Research Project Manager

University of Texas at Austin•Austin, TX

1d•$73,515•Hybrid

About The Position

Dell Medical School is seeking a Research Project Manager. The Research Project Manager plans, coordinates, and oversees moderately complex research projects to ensure successful delivery of scope, timeline, quality, compliance, and budget objectives. This role typically reports to a Director of Research Operations, Principal Investigator, or Research Administration leader and works closely with investigators, physicians, scientists, biostatisticians, regulatory staff, finance, grants administration, and operational stakeholders. Acting as the central point of accountability, the Research Project Manager translates scientific and operational objectives into executable project plans, manages cross-functional dependencies, mitigates risk, and ensures compliance with institutional, sponsor, and applicable regulatory requirements. Projects may span clinical research, translational and bench research, population health, health services research, quality improvement initiatives, and grant-funded academic studies.

Requirements

Requires a Bachelor's Degree in Health Sciences, Life Sciences, Business, Public Health, or a related field with at least 3 year(s) of experience in research project management, research coordination, or healthcare operations experience.
Demonstrated experience supporting multi-stakeholder research or clinical initiatives, including timelines, documentation, and compliance activities.
Plans, prioritizes, and balances multiple projects to deliver results on time and within scope.
Develops comprehensive research project plans.
Manages competing priorities across studies.
Adjusts plans proactively based on risk and change.
Establishes efficient systems and structures to manage work effectively.
Creates detailed timelines and work plans.
Anticipates downstream impacts of decisions.
Maintains accurate project documentation.
Designs and improves processes for efficiency and quality.
Standardizes research workflows.
Identifies operational bottlenecks.
Implements best practices across projects.
Earns trust through honesty, compliance, and ethical behavior.
Maintains regulatory and ethical standards.
Protects confidential and sensitive data.
Serves as a reliable steward of sponsor funds.
Builds effective working relationships across stakeholders.
Navigates complex investigator relationships.
Adapts communication to varied audiences.
Facilitates collaboration across disciplines.
Uses logic and analysis to solve difficult problems.
Identifies root causes of delays or failures.
Develops actionable solutions.
Evaluates trade-offs under constraints.

Nice To Haves

Master's Degree in Public Health (MPH), Clinical Research, Business Administration, or related field with at least 5 year(s) of experience in research or healthcare project management experience.
Experience supporting NIH-, FDA-, or industry-sponsored studies within an academic medical center or integrated health system.
Demonstrated capability managing independent project workstreams with minimal supervision.
Project Management Professional (PMP).
Certified Clinical Research Professional (CCRP).
Certified Research Administrator (CRA).
Lean, Six Sigma, or Agile project management certifications.

Responsibilities

Develops and maintains detailed project plans, timelines, milestones, and deliverables.
Coordinates sequencing of tasks and dependencies across multidisciplinary teams.
Tracks project progress against scope, schedule, and budget.
Identifies and resolves execution issues that impact project outcomes.
Ensures adherence to IRB requirements, institutional research governance, sponsor terms, and applicable federal, state, and funding-agency regulations.
Coordinates protocol submissions, amendments, renewals, and project close-out activities.
Maintains accurate and audit-ready project documentation.
Partners with regulatory, compliance, and research integrity teams to address findings or issues.
Serves as the primary liaison among investigators, research teams, and administrative partners.
Facilitates project meetings, decision forums, and routine status reporting.
Aligns stakeholders on priorities, risks, timelines, and resource needs.
Escalates issues appropriately to leadership or sponsors.
Develops and monitors project budgets and forecasts.
Tracks expenditures, effort allocation, invoicing, and sponsor payments.
Collaborates with finance and grants administration to ensure financial compliance.
Identifies variances and recommends corrective actions.
Identifies project risks and develops mitigation strategies.
Implements quality control measures to support deliverable accuracy and integrity.
Monitors performance indicators such as milestones, enrollment, reporting, or deliverables.
Prepares projects for internal or external reviews and audits.
Prepares project reports, dashboards, and leadership updates.
Develops standardized tools, templates, and workflows.
Contributes to continuous improvement of research project management practices.
Supports grant proposal development with timelines, milestones, and operational inputs.
Assists with onboarding and training of research staff on project processes.
Participates in sponsor site visits, monitoring activities, or inspections.
Represents research operations on institutional committees or workgroups.
Adheres to internal controls and reporting structure.
Performs related duties as required.