OVERVIEW
Reporting to the Dr. Kelly Smith, the Michael Garron Chair in Patient Oriented Research and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), the Portfolio Lead will be an integral part of the Patient Oriented Research (POR) team – a research program that is focused on partnering with patients, caregivers, family members, and members of the community to codesign practical solutions to improve the quality, safety, experience, and equity of care through a health systems research lens. The Portfolio Lead will facilitate the development and implementation of funded research and evaluation programs in patient engagement, patient safety and quality, health equity, and integrated care, all in partnership with patients, family members, and other knowledge users.
Operational activities include creating and managing budgets; development of workplans, tracking, and resource planning; supporting strategic portfolio activities related to the POR Investigators; supporting research staff and students in conducting the daily study activities; and organizing the administrative, ethics and regulatory requirements of research and evaluation studies. This is a unique opportunity to be exposed to the hospital setting, support innovative health research and evaluation, and to play a pivotal role in enabling and mobilizing the outcomes of research and improvement innovations within hospital and community settings.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES
- Support research team (staff and students) in conducting day-to-day research activities across the project life cycle, including initiation and feasibility assessments, creating study materials (e.g., study protocol, Research Ethics Board (REB) application, consent forms, data collection forms), collecting and analyzing research data, reporting results, and study close-out activities.
- Mentor research team in identifying key research questions and developing methodology in accordance with protocol and data analysis plan.
- Train and onboard research team members.
- Provide methodological guidance across projects and lead data analysis activities in collaboration with the research team.
- Oversee scientific projects and operations for research team, including contract agreements, finances, invoicing, resourcing, deliverables and timelines.
- Provide regular progress updates and prepare reports as determined in partnership with the Principal Investigator and in alignment with project and operational reporting requirements.
- Liaise with internal collaborators and enabling services (e.g., Research Operations, REB, Research Finance, etc.).
- Lead and support knowledge translation activities including but not limited to peer reviewed publications, conference proceedings, curriculum development, and engagement of knowledge users and collaborators.
- Contribute to growing and amplifying the impact of the research team, including grant development, strengthening relationships with partners and collaborators, and building and managing new partnerships.
EDUCATION
- PhD in a field relevant to health (e.g., public health, health research methodology, health services research, social sciences) or MSc in related discipline with minimum five (5) years related experience.
QUALIFICATIONS
- 3+ years of experience in managing large and complex health systems research studies, including demonstrated track record of managing projects on-time and within budget, negotiating research awards and contracts, and maintaining research regulatory compliance (including ethics and finance). Experience working and collaborating with diverse communities of knowledge users, including but not limited to, patients, caregivers and community partners, clinicians, healthcare administrators, and government representatives.
- Demonstrated knowledge and application of a variety of qualitative and quantitative evaluation methodologies. Experience with codesign and participatory methods is an asset.
- Demonstrated leadership and professionalism attributes, the ability to work independently and collaboratively in a team environment, including experience with conflict resolution and management, and strong facilitation skills.
- Demonstrated experience managing numerous large study budgets with the ability to advise individual researchers on current grant expenditures and mitigation strategies to optimize fiscal responsibility.
- Thorough knowledge of Canadian and U.S. regulatory requirements.
- Detail-oriented and highly meticulous, even when faced with competing priorities in a fast-paced work environment.
- Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, including the ability to express technical ideas that can be easily understood.
- Must be able to maintain a high level of confidentiality with respect to all aspects of work being performed.
- Familiarity with health care administrative datasets such as CIHI-DAD or NACRS is preferred.
- Able to prioritize responsibilities and organize workload, exercising judgement and creative problem solving, to ensure that timeframes are met
- Commitment to the principles of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-racism.
