Pediatric Neurology Research and Quality Improvement Coordinator

University of Saskatchewan; Saskatoon; Hybrid; CAD 69,000 - 108,000; Full time

Job summary

University of Saskatchewan's Division of Pediatric Neurology seeks a Pediatric Neurology Research and Quality Improvement Coordinator to support provincial and national research and quality-improvement initiatives. You will manage regulatory submissions, data management, and knowledge-translation activities across several priority programs, reporting to the Division lead.

The role requires strong project-management, data governance, and family-centered communication, with a focus on auditable

Qualifications

• Experience coordinating clinical, health-services, implementation, or quality-improvement research.
• Knowledge of pediatric neurology, epilepsy, or related clinical services is preferred.
• Ability to prepare regulatory submissions and maintain compliant study documentation.
• Experience with data management and secure handling of PHI.
• Strong written and verbal communication with stakeholders and families.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate submissions for ethics review, approvals, and data-access requests.
• Develop SOPs, manuals of operations, consent materials, data dictionaries, and project tools.
• Recruit, screen, and consent participants with family-centered communication.
• Perform chart reviews and data-quality audits across EMR sources.
• Build and maintain REDCap or similar databases with validation and access controls.
• Generate operations and research dashboards and support QI monitoring.
• Coordinate SAFE-NOTE study activities including workflow documentation and surveys.
• Ensure AI activities use approved vendor configurations and protect PHI.

Skills

Communication

Project management

Data management

Privacy knowledge

Equity focus

Education

Master’s degree in health/epidemiology/public health

Bachelor’s degree with relevant experience

Tools

REDCap

TELUS EMR

R

SPSS

SAS

Python

NVivo

Power BI

Job description

Pediatric Neurology Research and Quality Improvement Coordinator

Primary Purpose: The Division of Pediatric Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, is seeking a Research Coordinator to support a portfolio of provincial, interprovincial, and national multidisciplinary research and quality-improvement initiatives. The position will provide core coordination, regulatory, data-management, implementation-science, and knowledge-translation support for the following priority programs:

• JPCH Pediatric Neurology Learning Health System and Research Infrastructure: development of a governed, reusable platform that converts routinely collected clinical and service data into actionable evidence for patient care, program evaluation, workforce planning, grant development, and future multicentre research.
• Pediatric Neurology Access, Wait-List, and Health Equity Program: validation and ongoing maintenance of the provincial service/wait-list registry; analysis of referral demand, triage, wait times, geographic access, appointment completion, and alternative care pathways; and support for rapid-cycle quality-improvement interventions and dashboards.
• Saskatchewan Pediatric Epilepsy and Epilepsy Surgery Registries: creation and maintenance of longitudinal epilepsy cohorts, including drug-resistant epilepsy, genetic epilepsies, ketogenic-diet therapies, and the full presurgical and surgical pathway from referral and multidisciplinary review through SEEG, surgery, and clinical outcomes.
• SAFE-NOTE Neuro AI Documentation Study: an approximately 18-month, prospective mixed-methods implementation study evaluating an institutionally approved AI-assisted clinical-documentation workflow in Pediatric Neurology.
• Additional collaborative studies and clinical registries in pediatric neurology, neurophysiology, headache, neuromuscular disease, neurogenetics, neonatal neurology, and related areas, as priorities and funding permit.

Nature of Work

The Research Coordinator will report directly to Dr. JP Appendino and work closely with the Pediatric Neurology clinical and research teams, the Department of Pediatrics, Saskatchewan Health Authority partners, University research offices, data and digital-health teams, patient/family partners, and external collaborators. The role involves managing several concurrent projects with interdependent timelines, approvals, and deliverables. Work requires discretion when handling personal health information, sound judgment regarding research and QI processes, and the ability to identify risks, elevate concerns, and maintain complete and auditable documentation.

