Associate Director, Process & Policy

PCORI•Washington, DC

1d•$165,000 - $185,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is an independent nonprofit organization authorized by Congress in 2010. Its mission is to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed healthcare decisions. PCORI is committed to continually seeking input from a broad range of stakeholders to guide its work. As Associate Director, Process & Policy, you will report to the Director, ALM, and will contribute to leading a high-performing and mission-driven team of staff and contractors (as needed) within both hybrid and remote work models. The mission of Program Operations, including a critical role for the ALM unit, is to enable the success of PCORI funding initiatives by providing leadership, expertise, collaboration, and management across the full award process lifecycle, spurring innovation and optimization, and accelerating progress toward achieving PCORI’s overarching mission for health. ALM responsibilities enable the effective development and implementation of PCORI funding awards across the entire per-award and post-award lifecycle. ALM sub-units include Process & Policy, Systems & Support, Library Strategies & Services, and Communications & Engagement. The Associate Director, Process & Policy will be instrumental in assisting the director in leading ALM’s program and project management functions, providing strategic leadership, collaboration, and/or coordination across PCORI divisions for critical activities including funding opportunity development and release; funding opportunity outreach and communications; post-review funding approval processes; and development and implementation of PCORI funding policies and processes. This position is primarily internally focused, supporting the Director, ALM, and team and helping to foster active collaboration within ALM and across all Program Operations units (Contract Management (CM), Merit Review (MR), Peer Review (PR)), Patient-Centered Research Programs Department divisions (PCRP), and all other divisions of PCORI. The Associate Director, Process & Policy will also support the Director, ALM in evaluation and improvement of current processes to ensure best practices and high achievement regarding industry benchmarks. While the key focus is internal, some external liaising with nonprofit healthcare research funding partners on best practices and innovation in funding practices may be requested by the Director, ALM. This role requires thoughtful, effective management, including mentorship and organization in support of the ALM activities and staff, assisting the Director, ALM in leveraging strengths across the team and fostering productive collaboration. Success depends on the ability to contribute to an environment of trust and respect, evaluate and refine current processes while incorporating effective change management, and enable practices that are understood and used by all. An ability to build strong relationships and collaborations to confidently and effectively interact, engage, and negotiate with PCORI leaders and staff is essential.

Requirements

A minimum of 7 years of experience in research funding programmatic and/or operational leadership, management, and/or execution, ideally working with a variety of research funding models in a health research funding environment.
Master’s or equivalent degree in a relevant field, preferred.
Demonstrated experience in effectively managing staff and leading teams in a collaborative environment.
Mission-driven. You are externally focused and committed to providing the highest level of service while remaining aligned with the mission of the organization
Strategic. You set priorities wisely and make tough resource allocation decisions, always finding a way to forward strategic initiatives while enriching relationships.
Collaborative. You communicate and coordinate effectively at every level. You share information, work cooperatively, seek out relevant, inclusive information, decide on the appropriate steps, and achieve the desired results.
Leader. You are a facilitator and team builder. You set an example of respect, trustworthiness, support, and accountability. You have proven experience coaching, mentoring, and developing staff at all professional levels.
Gravitas. You have a confident and engaging communication style. You can see the big picture, balance priorities, and remain confident and flexible in a high-visibility environment.
Professionalism. Sound judgment and maturity, exemplified by consistent professionalism in working with individuals at all levels, both internally and externally.

