Program Manager

Job Summary

To oversee the day-to-day implementation of a five-year, NIH-funded research project focused on improving sleep, stress recovery, and wellbeing among men in Philadelphia.

Working closely with the Principal Investigator, co-investigators, community partners, and research staff, the Program Manager will serve as the central operational lead for the project.

This position is grant-funded; employment is contingent upon the continued availability of those funds.

Essential Functions

• Project Management and Study Operations
• Co-develop and maintain project timelines, work plans, milestone trackers, standard operating procedures, and implementation calendars.
• Coordinate day-to-day activities across Drexel, collaborating institutions, community partners, consultants, and study personnel.
• Exercise delegated authority to make routine operational decisions and resolve implementation issues within the scope of the approved protocol and project plan.
• Co-organize project meetings, prepare agendas, document decisions, and monitor completion of assigned tasks.
• Coordinate purchasing, participant-payment processes, equipment and supply needs, and other project-related administrative activities.
• Work with university administrative offices to support subawards, contracts, hiring, financial monitoring, and sponsor reporting.
• Support preparation of NIH progress reports, internal reports, presentations, and other required documentation.
• Identify operational risks or delays and bring significant scientific, regulatory, personnel, or budgetary concerns to the Principal Investigator.
• Intervention Facilitation and Participant Operations
• Serve as a trained facilitator or co-facilitator for the project’s group-based intervention, either regularly as part of the intervention schedule or as needed to support staffing and implementation needs.
• Prepare for and deliver intervention sessions in accordance with the approved curriculum, facilitator manual, study protocol, and fidelity standards.
• Facilitate respectful, engaging, and participant-centered group discussions related to sleep, stress, coping, social connection, masculinity, health behaviors, and wellbeing.
• Complete facilitator training, supervision, debriefing, session documentation, and fidelity-monitoring activities.
• Provide practical feedback to the Principal Investigator and intervention team regarding curriculum content, session flow, participant engagement, and implementation challenges.
• Oversee recruitment, screening, enrollment, scheduling, retention, and participant communication workflows.
• Coordinate intervention cohorts, assessment activities, facilitator schedules, and study-related participant logistics.
• Support the training, scheduling, supervision, and ongoing development of other intervention facilitators.
• Monitor attendance, participant engagement, protocol adherence, and intervention fidelity across cohorts.
• Troubleshoot barriers to participation and coordinate appropriate follow-up with outreach staff, facilitators, and community partners.
• Ensure timely and accurate processing of participant compensation.
• Provide coverage for intervention sessions when another facilitator is unavailable.
• Personnel Support and Team Coordination
• Provide day-to-day guidance to outreach coordinators, intervention facilitators, students, research assistants, and other project personnel.
• Assist with hiring, onboarding, scheduling, training, and ongoing performance support.
• Assign work, clarify expectations, monitor progress, and help staff address operational challenges.
• Coordinate coverage for recruitment, intervention delivery, assessments, community events, and other study activities.
• Support consistent implementation of study procedures across personnel and project sites.
• Foster a collaborative, accountable, and respectful team environment.
• Escalate significant performance, safety, or compliance concerns to the Principal Investigator and appropriate university personnel.
• Regulatory, Data Quality, and Documentation
• Support IRB submissions, amendments, continuing reviews, and maintenance of regulatory documentation.
• Maintain study records, training logs, protocol materials, delegation logs, and other essential documentation.
• Work with the data manager and research team to monitor recruitment, enrollment, retention, attendance, fidelity, and missing-data indicators.
• Conduct routine data-quality and documentation checks and coordinate resolution of discrepancies.
• Ensure that staff follow approved procedures for confidentiality, data security, informed consent, and human-subjects protections.
• Community and Partner Engagement
• Maintain regular communication with community partners and participating organizations.
• Coordinate partner meetings, advisory activities, community events, and community-facing dissemination.
• Occasionally serve as an operational liaison between the Principal Investigator, project staff, community partners, and other stakeholders.
• Help ensure that project materials and implementation practices are respectful, accessible, and responsive to participating communities.
• Represent the project at university, partner, and community meetings within the scope of delegated responsibilities.
• Other duties as assigned
• Required Qualifications
• Minimum of a Bachelor's Degree or the equivalent combination of education and work experience.
• Minimum of 3 years of experience managing complex research, health, community, or programmatic activities
• Demonstrated experience coordinating multiple staff members, partners, deadlines, and deliverables.
• Experience supervising employees, students, volunteers, facilitators, outreach staff, or research personnel.
• Experience making independent operational decisions and resolving day-to-day project challenges.
• Experience facilitating groups, workshops, educational programs, support programs, or community-based interventions.
• Experience working effectively with interdisciplinary teams and community-based partners.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, Google Workspace, or comparable administrative and project-management platforms.
• Strong organizational, written communication, interpersonal, and documentation skills.
• Ability to establish priorities, manage competing demands, and follow projects through completion.
• Ability to handle sensitive information and follow confidentiality and human-subjects protection requirements.
• Ability to work occasional evenings when intervention sessions or project activities are scheduled.
• Ability to work on-site in Philadelphia approximately 2 to 3 days per week, or more frequently when required by project activities.
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate sensitive conversations in a respectful, participant-centered, and nonjudgmental manner.
• Comfort discussing topics related to stress, mental health, relationships, masculinity, health behaviors, and wellbeing with adult participants.
• Preferred Qualifications
• Experience managing a community-engaged research project, or other multiyear grant-funded initiative.
• Experience with IRB submissions, regulatory documentation, or clinical-research compliance.
• Experience coordinating group-based programs, recruitment and retention activities, or community-based data collection.
• Experience supervising staff working across research, outreach, and intervention functions.
• Familiarity with intervention fidelity, wearable devices, biological specimen collection, sleep research, stress measurement, or health-behavior interventions.
• Experience working with Latino communities, men’s health initiatives, or community-based organizations in Philadelphia.
• Location
• Hybrid/Flexible Work Arrangement
• Additional Information
• This position is classified as Exempt, grade

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Compensation for this grade ranges from $52,360 - $78,530 per year.

Please note that the offered rate for thisposition will vary based on thesuccessful candidate’s qualifications and experience, department budget, and an internal equity review.

Applicants are encouraged to explore the Professional Staff salary structure and Compensation Guidelines & Policies for more details on Drexel’s compensation framework.

For information about benefits, please review Drexel’s Benefits Brochure.

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