Research Project Manager

The University of Texas at Austin; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 74,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Texas at Austin is seeking a Research Project Manager in Austin, TX. Dell Medical School will oversee multiple studies requiring robust project planning, regulatory coordination, and cross‑functional collaboration across investigators, clinicians, and staff.

Responsibilities include creating executable project plans, monitoring timelines and budgets, ensuring IRB and GCP compliance, and coordinating recruitment and data activities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Health Sciences, Life Sciences, Public Health, or related field required.
• 3+ years of experience in research project management or healthcare operations.
• Experience supporting multi-stakeholder research or clinical initiatives.

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 impacting outcomes.
• Manages study activities to comply with regulations and Good Clinical Practice.
• Supports participant recruitment, data collection, and study documentation.
• Prepares project reports and updates for leadership.

Job description

• Develops comprehensive research project plans.
• Evaluates trade-offs under constraints.

Job Posting Title:

Research Project Manager

Hiring Department:

Dell Medical School

Position Open To:

All Applicants

Weekly Scheduled Hours:

40

FLSA Status:

Exempt from FLSA

Earliest Start Date:

Sep 28, 2026

Position Duration:

Expected to Continue

Location:

AUSTIN, TX

Job Details:

GENERAL NOTES:

Dell Medical School is seeking a Research Project Manager.

PURPOSE:

The Health Transformation Research Institute at Dell Medical School seeks a Research Project Manager to provide project management, operational coordination, and regulatory support for multiple research studies under the direction of principal investigators. This position manages study activities across varied research areas and helps ensure that projects are conducted in accordance with study protocols, institutional requirements, regulatory standards, and Good Clinical Practice.

Job Summary:

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.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

Manages Research Project Planning and Execution:

• 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.
• Works under the guidance of multiple principal investigators to meet the research objectives of multiple studies, which may vary in scope and clinical area.
• Manages research teams to ensure that all study activities are completed according to applicable regulations and guidelines and adhere to the protocol and Good Clinical Practice.
• Coordinates operational research activities such as participant visits, biospecimen collection, laboratory workflows, and research support functions as required by study protocols.
• Develops and oversees execution of recruitment strategies to ensure recruitment goals are met.
• Oversees the collection and maintenance of appropriate source documentation and ensures accurate entry into study‑specific databases.
• Supports participant‑facing research activities including recruitment, informed consent, study visits, participant assessments, interviews and communications, and biospecimen collection. Serves as a primary contact for study participants and
• supports data collection, data entry, and data organization.
• Conducts quality assurance and quality control activities to support data accuracy and integrity.
• Maintains working relationships with other study teams internal and external to UT.
• Assists in preparing study progress reports and project updates.
• Participates in and facilitates study team meetings as well as trainings for the study team.
• Supports other pilot projects as prioritized and time allows.

Oversees Compliance and Regulatory Adherence:

• 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.
• Drafts and facilitates institutional review board (IRB) applications, submissions, amendments and updates.
• Manages, documents, and reports on adverse events, compliance issues, and participant related safety concerns.
• Develops instructional materials and guidance resources to aid new physician investigators with study development and start‑up activities.
• Designs and maintains regulatory binders throughout the study lifecycle.
• Coordinates study procedures and research activities, including survey administration, chart abstraction, biospecimen collection, laboratory processes, and protocol implementation.
• Oversees required research registrations and public reporting activities, including creation and maintenance of clinicaltrials.gov records.
• Coordinates compliance activities involving institutional oversight committees, including IRB, IACUC, Biosafety, Environmental Health and Safety, and other applicable regulatory bodies.

Leads Stakeholder and Team Coordination:

• 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.
• Recruits, trains, and supervises research staff and learners, including assignment of work, performance guidance, mentorship, professional development and resource planning.

Manages Budgets and Financial Controls:

• 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.

Manages Risk, Quality, and Performance Metrics:

• 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.

