Senior Research Program Project Manager

The University of Southern California (USC), founded in 1880, is located in the heart of downtown L.A. and is the largest private employer in the City of Los Angeles. As an employee of USC, you will be a part of a world-class research university and a member of the "Trojan Family".
 

The Office of Clinical Affairs at the USC Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences is seeking a Senior Research Program Project Manager to join its team. The Senior Research Program Project Manager serves as a senior operational leader supporting a portfolio of research, implementation, education, quality improvement, and strategic initiatives focused on patient care, medication safety, healthcare delivery, and pharmacist-led models of care. Working closely with the Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, Principal Investigator(s), faculty leaders, and program leadership, the position independently manages multiple concurrent projects, grants, contracts, partnerships, and program initiatives from planning through completion. The position translates strategic priorities into work plans, timelines, budgets, deliverables, communications, and measurable outcomes; coordinates multidisciplinary teams and external stakeholders; manages grant applications and budgets; facilitates meetings and workgroups; supports outreach and recruitment; and develops practical systems that enable programs to operate efficiently and scale.

CORE EXPECTATION: Own the operational details, anticipate what needs to happen next, follow through without reminders, and keep projects, people, budgets, and deliverables moving.

Essential Responsibilities1. Research, Program, and Project Management

• Independently manage a complex portfolio of concurrent research, implementation, quality improvement, education, partnership, and strategic initiatives.

• Develop and maintain project plans, timelines, milestones, work plans, accountability structures, and systems for tracking deadlines and deliverables.

• Translate program priorities into specific assignments, owners, deadlines, and measurable outcomes; monitor progress and proactively address delays, dependencies, and risks.

• Follow up with faculty, staff, collaborators, vendors, community partners, and other stakeholders to ensure commitments are completed on time.

• Keep leadership informed of upcoming deadlines, outstanding decisions, emerging issues, and recommended next steps; anticipate operational needs rather than waiting for direction.

• Develop workflows, standard operating procedures, tracking systems, and other infrastructure that improve efficiency, accountability, and scalability.

2. Grant Application Management

• Coordinate preparation and submission of federal, state, foundation, industry, health-plan, and other grant and contract applications from planning through submission.

• Develop and maintain proposal timelines; organize application components, internal reviews, approvals, partner contributions, letters of support, and other submission requirements.

• Coordinate investigators, collaborators, department administrators, and other contributors to keep proposal development on schedule and submission-ready.

• Prepare and/or coordinate narratives, tables, attachments, biosketches, support documents, and sponsor-specific requirements as assigned.

• Maintain a forward-looking funding calendar and track opportunities, deadlines, decisions, and follow-up actions.

3. Budget and Financial Management

• Develop detailed proposal budgets and budget justifications, including personnel effort, consultants, subcontracts, travel, supplies, equipment, participant costs, and other allowable expenses.

• Work with investigators and program leaders to translate project plans into accurate, defensible budgets and financial projections.

• Monitor awarded budgets, expenditures, effort, subcontract spending, balances, projections, and financial commitments throughout the project lifecycle.

• Prepare budget summaries and financial status reports; identify potential issues early and recommend corrective action.

• Coordinate with departmental finance, Sponsored Projects Administration, Contracts and Grants, and other University offices to support compliant financial administration.

4. Program Implementation, Operations, and Quality Improvement

• Coordinate implementation of programs designed to improve patient outcomes, medication safety, healthcare delivery, and pharmacist integration into care teams.

• Support scalable models of care and program infrastructure, including onboarding, patient enrollment, administrative coordination, quality reporting, performance analytics, and continuous quality improvement.

• Develop systems for monitoring quality measures, performance targets, participation, timelines, and milestones; organize information needed to assess program effectiveness.

• Identify operational barriers and coordinate practical solutions across organizational boundaries using implementation science when feasible; help translate successful pilots and research findings into sustainable processes and broader implementation.

5. Team Leadership, Meetings, and Stakeholder Coordination

• Coordinate day-to-day operations of multidisciplinary programs involving faculty, researchers, staff, students, residents, pharmacists, community health workers, clinicians, health plans, health systems, community organizations, professional associations, technology partners, and other stakeholders.

• Organize and facilitate project meetings, investigator meetings, steering committees, advisory groups, workgroups, implementation learning sessions, and stakeholder meetings.

• Develop agendas and briefing materials; facilitate discussions; document decisions and action items; assign responsibilities; and ensure timely follow-through.

• Monitor overdue or stalled activities, support committee and workgroup operations, and help move discussions toward decisions and implementation.

• Serve as a key operational resource and build productive working relationships across academic, clinical, governmental, professional, community, and industry settings.

6. Strategic Partnerships, Outreach, and Communications

• Support development and management of strategic partnerships with health plans, health systems, community pharmacies, professional organizations, government agencies, academic institutions, technology companies, and other organizations.

• Coordinate partnership deliverables, meetings, proposals, agreements, follow-up, and tracking of commitments and opportunities.