Nice To Haves

Master’s or equivalent degree in a relevant field

Responsibilities

Develop and leverage close collaborations across the programmatic divisions of the Patient-Centered Research Programs Department, including 1) Comparative Clinical Effectiveness Research (CER), 2) Engagement, Dissemination, & Implementation (EDI), and 3) Research Infrastructure & Innovation (RII) to effectively implement PCORI’s programmatic goals with respect to PCORI’s National Priorities for Health and Research Agenda.
Contribute to ALM leadership and execution of coordination, collaboration, and development of all new funding opportunity initiatives, creating the environment to gather and exchange information from all key internal stakeholders (e.g., CER, EDI, RII, CM, MR, Office of the General Counsel, etc.).
Support ALM’s collaboration with PCORI’s Communications division to advance award outreach and communications strategies.
Contribute to the refinement of current policies and processes and put in place relevant best practices and/or innovative business procedures and efficiencies that are understood and used by all. Through external work with peers and their research communities, as requested by the Director, ALM, ensure that PCORI is a leading voice and innovator in the nonprofit health research funding sector.
Assist the Director, ALM in collaborating with PCORI’s Planning & Evaluation division to identify methods to track unit, division, and department progress in achieving goals, interpret evaluation findings, proactively report on progress, and incorporate lessons from evaluation activities to adjust associated strategies, policies, and processes as needed.
Contribute to leadership of intra-ALM and cross-functional interactions across all divisions of the PCRP as well as divisions within other PCORI departments (Communications, Planning & Reporting, DIGITAL (IT); Procurement Services; Office of the General Counsel, and others, including but not limited to those listed above).
Serve as a member of the Program Operations leadership team, overseen by the Chief Officer, Program Operations, to contribute to strategies and special projects that improve the division’s work and successfully develop division staff.
As requested, serve as a member or leader on cross-PCORI groups conducting special projects to advance organizational goals.
As a people manager under the Director, ALM, provide additional oversight and support the professional development of a highly effective team of staff and contractors of multiple levels and areas of responsibility to ensure the successful execution of the broad scope of award development and implementation strategies.
Oversee and provide guidance for the effective and collaborative development, refinement, and execution of the PCORI annual funding cycle timeline.
Support the Director, ALM, in ensuring consistency, efficiency, and efficacy in the development of funding opportunities for research and research-related projects. This includes a broad range of activities such as engagement in PCORI Research Project Agenda Topic Themes development; process refinement for internal Funding Opportunity Plan development and approvals; and process refinement for PCORI Funding Announcement development, approvals, and release. Provide keen attention such that all process requirements are value-added, balancing the needs of staff and applicants.
Maintain close collaboration with the Associate Director, Systems & Support and team to ensure that PCORI’s existing or new technological functionalities (e.g., Award Management System set-ups) meet the requirements of upcoming funding announcements and the award funding lifecycle overall.
In partnership with the Director, ALM, provide leadership, guidance, and support for cross-division meetings and other modes of effective internal communication to advance collaborative award development and implementation to achieve programmatic goals.
Enhance collaborative outreach and communications strategies with respect to PCORI funding opportunities through support of ALM’s communications-related activities and active collaboration and partnership with PCORI’s Communications division.
Partner with the Director, ALM, to oversee and support activities to develop, maintain, or refine workforce or other needs of the team.
Interact effectively with all members of ALM (including staff, third-party workers, and interns), members of the PCORI senior staff and PCORI staff at all levels, and external stakeholders/sector leaders, as requested.
Foster, support, and align with the Program Operations goal of proactively cultivating, through actions and attitudes, a culture of support, synergy, respect, trustworthiness, and accountability with all PCORI leaders and staff.
Support the Director, ALM, in leading the identification, formulation, revision, implementation, and compliance monitoring of PCORI policies and procedures relating to the broad scope of award development and implementation activities.
Develop or refine coordination and/or collaboration processes to ensure that policies are effectively informed by and communicated to all internal (and external, as appropriate) stakeholders.
Support the Director, ALM, in collaboration and/or partnership as needed with the department of Strategy, Planning, & Outreach or other internal groups as stakeholders in PCORI policies and procedures.
As necessary and at the request of the Director, ALM, represent PCORI at relevant sector events, including the research communities, and promote our unique patient-centered approach to merit review.
Incumbent(s) in this position may be required to perform other duties and special assignments not specifically stated above.