Research Program Manager – Health Economics, CLEAR

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The Centre for Excellence in Economic Analysis Research (CLEAR) is an academic research organization that provides health economics analysis services to various audiences such as researchers, health care professionals, and decision-makers in Ontario, nationally and internationally. Our mission at CLEAR is to help communicate the value of a health innovation/intervention/program/technology using economic evidence. We are recruiting a determined and well-rounded Research Program Manager who would like to be a part of a team that aims to help create knowledge that facilitate decisions to better society. Our centre regularly collaborates with other research teams at St. Michael’s Hospital such as the Mathematical Modeling for Program Science at the Centre for Urban Health Solutions and the HUB Health Research Solutions. The HUB is composed of three research centres, namely the AHRC (Applied Health Research Centre), CLEAR (health economics), and BREAKTHROUGH (knowledge generation and translation) and provided comprehensive clinical research support spanning a broad range of research methodologies.

Reporting to the Director of CLEAR, the Research Program Manager will interact and collaborate with various stakeholders to enable CLEAR to achieve its mission that will illustrate the value for money of a health intervention of interest. This position will support all business and scientific operations functions related to CLEAR. The Research Program Manager is a key role within CLEAR, and is responsible for the overall administration and day-to-day management of CLEAR, including research quality and process, analytical methods, financial operations, legal operations, marketing/communications, reporting, HR management, risk management, privacy, business process (SOPs), business strategy, business modeling, internal and external stakeholder engagement, and more. The incumbent must be flexible to work beyond the job description at times as work demands. This position will offer the successful candidate a challenging and rewarding career in Health Technology Assessment (HTA) and Health Economics, an opportunity to work in a fast-paced environment with real-world application and impact.

This position requires a willingness and enthusiasm for self-directed learning and to adapt methodological approaches based on relevant research questions, and a willingness to help make analytical approaches a transparent and inclusive process with various knowledge users.

The position involves collaboration with communities (in various sectors), other researchers, health care providers, public health teams, and community members across socio-cultural context including vulnerable populations such as persons living with mental health and addictions.

If interested, please submit your resume and cover letter via the online recruitment process. In your cover letter, please name two research centres that CLEAR is collaborating with at the HUB Health Research Solutions 

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

Research

• Initiate and develop research proposal and protocols
• Supervise, review, and provide methodological and operational input to proposals, protocols, RFP proposal, and reports generated by team members
• Adapt research findings to the development of new research studies
• Conduct administrative and technical research and contributes to professional publications and presentations

Managerial

• Oversight and management for CLEAR projects (e.g., analyses, timelines, budgets)
• Develop and manage team members at CLEAR
• Responsible for training personnel on their roles and compliance with SMH policies
• Day-to-day operations of CLEAR including:
  • Initiate and develop CLEAR budgets and operational plans
  • Budget forecasting and control, accounting, purchasing, and general business functions for CLEAR and CLEAR projects
  • Preparing bids/proposals for grant and industry funding
  • Negotiate terms of financing with outside parties (hospital and industry based)
  • Ensuring compliance with relevant guidelines
  • Responsible for ensuring all staff follow appropriate guidelines for expenses related to CLEAR and CLEAR projects
  • Interface with SMH Finance and others, as needed
  • Oversee CLEAR projects and team
• Participate in strategic and relevant boards and committees, on behalf of Director of CLEAR, as needed
• Report on CLEAR operations, finance, and other aspects of CLEAR work
• Assist in the process of recruiting, hiring, and conducting performance reviews of CLEAR staff
• Coordinate and manage all financial, legal, and contractual agreements and documents for CLEAR and research studies, in collaboration with the SMH Office of Research Administration and/or SMH Legal Counsel
• Be directly involved in developing and negotiating research agreements and strategic alliances with outside parties
• Develop and implement policies, procedures and standards for CLEAR business operations in line with relevant standards and SMH policies
• Liaise with, coordinate, lead and manage internal relationships
• Build and maintain relationships with international academic clinical research organizations, vendors and suppliers, other hospital, institutions, and universities, and research network partners and research sites
• Assist Director with strategic planning for CLEAR, e.g., identify new potential clients and sources of revenue
• Administrative/Support
• Coordinate research grant process
• Develop and/or authorize research study budgets and payment schedules
• Associated scheduling functions such that staffing maintained at efficient and optimal levels (including daily, vacation, and sick time coverage)
• Coordinate meetings regarding finances, budgets, business operations, HR, IT, research studies, and others
• Coordinate meetings with clients, vendors, suppliers, and others
• Other duties as necessary

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Minimum of a Master’s degree in a business related discipline, and/or Health Economics, Health Services Research or Health Technology Assessment with a focus in management
• Experience in Health Technology Assessment and/or Health Economics
• 3-5 years of experience managing research at an operational level
• Experience in strategic management and day-to-day management of growing organization
• Experience in handling and maintaining budgets
• Experience in human resource and financial management
• Experience in drafting, reviewing, and negotiating contracts and agreements
• Experience with directly managing / supervising staff
• Experience in program management an asset
• Value the importance of team
• Demonstrate initiative and willingness to learn new skills and to undertake new challenges
• Able to work independently with demonstrated initiative and self-direction
• Knowledge of statistical and economic analysis, problem solving, and structured approaches to identifying solutions
• Capable of working on multiple projects with various teams and producing quality work under tight timelines
• Effective written and oral communications skills including presentation skills to both technical and non-technical audiences
• Have and recognize the importance of the following skills: problem-solving, organizational, multi-tasking, listening, attention to details, and interpersonal skills (exhibiting professionalism, respect, and cooperation in a team environment)
• Proven ability to respond to a wide variety of issues and deal with unclear situations and conflicting demands
• Demonstrated ability to exercise sound judgment in setting priorities, identify issues, and determine action required
• Must be punctual and have an excellent attendance record
• Knowledge of statistical and quantitative analytical techniques including fundamental understanding of epidemiology principles is an asset
• Technical proficiency in at least one of the following statistical software: SAS, STATA, Microsoft Excel, TreeAge, or R is a great asset
• Experience in project management software (e.g., MS Project), as well as advanced MS Office user is preferred.