Typical Duties or Accountabilities

• Coordinate submissions and communications for research ethics review, QI/REB exemption determinations, Saskatchewan Health Authority operational approval, privacy and security review, data-access requests, study amendments, renewals, and close-out activities.
• Develop and maintain study protocols, manuals of operations, standard operating procedures, consent/assent materials, case-report forms, screening logs, regulatory binders, data dictionaries, and project-management tools.
• Recruit, screen, and consent/assent research participants in accordance with approved protocols; maintain respectful, family-centred communication and accurate study records.
• Conduct structured chart reviews across approved electronic and paper health-record sources, including the TELUS outpatient EMR, and perform source-data verification and data-quality audits.
• Build, test, document, and maintain secure research/QI databases and registries using REDCap or other institutionally approved platforms; implement validation rules, missingness monitoring, version control, role-based access, and audit-ready processes.
• Clean and validate the Pediatric Neurology wait list; maintain service, epilepsy, and epilepsy-surgery datasets; generate regular operational and research dashboards; and support run-chart or statistical-process-control monitoring of QI interventions.
• Coordinate SAFE-NOTE Neuro study activities, including synthetic-case testing, workflow documentation, participant tracking, timing and note-quality measures, clinician and family surveys/interviews, safety-event logs, and stop/go reviews.
• Ensure that AI-related study activities use only the exact vendor, subscription tier, configuration, device, and workflow formally approved by the responsible University and Saskatchewan Health Authority offices. Identifiable patient information must not be entered into personal or unapproved consumer AI accounts.
• Support secure data management, access monitoring, incident reporting, and compliance with HIPA, institutional policies, approved protocols, and contractual requirements.
• Coordinate research and QI meetings; prepare agendas, minutes, action logs, progress reports, presentations, and materials for steering committees, collaborators, operational leaders, and patient/family partners.
• Assist with descriptive and inferential analyses under investigator or biostatistical supervision, interpretation of findings, literature reviews, and preparation of grants, reports, abstracts, manuscripts, and conference presentations.
• Support patient-oriented research including the development of family-facing materials in partnership with patients and families. Support students, residents, fellows, research assistants, and collaborators in approved study procedures, database use, data quality, privacy, and documentation requirements.
• Monitor project milestones, expenditures, risks, deliverables, and renewal opportunities; contribute to sustainability and future‑focusing plans for the Pediatric Neurology research program.

Education

A Master’s degree in a health, clinical, epidemiological, public-health, health-services, implementation-science, data-science, or related discipline from a recognized program is preferred. A Bachelor’s degree with substantial directly relevant experience in clinical research, research coordination, quality improvement, nursing, or health-data management may be considered.

Experience

Preferred candidates will demonstrate several of the following qualifications:

• Experience coordinating clinical, health-services, implementation, quality-improvement, or patient-oriented research in a healthcare or academic setting.
• Knowledge of pediatric health, neurology, epilepsy, clinical neurophysiology, or related clinical services.
• Experience preparing research ethics, operational, privacy, data-access, or regulatory submissions and maintaining compliant study documentation.
• Proficiency reviewing and extracting health information from EMRs and other approved clinical sources; experience with TELUS EMR is an asset.
• Experience designing and maintaining REDCap or comparable secure research databases, including data dictionaries, validation rules, user testing, quality checks, and exports for analysis.
• Working knowledge of research methods, quality-improvement methods, descriptive statistics, spreadsheets, data visualization, and statistical or qualitative‑analysis software. Experience with R, SPSS, SAS, Python, NVivo, Power BI, or similar tools is an asset.
• Familiarity with privacy, confidentiality, HIPA, informed consent/assent, pediatric research, and secure handling of personal health information.
• Experience with digital‑health or AI implementation, clinical documentation, human‑factors evaluation, workflow assessment, or technology validation is an asset; formal technical expertise in AI is not required.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, project-management, interpersonal, and organizational skills, with the ability to work effectively with patients and families, clinicians, administrators, regulatory personnel, technical teams, trainees, and multicentre collaborators.
• Demonstrated accuracy, initiative, problem solving, sound judgement, ability to manage competing priorities, and commitment to equity, family‑centred care, and responsible research conduct.

Department: Pediatrics Status: Term 1 year with the possibility of extension Employment Group: ASPA Full Time Equivalent (FTE): 1.0 Salary: The salary range, based on 1.0 FTE, is $69,035.00 - 107,868.00 per annum. The starting salary will be commensurate with education and experience. Salary Family (if applicable): Specialist Professional Salary Phase/Band: Phase 2 Posted Date: 9/16/2026 Closing Date: 10/7/2026 at 6:00 pm CST Number of Openings: 1 Work Location: On Campus

The successful applicant will be required to provide the following current verification(s) where 'Yes' is indicated below. Further information is available at: https://careers.usask.ca/tips-for-applying.php

Criminal Record Check: Yes
Driver's License and Abstract Check: Not Applicable
Education/Credential Verification: Not Applicable
Vulnerable Sector Check: Yes

The University of Saskatchewan aspires to be what the world needs and embraces equity, diversity and inclusion as foundational to excellence and innovation. We actively seek to create a welcoming environment where all individuals feel empowered to thrive, contribute, and grow. Applications from equity‑deserving groups are encouraged as part of our ongoing efforts to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve: EDI Framework for Action.

We continue to grow our partnerships with Indigenous communities across the province, nationally, and internationally and value the unique perspective that Indigenous employees provide to strengthen these relationships. Verification of Indigenous Membership/Citizenship at the University of Saskatchewan is led and determined by deybwewin | taapwaywin | tapwewin: Indigenous Truth policy and the Standing Committee in accordance with the processes developed to enact the policy. Successful candidates that assert Indigenous membership/citizenship will be asked to complete the verification process of Indigenous membership/citizenship with documentation.

The University of Saskatchewan provides an accessible and inclusive workplace. Should you require support through any stage of the recruitment process, contact us for assistance.