Supports Research Process Improvement and Reporting:

• Prepares project reports, dashboards, and leadership updates
• Develops standardized tools, templates, and workflows
• Contributes to continuous improvement of research project management practices
• Develops and maintains research program infrastructure, including specimen repositories, specimen‑management systems, or other research support resources as required by assigned projects.
• Oversees operational quality standards, utilization tracking, and process improvement activities for research support services.
• Develops tools, guidance materials, and training resources to support study start‑up, project implementation, and research operations

MARGINAL OR PERIODIC FUNCTIONS:

• 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.
• Assists with manuscript preparation, editing, and dissemination of research findings
• Participates in research department meetings and events.

Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

Project Management:

• 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.

Organizing and Planning:

• Establishes efficient systems and structures to manage work effectively.
• Creates detailed timelines and work plans.
• Anticipates downstream impacts of decisions.
• Maintains accurate project documentation.

Process Management:

• Designs and improves processes for efficiency and quality.
• Standardizes research workflows.
• Identifies operational bottlenecks.
• Implements best practices across projects.

Integrity and Trust:

• 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.

Interpersonal Savvy:

• Builds effective working relationships across stakeholders.
• Navigates complex investigator relationships.
• Adapts communication to varied audiences.
• Facilitates collaboration across disciplines.

Problem Solving:

• Uses logic and analysis to solve difficult problems.
• Identifies root causes of delays or failures.
• Develops actionable solutions.
• Evaluates trade-offs under constraints.

Education & Experience:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:

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.

Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate

According to Executive Order No. GA-48 of the State of Texas: for all positions that research, work on, or have access to critical infrastructure as defined in Section 117.001(2), Business and Commerce Code, it is required that both candidates for employment and employees have the ability to maintain the security or integrity of the infrastructure.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

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.
• Experience supporting clinical trial operational workflows including study start‑up, regulatory coordination, research coordination services, or research program administration.
• Completion of required human subjects protection, GCP, HIPAA, and protocol‑specific training within institutional timeframes.
• Experience working with research technology systems such as Clinical Trial Management Systems (CTMS), electronic regulatory platforms, or electronic health record research modules
• Experience independently coordinating interventional clinical trials, device studies, drug studies, or complex observational studies.
• Experience with Epic Research, CTMS/eRegulatory systems, REDCap, sponsor EDC systems, and ClinicalTrials.gov.
• Experience supporting sponsor monitoring visits, audits, IRB submissions, protocol amendments, reportable events, and study closeout.

LICENSES, REGISTRATIONS OR CERTIFICATIONS:

REQUIRED:

• None

PREFERRED:

• Project Management Professional (PMP).
• Certified Clinical Research Professional (CCRP).
• Certified Research Administrator (CRA).
• Lean, Six Sigma, or Agile project management certifications.

Salary Range:

$73,515+ depending on qualifications

Required Materials:

• Resume/CV
• 3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor
• Letter of interest

WORKING ENVIRONMENT/EQUIPMENT:

• Primarily works in an office, clinical, and research environment.
• May work remotely or in hybrid settings as operationally appropriate.
• Interacts frequently with clinical and research staff in patient‑care settings.
• Standard office equipment.
• Repetitive use of a keyboard.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.

Pay Transparency:

The University of Texas at Austin will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.

Employment Eligibility Verification:

If hired, you will be required to complete the federal Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form. You will be required to present acceptable and original documents to prove your identity and authorization to work in the United States. Documents need to be presented no later than the third day of employment. Failure to do so will result in loss of employment at the university.

E-Verify:

The University of Texas at Austin use E-Verify to check the work authorization of all new hires effective May 2015. The university’s company ID number for purposes of E-Verify is 854197. For more information about E-Verify, please see the following:

• E-Verify Poster (English and Spanish) [PDF]
• Right to Work Poster (English) [PDF]
• Right to Work Poster (Spanish) [PDF]

Compliance:

Employees may be required to report violations of law under Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). If this position is identified a Campus Security Authority (Clery Act), you will be notified and provided resources for reporting. Responsible employees under Title IX are defined and outlined in HOP-3031.

The Clery Act requires all prospective employees be notified of the availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety report. You may access the most recent report here or obtain a copy at University Compliance Services, 1616 Guadalupe Street, UTA 2.206, Austin, Texas 78701.