Careers

Senior Research Manager

Status: Full-time

Location: Remote

Reports to: Sr. Director, Research Operations

The Senior Research Manager is a collaborative, proactive, outcomes-driven and strategic thinker who works with CARRA leadership to shape, administer and manage CARRA’s expanding and varied research portfolio and associated grant and awards programs.

Under the oversight of the Sr. Director, Research Operations, the Sr. Manager must have the ability to communicate effectively with members, staff and external partners. In addition to expertise in effective grants life-cycle administration, the Sr. Manager is expected to be a problem solver with a can-do attitude who is thinking one step ahead. This individual must demonstrate a willingness to stretch their abilities, challenge themselves, be flexible and be responsive to CARRA membership and the organization’s evolving research enterprise.

Responsibilities

  • Ensure that CARRA’s grants management practices and approaches are consistent with organizational goals and values and center on the grantee experience. 
  • Proactively direct and coordinate yearly planning and internal approvals, implementation, communication, and evaluation of the entire research portfolio.
  • Lead CARRA research grant and award committees including the Internally Funded Research Oversight Committee and the Scientific Review Committee; lead meetings, manage members and terms, participate, and operationalize meeting outcome, develop workplans and timelines, and follow up on action items.
  • Ensure that grants and award availability, related processes and updates are communicated thoroughly and effectively each year and across CARRA’s communications platforms, website, and CARRA intranet.
  • Ensure public-facing communications platforms reflect CARRA’s current and past awardee success.
    • Lead a portfolio review process every 5 years. This includes, but is not limited to:
    • Developing formal process recommendations based on best practices, and protocols.
    • Working with identified physician leadership to implement efforts
    • Developing program timelines and workplans
    • Crafting meeting agendas, goals and intended outcomes
    • Gathering data other information for use in review.
    • Drafting a report on outcome to CARRA CEO and CARRA President – no more than 2 months after process completion.
  • Obtain a general understanding for the diseases, types of research and stages of research (T1, T2, T3, T4) conducted by CARRA membership
  • Draft and conduct yearly (past) grantee surveys to better understand outcome of CARRA’s awards and their impact on the field, scientific progress and patients.
    • Draft a report of findings to share with CARRA leadership.
  • Serve as the Proposal Central main contact and lead user for all aspects of CARRA’s research efforts that include all grants, awards, tracking, analyses and evaluation.
    • Understand how to optimize PC for all research funding data analyses and portfolio reviews
    • Facilitate and guide membership, user engagement and adoption of best practices. 
  • Create library of up-to-date SOPs for CARRA’s grant and awards program.
    • Develop (what will become) an annual report for the Sr. Director Research Operations outlining the status of all SOPs and recommendations for yearly review based on program changes and improvements by the end of March 2024.
    • Lead the IROC to establish/review/update guidelines for determining progress, reporting, program impact and performance.
  • Revise the CARRA AF Procedure Handbook on Grants to become the CARRA Procedure Handbook on Grants and Awards by the end of June 2024.
  • Proactively communicate foundation processes and procedures to grantees, applicants, and other external stakeholders; work with staff counterparts as needed; conduct trainings as needed.
  • Manage yearly program evaluation, analyze program outcomes, work with CARRA’s development staff to create donor reports (such as the Arthritis Foundation yearly Intramural Program report)-
  • Manage day-to-day efforts of support staff who support pre award and post-award activities.
  • Develop presentations for CARRA leadership as required and provide input to other presentations and meetings as needed.
  • Perform other research-team related functions in support of a hands-on, highly productive team in support of department and organizational goals, as required.
  • Routinely review and recommend best practices to improve workflow and systems efficiencies.
  • Ability to travel and to represent CARRA at such internal meetings as the Annual Scientific Session (ASM), Registry Retreat and others as needed, and at external meetings such as The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Annual Meeting, Health Research Alliance (HRA) meeting and others.
  • Other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

  • Evidence of successful grants management and project leadership experience.
    • Grants management experience – more specifically a comprehensive understanding the capabilities of Proposal Central.
  • Evidence of successfully working in a collaborative team environment
  • Demonstrated commitment to customer service.
  • Evidence of strong problem – solving abilities and an established record of excellent time management and organizational skills
  • Undergraduate degree
  • Minimum of five years of directly related work experience required.
  • Proficiency in developing scientific reports, manuscripts, presentations, and budgets.
  • Ability to travel up to approximately 7-10 business days a year; some evenings and weekend work may be required.

Skills and Competencies

  • Excellent written and oral communication skills; ability to communicate with scientific peers and the public.
  • Both detail oriented and a big picture thinker
  • Effectively able to multi-task, establish priorities, and work in a fast-paced environment; highly efficient in time management and can meet deadlines under pressure.
  • Superior active listening, observation, analytical, and problem recognition and solving skills.

Compensation

Salary for this position is competitive and depends on experience. IN addition, a comprehensive benefits package is included.

Location

Position is 100% remote.

Please email curriculum vitae and cover letter to [email protected]. Applicant review will continue until the position is filled.