Scientific Research IT Project Manager

Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center:  Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery, and patient care, VUMC is a community of individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded, and your abilities challenged. Vanderbilt Health is committed to an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and where your uniqueness is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt’s mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research.

Organization:

VICTR

Job Summary:

SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IT PROJECT MANAGER

This is a full-time/exempt term position lasting six months to one year.

JOB SUMMARY
In your pivotal role as a Scientific Research IT Project Manager, you will identify appropriate resources needed and develop schedules to ensure timely completion of projects. Communicates with Principal Investigator and across appropriate health sciences departments to maximize information sharing around progress, needs, interdependence and/or accomplishments. Coordinates the activities of the team by becoming familiar with system scope and project objectives, as well as the role and function of each team member. Implements small development projects or components of large projects. Coordinates activities of best practice maintenance, clinician guidance documentation and engagement, gap analysis, project team, project development and timeline management, special projects, quality control of deliverables and standardization of processes toward more effective and efficient operations. Ability to solve medium to complex problems.

This role requires an approximate 25% travel commitment for attending in-person meetings.

About the Department
The Vanderbilt Institute for Clinical & Translational Research (VICTR) is Vanderbilt’s virtual home for clinical and translational research. Supported by Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Office of Research and the NIH-sponsored Clinical and Translational Service Award (CTSA), the mission of the institute is to transform the way ideas and research discoveries make their way from origin to patient care. VICTR functions to help researchers and clinicians do their jobs better by providing tools and support to improve the quality of research, publications, grant writing, and training for future doctors and researchers. For more information, please visit https://victr.vumc.org/.

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KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

·       Facilitate between executive level stakeholders and technical/engineering teams to define business requirements and translate into technical requirements/acceptance criteria. 

·       Coordinates and oversees all phases of the project or service line responsibilities

·       Utilizes scientific knowledge and quantitative and qualitative research skills to perform a variety of technical operations related activities, including data management, analysis of quantitative and qualitative data, report/presentation, preparation and management of budgets and schedules for proposals and projects.

·       Leverages a transdisciplinary team science approach when appropriate to drive forward project elements and communications, and identifies appropriate resources needed and coordinates the curation of scientific evidence.

·       Ensure timely completion of tasks in line with project objectives.

·       Provide customers and leadership support through project management.

·       The responsibilities listed are a general overview of the position and additional duties may be assigned.

 

TECHNICAL CAPABILITIES

Project Planning, Coordination and Development (Intermediate):

• Demonstrates ability to forecast complex resource needs, identify and break work down into discrete and measurable tasks, set priorities, define dependencies, schedule activities, prepare acceptance criteria and organize work for one or more large projects.

• Demonstrates proficiency in providing professional and scientific guidance in the execution of day-to-day research project activities. Plans and maintains schedule of research projects and timelines.

• Develops research protocols and prepares draft/final study protocols for studies under occasional guidance.

• Monitors budgetary requirements and aims of the funding award.

• Identifies gaps in processes and potential areas for improvement.

• Participates in meetings as required with sponsoring agencies and/or collaborating professionals and vendors. Communicates as needed with colleagues, leadership, Principal Investigator, collaborating professionals, the Human Research Protection Program, the scientific community, and others.

• Plans for and anticipates events outside of immediate responsibility.

• Anticipates problems and obstacles before they arise.

Project Management (Intermediate)

• Provides project management leadership through active team engagement, effective goal setting, proactive risk assessment, delegation, hands-on involvement and communication.

• Performs project tracking and reporting relative to task completion dates, dependency effects, problem anticipation, schedule conflicts, and assignment to appropriate staff for resolution.

• Manages prioritization procedures for changing scope [i.e., change management] and project acceptance procedures. Measures progress toward goals and revises project objectives and documents applying change control procedures.

• Assumes responsibility [as appropriate] for resolving issues and seeing work through to successful completion.

• Demonstrates comprehensive understanding in developing and communicating appropriate project documentation, including project overview, scope, team structure, status reports, issues management reports, change control reports, meeting notes, etc., as required in a timely manner.

• Coordinates and may lead steering committee, project team and work group meetings,

• as required.

• Trains and directs activities of the project team, on project related templates and toolsets.

• Develops methods to measure customer satisfaction and obtains feedback at critical milestones and at project completion to ensure project efforts meet customer expectations.

• Ensures compliance with regulatory agencies including meeting deadlines, when applicable.

• Ensures that regulations and SOPs are followed in all activities.

Project Communications (Intermediate):

• Manages project status, including management of project website, consistent status reporting, and presentations, and communicates to team members and executive staff.

• Demonstrates mastery of project communications in practical applications of a difficult nature.

