Center for Leading Innovation and Collaboration (CLIC), a grant awarded in 2017. The new CTSA CC, the Coordination, Communication and Operations Support (CCOS), represents a new approach that leverages a contract mechanism, which provides NCATS with more direct control over the priorities of the CC and the ability to pivot nimbly and rapidly to address changes in the strategic priorities for the CTSA. This transition to a contract will bring efficiencies and enable us to deliver what we believe the CTSAs need: a state-of-the-art operational center of excellence that will bring to bear reproducible processes, technological excellence, and a relentless focus on transforming data into knowledge. The transition also brings challenges, which we are addressing by assembling a team with the translational sciences credentials of an academic center, the institutional knowledge of CLIC, and the operational excellence of contractors with the highly relevant experience of managing coordinating centers for large NIH research consortia.