Project Manager, Research Participant Recruitment

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Bargaining Unit:
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 35
• Standard Work Schedule:
• Building:
• Salary Range: $91,000-$110,000

Position Summary

The Project Manager, Research Participant Recruitment oversees the strategic planning, evaluation, implementation, and optimization of participant recruitment practices across the clinical and translational research ecosystem at CUIMC. Positioned in the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research, the Project Manager will serve as the central liaison between faculty leadership, research teams, clinical staff, patients, and community partners to ensure best practices in patient recruitment and compliance with highest ethical standards.

The incumbent will support Columbia’s drive to expand clinical research participation with our community and through the Optimizing Patient ENgagement (OPEN) in Research Initiative. The Recruitment Manager will work closely with Columbia and tripartite administrative teams and faculty leadership to coordinate, implement, and manage policies and practices in direct-to-patient recruitment. Communicating to multiple audiences, the Project Manager will share best practices, data-driven metrics, and compliance requirements with all relevant internal and external stakeholders.

Responsibilities

Recruitment Policy and Strategic Planning

• Working with faculty and research administration leadership, the Manager will build upon the work of the Optimizing Patient Engagement (OPEN) initiative to provide clear policy and guidance on direct-to-patient recruitment practices.
• Coordinate group meetings with research administration leadership and teams, providing regular updates on recruitment activities, metrics, and areas for improvement.
• Collaborate with various teams in the evaluation and implementation of emerging recruitment technologies, including Epic-based research tools, trial management tools, screening software, and patient engagement platforms.
• Assist in the development of a participant recruitment service which may include coordination with informatics teams, clinical shared services, research administration staff, research personnel and faculty from across CUIMC.

Data & Reporting

• Work with research informatics teams to maintain accurate recruitment tracking databases used for continuous evaluation and quality improvement.
• Maintain accurate documentation of research activities and team deliverables.
• Contribute to study status reports and required institutional updates.
• Assist in coordinating recruitment feasibility assessments and data validation to support study start-up, sponsor and IRB submissions,

Training

• Onboard new research staff and ensure familiarity with CUIMC clinical research ecosystem and recruitment processes.
• Deliver or support protocol-specific training and refresher sessions.
• Assist in developing and updating training materials or reference documents.
• Promote consistent adoption of best practices and learning among junior staff.

Operational Support & Communications

• Provide operational support in the implementation of new workflows, pilot programs, standard operating procedures (SOPs), and operational enhancements.
• Maintain central information hub for direct-to-patient recruitment policy, best practices, templates, and guidance for research and clinical communities.
• Assist in translating operational plans into actionable tasks, timelines, and deliverables.
• Coordinate across stakeholders to support adoption of new processes and ensure operational readiness.
• Serve as a central point of contact to support recruitment and retention plans focused on equitable, patient-centered engagement and navigation of the CUIMC research ecosystem.
• Conduct consultations with research study teams looking to utilize direct-to-patient recruitment strategies and working with clinical data navigators and the IRB to inform the requirements for teams.
• Keep current on industry standards for policy and best practices in participant recruitment so that they can advocate for and operationalize changes within the CUIMC research ecosystem.
• Working with the Office of Community Health (OCH) and faculty leadership to facilitate community engagement practices including presentations to participant, patient, and community advocacy groups.

Minimum Qualifications

Bachelor’s Degree and/or Advanced Degree in relevant health sciences field

• Minimum of 4 years of relevant clinical research experience required, including in an academic/ medical setting.
• Must possess strong critical thinking and analytical skills, customer-service orientation, with the ability to interact and collaborate positively, constructively, and effectively with multiple stakeholders.
• Capacity to work independently and successfully within a team in a deadline-driven, multi-tasking environment. Ability to handle multiple projects and apply judgment to prioritize projects and tasks.
• Strong commitment to fostering equity.
• Skilled with Microsoft Office, especially Excel, Word, Teams, PowerPoint, OneDrive, SharePoint
• Ability and willingness to learn new systems and programs.
• Strong oral and written communication skills.
• Strong understanding of clinical research systems, protocol development, as well as regulatory and compliance activities including HIPAA, Good Clinical Practice (GCP), IRB and others

Preferred Qualification

• Bi-lingual (Spanish and English)
• Supervisory experience
• Experience and knowledge of medical terminology specifically related to research domains.
• Familiarity with Columbia health and research systems.
• Experience supporting research innovation, operational transformation, or pilot initiatives.
• Proven track record in fostering cross-functional collaboration among research, clinical, regulatory, and operational teams.
• Experience with electronic medical records and/or research data entry, including Epic, REDCap, Qualtrics, iLab, or OpenSpecimen.