• Effectively transmits technical and business ideas and information to others, including non-technical audiences.

• Shares knowledge, ideas and information openly, and effectively sells new ideas and influences others.

• Possesses sufficient knowledge, training, and experience to be capable of successfully delivering project communications without requiring support and instruction from others.

 

Project Issues Management (Intermediate):

• Demonstrates mastery of Issues Management in practical applications of a difficult nature.

• Identifies, documents, and manages project issues and escalates, as appropriate, to achieve timely resolution.

• Adept at identifying issues before they become problems and assigning those issues to the right people at the right time.

• Possesses sufficient knowledge, training, and experience to be capable of successfully managing internal project issues without requiring support and instruction from others.

• Able to anticipate and resolve unplanned project issues as they arise.

Data Management (Intermediate)

• Serves as the data resources advisor on projects. 

• Demonstrates technical expertise in understanding the structure of diverse biomedical data types and defining or collaborating with scientific stakeholders to define modeling and validation requirements. 

• Works with engineering teams and technical stakeholders to define data processing lifecycles, deliverables, and access requirements. 

• Collaborates with research support and knowledge management teams to document data models, data transformations, and access requirements. 

• Collaborates with research support and knowledge management teams to develop end user support materials. 

• Provides direction for data analysis/QC, performs data interpretation, and communicates results.

• Evaluates significance of data and reports findings. Updates database(s), or provides information as case may be, on a daily basis.

• Ensures integrity and security of scientific data. Ensures compliance with regulatory agencies, including meeting deadlines.

PREFERRED SKILLS   

• Master's degree or PhD preferred in appropriate scientific discipline                        

• Biomedical industry experience                         

• IT project management experience with the ability to manage a timeline            

• Excellent written and oral communication skills                        

• Excellent organizational skills

 

Additional Information:

This is a term position. A term position is a staff position that exists for a period longer than six months but is not expected to last beyond one year. Although a position may exist for a specified or indefinite period, staff who accept term positions are not guaranteed employment for the entire period; they are employed for indefinite periods within the limit of the appointment. There are no guarantees of continued employment, either within the term or when the term ends.  This position may also have the opportunity to work remotely.

Core Accountabilities:

Organizational Impact: Executes job responsibilities with the understanding of how output would affect and impact other areas related to own job area/team with occasional guidance. Problem Solving/ Complexity of work: Analyzes moderately complex problems using technical experience and judgment. Breadth of Knowledge: Has expanded knowledge gained through experience within a professional area. Team Interaction: Provides informal guidance and support to team members.

Core Capabilities :

Supporting Colleagues:- Develops Self and Others: Invests time, energy, and enthusiasm in developing self/others to help improve performance e and gain knowledge in new areas.- Builds and Maintains Relationships: Maintains regular contact with key colleagues and stakeholders using formal and informal opportunities to expand and strengthen relationships.- Communicates Effectively: Recognizes group interactions and modifies one's own communication style to suit different situations and audiences. Delivering Excellent Services:- Serves Others with Compassion: Seeks to understand current and future needs of relevant stakeholders and customizes services to better address them.- Solves Complex Problems: Approaches problems from different angles; Identifies new possibilities to interpret opportunities and develop concrete solutions.- Offers Meaningful Advice and Support: Provides ongoing support and coaching in a constructive manner to increase employees' effectiveness. Ensuring High Quality: - Performs Excellent Work: Engages regularly in formal and informal dialogue about quality; directly addresses quality issues promptly.- Ensures Continuous Improvement: Applies various learning experiences by looking beyond symptoms to uncover underlying causes of problems and identifies ways to resolve them. - Fulfills Safety and Regulatory Requirements: Understands all aspects of providing a safe environment and performs routine safety checks to prevent safety hazards from occurring. Managing Resources Effectively: - Demonstrates Accountability: Demonstrates a sense of ownership, focusing on and driving critical issues to closure.- Stewards Organizational Resources: Applies understanding of the departmental work to effectively manage resources for a department/area.- Makes Data Driven Decisions: Demonstrates strong understanding of the information or data to identify and elevate opportunities. Fostering Innovation:- Generates New Ideas: Proactively identifies new ideas/opportunities from multiple sources or methods to improve processes beyond conventional approaches.- Applies Technology: Demonstrates an enthusiasm for learning new technologies, tools, and procedures to address short-term challenges.- Adapts to Change: Views difficult situations and/or problems as opportunities for improvement; actively embraces change instead of emphasizing negative elements.

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Vanderbilt Health is committed to fostering an environment where everyone has the chance to thrive and is committed to the principles of equal opportunity.  EOE/Vets/Disabled.