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Working Title: Research Project Manager

Classification: Research Professional 4 (8352P4)

This is a temporary, full-time, grant supported position working 40 hours per week and expected to last through September 29, 2022 with the possibility of extension based on satisfactory performance, availability of work, and departmental funding.

The Department of Family Medicine and Community Health is seeking a full-time Research Project Manager to oversee execution of a Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) grant focused on strengthening integrated services for medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder in primary care. This grant is currently supporting two research studies:  1) a longitudinal, contingency management intervention study, and 2) a pilot behavioral activation study, which are being conducted by Dr. Robert Levy (the Principal Investigator).  This position also oversees two additional ancillary studies, for a total of four research projects. This position will provide professional guidance regarding the conduct/flow of the research projects and is critical in the design of research processes.  Additionally, this role will support grant goals related to Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services at Broadway Family Medicine Clinic. The clinic, located in North Minneapolis, has been providing MAT services for 10 years; this is the 3rd DHS grant that is supporting expansion, dissemination, and evaluation of our program.

This incumbent will work closely with two faculty investigators at Broadway Family Medicine, as well as other faculty and residents in our family medicine residency program and will play a leadership role in the overall project management, disseminating results, and managing strong and regular communication with and between the academic team and community partners. Additionally, the incumbent is responsible for designing and implementing data collection for program assessment and producing journal manuscripts and conference presentations.

Responsibilities include:
• Working in coordination with the Principal Investigator, oversee all aspects of research studies, including planning, protocol creation, budget management, meeting timelines, etc.
• Provide day-to-day management oversight and directs data collection and storage.
• Collaborate with pre and post award grant staff/accountants in planning accurate budgets, creating research agreements, and issuing contracts and reimbursements.
• Manage and direct communications and reporting between research teams, including co-investigators, analysts, and study staff.
• Oversee dissemination plans for all research studies.

Position Responsibilities

20% - Project Management and Communication

• Ensure the overall project schedule and planning align the resources when and where needed to meet deliverables and planned study milestones.
• Maintain and strengthen systems to ensure high-quality data collection and high rates of participant retention.
• Manage and monitor study budget and needs, including contracts and invoicing.
• Facilitate communication across our team, comprised of academic and community partners.
• Work with community partners and primary care clinics to facilitate recruitment and retention of study participants.
• Initiate contacts with community partners to assist with dissemination.
• Stay up-to-date on best practices in addiction medicine in primary care settings.
• Provide data for IRB reporting, sponsor reports (including DHS), and ClinicalTrials.gov.

35% - Data Management and Monitoring

• Hire, train, supervise, and mentor research staff; provide detailed guidance and supervision on collection of assessment measurements.
• Oversee primary data collection with other team members.
• Lead monthly team meetings with study team to review research projects and timelines.
• Develop and continuously update data collection materials and protocols.
• Implement and enforce protocols to protect confidentiality of Human Subject data.
• Maintain and update the databases and monitor to insure data integrity and quality.
• Perform quality checks on data and monitor all processes.
• Maintain and manage all electronic and non-electronic data.

20% - Project Dissemination

• Mange the overall dissemination plan of all research studies.
• Mentor students and other partners who are new to participating in academic dissemination.
• Manage and contribute to scholarly work, including the preparation of research manuscripts and conference presentations.
• Work with a range of community stakeholders to improve access to MAT services.
• Work with academic and community team to develop sustainable support for MAT services.
• Work with a diverse set of community stakeholders to develop messages and communicate study findings.
• Work with technical writers and graphic designers to translate research and findings into formats for a variety of non-academic audiences.
• Contribute to the development and realization of the study dissemination goals.
• Keep up-to-date list of supplementary funding options and coordinate applications to these funding mechanisms.

10% - Retention

• Implement a continuous improvement strategy to support participant retention plan to ensure minimal participant loss to follow up.
• Refine protocols for participant tracking and locating hard-to-reach participants.
• Ensure adequate staffing and scheduling to meet follow-up visit goals.

5% - Supervisory

• Primary contact for HR-related contacts for project staff and students.
• Oversee the interviewing, hiring, training, and evaluation of direct reports.
• Partner with the faculty lead and the Department HR office on resolving complex employee relations issues as needed.

5% - Technical Expertise

• Responsible for all aspects of data collection and management.
• Responsible for running the contingency management program and empowering patients to stay active in treatment for their substance use disorder.
• REDCap database management.
• IRB reporting processes.
• Gather data for and compile periodic reports for sponsors (e.g., DHS).
• Experience using SlicerDicer and BOELaunchPad in Epic portal to generate reports.
• Library resources, including tools for literature reviews and data repositories.

5% - Study Regulatory Requirements

• Assure that all IRB, state, and other pertinent regulations are adhered to, including training faculty and staff.
• Assist in IRB submissions including updating consent forms, complete continuing reviews, and ongoing reporting documents as required.

Other duties as assigned.

All required qualifications must be documented on application materials.

Required Qualifications

• BA/BS in psychology, behavioral sciences, public health, or related field, with at least five (5) years of research experience or an advanced degree and three (3) years of experience, or a combination of education and experience to equal nine (9) years.
• Two (2) years of experience in addiction medicine and/or opioid use disorder research.
• Experience managing multiple large-scale research studies.
• Expertise in research project design and implementation.
• Experience with in-person data collection with adults in clinical settings.
• Strong knowledge of survey design and analysis.
• Experience with developing and evaluating processes for participant recruitment and retention.
• Detail-oriented with exceptional organizational and planning skills.
• Demonstrated ability to lead projects, set and maintain deadlines, and prioritize assignments.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability to independently conduct exhaustive literature reviews and independently write scientific journal articles that are ready to be submitted to professional, peer-reviewed journals.
• Experience in creating conference presentations/posters and preparing detail-oriented reports to grant funders (involving quantitative data analysis and report writing).
• Creative thinking and problem solving skills.
• Ability to work independently as well as part of a team.
• Ability to explore and initiate partnerships with community partners, connect our research team with other organizations working in this area, explore possible collaboration, facilitate communication and teamwork, and strengthen synergy among working groups.
• Expertise in managing large budgets, involving numerous stakeholders and research team members.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s Degree or PhD in psychology, behavioral sciences, public health, or other social science field.
• Experience working in Family Medicine or Community Health setting.
• Experience supervising a large team, including being responsible for hiring, directing work, performance review, etc.
• Proficiency in REDCap data management system.
• Experience with collecting data from diverse participants.
• Expertise in qualitative research methods, including study design, data collection (e.g., semi-structured interviews and focus groups), data analysis, report/manuscript writing of qualitative projects.
• Extensive record of academic publications, including as a first author.
• Familiarity with SAMHSA or NIH grant mechanisms and experience preparing grant proposals.
• Experience working on a multi-disciplinary team.
• In-depth knowledge of Human Subjects Protections and Good Clinical Practices.
• Data management skills.