• Develop and coordinate outreach and recruitment materials for patients, providers, pharmacists, community health workers, pharmacies, healthcare organizations, and research partners.

• Develop newsletters, quarterly and annual reports, presentations, brochures, infographics, webpages, social media content, briefing materials, and other communications; translate complex information for different audiences.

• Support research dissemination, stakeholder engagement, conferences, webinars, learning sessions, and community engagement activities.

7. Education and Workforce Development 

• Coordinate educational and professional development programs involving pharmacists, physicians, residents, students, community health workers, and interdisciplinary healthcare teams.

• Support certificate programs, continuing education, grand rounds, workshops, learning sessions, and related workforce-development activities, including speakers, logistics, materials, evaluations, and reporting.

• Track participation and deliverables and support partnerships that expand workforce education and training.

8. Reporting, Evaluation, and Continuous Quality Improvement 

• Prepare quarterly, annual, sponsor, programmatic, and other progress reports and develop concise dashboards or tracking tools for milestones, financial performance, quality measures, participation, and other indicators.

• Collect, organize, and synthesize information from multiple projects and partners for leadership review; track outcomes and identify gaps and opportunities for improvement.

• Support manuscripts, abstracts, presentations, reports, position papers, and other dissemination products based on project and program findings.

• Recommend and implement improvements to project management, communications, financial management, stakeholder coordination, and operating processes; maintain accurate, organized documentation.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in public health, health sciences, business administration, healthcare administration, project management, pharmacy, or a related field; master's degree preferred.

• Five or more years of progressively responsible experience managing complex research programs, grants, healthcare initiatives, implementation programs, or comparable multidisciplinary projects.

• Demonstrated experience managing multiple concurrent projects with competing deadlines and stakeholders.

• Demonstrated experience developing and managing grant proposal budgets, preferably including federal grants and complex multi-partner proposals.

• Demonstrated ability to independently manage projects from planning through completion, facilitate meetings, track action items, and ensure accountability for deliverables.

• Excellent written and verbal communication, organization, time management, problem-solving, and stakeholder-management skills.

• Advanced proficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly PowerPoint.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with NIH or other federally funded research, proposal development and submission, and sponsored research administration.

• Experience with implementation science, population health, medication safety, health services research, healthcare quality improvement, or related programs.

• Experience working with health plans, health systems, community pharmacies, professional organizations, government agencies, or other healthcare stakeholders.

• Experience with quality measurement, performance analytics, continuous quality improvement, patient/community engagement, or program evaluation.

• Experience developing educational programs, certificate programs, learning collaboratives, or professional development initiatives.

• Experience developing websites, newsletters, social media, reports, presentations, or other public-facing communications.

• Experience with REDCap, Smartsheet, Microsoft Project, Asana, Monday.com, or similar tools; PMP or equivalent project-management training is desirable.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Exceptional project-management and organizational skills; strong initiative and follow-through; ability to anticipate needs and manage multiple priorities; strong financial and budget-management skills; excellent meeting facilitation and stakeholder-convening skills; ability to synthesize complex information and communicate it clearly; strong analytical and problem-solving abilities; sound judgment and discretion; adaptability; and the ability to work independently while maintaining close communication with leadership.

Ideal Candidate and Performance Expectations

The ideal candidate takes ownership, follows through without reminders, understands the substance and strategic importance of the work well enough to anticipate operational needs, and can move comfortably between strategic planning and detailed execution. Success will be reflected in timely grant submissions and reports, accurate budgets, completion of project milestones, effective meetings and stakeholder coordination, high-quality communications, strong partner relationships, and measurable improvements in efficiency, accountability, and scalability.

The annual base salary range for this position is $95,000 - $100,000. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state, and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.

Minimum Education:
Bachelor's degree
Additional Education Requirements
Combined experience/education as substitute for minimum education
Minimum Experience:
3 years of related experience with specialized research and/or programs.
Addtional Experience Requirements
Combined experience/education as substitute for minimum work experience
Minimum Skills:
Related experience with specialized research and/or programs (e.g., counseling, teaching).
Ability to analyze and evaluate data, and present findings.
Excellent interpersonal and written and oral communication skills, able to problem solve and lead conflict resolutions.
Ability to interpret and apply policies/analyses/trends.
Preferred Education:
Master's degree
Preferred Experience:
5 years of related experience with specialized research and/or programs.
Preferred Skills:
Related special education, licensing, or certifications based upon program content and services.
Proven ability to lead and guide others.

                                                  

USC is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law or USC policy. USC observes affirmative action obligations consistent with state and federal law. USC will consider for employment all qualified applicants with criminal records in a manner consistent with applicable laws and regulations, including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for employers and the Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, and with due consideration for patient and student safety. Please refer to the Background Screening Policy Appendix D for specific employment screen implications for the position for which you are applying. 

We provide reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities. Applicants with questions about access or requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process should contact USC Human Resources by phone at (213) 821-8100, or by email at [email protected]. Inquiries will be treated as confidential to the extent permitted by law.

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