Director, Award Development & Implementation - Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) - Staffing Advisors

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is the leading funder of patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research in the US. We are seeking a Director of Award Development & Implementation (ADI) to drive funding award process improvements, manage change, and lead a high-performing, mission-driven team of staff and contractors working in hybrid and remote settings.

Reporting to the Chief Officer of Program Operations, you’ll lead your team to become a force multiplier at PCORI by evaluating and improving the entire award process lifecycle, empowering staff to excel in their roles, and enhancing the experience for applicants. You'll ensure that awards are developed and implemented with innovative, optimized processes that not only meet PCORI’s high standards, but also stand up to external evaluation while accelerating progress toward PCORI’s mission to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed healthcare decisions.

PCORI receives hundreds of funding applications annually through multiple cycles and a diversity of opportunity types. You will be instrumental in leading ADI’s program and project management functions, providing strategic leadership, collaboration, and/or coordination for critical activities, including funding opportunity development, release, outreach, communications, post-review approval processes, and policy development and implementation.

This position is primarily internally focused, supporting the ADI team and fostering active collaboration across all Program Operations units—Contract Management, Merit Review, Peer Review, and Award Process Management, as well as all divisions of the Patient-Centered Research Programs Department and all other divisions of PCORI. A portion of your time will be externally focused, liaising with nonprofit healthcare research funding partners on best practices and innovation in funding. Your ability to build strong relationships and effectively interact, engage, and negotiate with PCORI leaders and staff will be essential for success.

How You’ll Make an Impact

By fostering collaboration, leveraging diverse perspectives to surface the best solutions, and creating greater transparency, you will enable PCORI staff and leaders to focus on advancing our National Priorities for Health rather than navigating complex procedures and policies. Key focus areas include:

• Team Leadership. Cultivate an environment of trust and respect through effective leadership, organizing ADI activities, and mentoring staff. Leverage team strengths and encourage cross-organizational collaboration to drive productivity and spur innovation.
• Strategic Evaluation and Process Improvement. Lead the evaluation and improvement of award funding processes, aligning with industry best practices and achieving high standards. In your first year, focus on expanding post-award support and creating strategies to remove barriers in the application process, ensuring more inclusive practices.
• Change Management. Design and execute clear change management strategies to ensure new practices are integrated organization-wide. Minimize disruptions by promoting understanding and adoption among leaders and staff with a thoughtful and empathetic approach.

Work Environment, Salary, and Benefits

• You’ll enjoy a purpose-driven hybrid work environment, collaborating with colleagues 3 days on-site in our Washington, DC, office with the option to telework the rest of the week.
• The salary for this role will be competitive and tailored to the candidate’s experience and qualifications. The targeted salary for this role is $161,452 - $201,815, including generous PTO (up to 30 days in a full year), medical, dental, and vision insurance, long-term and short-term disability, 401(a) plan with employer contribution up to 10%, life insurance, professional development reimbursement, employee engagement events, and more.
• You are joining a team of mission-driven professionals with a high level of experience in the field who are genuinely interested in helping each other succeed.
• PCORI is dedicated to advancing and accelerating diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in our work. Internally, we know this is about the experience and culture an organization builds for itself. Our DEI efforts stretch across the entire organization, from recruiting our workforce to cultivating business relationships.

Responsibilities

Strategy & Leadership

• 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 Project Agenda.
• Lead the coordination, collaboration, and development of all new funding opportunity initiatives, fostering environments to gather and exchange information from all key internal stakeholders (e.g., CER, EDI, RII, CM, MR, APM, Office of the General Counsel, etc.).
• Lead the development, implementation, and/or refinement of ADI activities, including the PCORI funding cycle timeline, and create multi-year strategic goals that align with PCORI’s strategic plan and priorities.
• Engage and foster collaboration with PCORI’s Communications division to advance award outreach and communications strategies.
• Build, evaluate, and/or refine current policies and processes, and implement relevant best practices and/or innovative business procedures and efficiencies that are understood and used by all involved PCORI leaders and staff.
• Collaborate 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 adjust associated strategies, policies, and processes.
• Across all areas of ADI responsibilities, develop and execute proactive, strategic efforts to improve DEI in PCORI funding processes.
• Provide expert guidance and leadership to intra-ADI 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).
• Serve as a key member of the Program Operations leadership team and contribute to strategies and special projects that improve the division’s work and successfully develop division staff.

Oversight and Management of the ADI Team

• Oversee and support the professional development of a highly effective team of staff and contractors of multiple levels and areas of responsibility. Proactively cultivate a culture of support, synergy, respect, trustworthiness, and accountability.
• Oversee and guide the effective and collaborative development, refinement, and execution of the PCORI annual funding cycle timeline.
• Oversee and ensure consistency, efficiency, and efficacy in developing funding opportunities. This includes engaging in PCORI Research Project Agenda Topic Themes development; leadership and process refinement for internal Funding Opportunity Plan development and approvals; and leadership and process refinement for PCORI Funding Announcement development, approvals, and release. Ensure all processes add value and balance the needs of staff and applicants.
• Collaborate with the APM unit to ensure existing or new technologies (e.g., Award Management System set-ups) meet the requirements of upcoming funding announcements and the overall award funding lifecycle.
• Provide leadership, guidance, and support for cross-division meetings and other modes of effective internal communication to advance collaboration.
• Oversee and ensure consistency, efficiency, efficacy, and integrity in ADI’s leadership, coordination, and management of funding approval processes across PCRP programmatic goals and award programs, including but not limited to the major function of administration of the Standing Selection Committee, a subcommittee of the PCORI Board of Governors.
• Oversee and support PCORI Library Strategies and Services (LSS), which provides staff access to scholarly resources. This includes research consultations, literature search support, library instruction, and managing subscriptions to library resources. LSS also manages the awardee publication tracking process and payment of Public Access fees for Journal Articles while ensuring compliance with LSS policies and procedures.
• Develop, manage, and maintain the ADI unit's annual operating budget.

Award/Funding Policies

• Lead 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.
• Build and support collaboration and/or partnership as needed with the Department of Strategy, Planning, & Outreach or other internal groups as stakeholders in PCORI policies and procedures.

Visibility in the Sector

• Build and maintain strategic relationships with other nonprofit health research funders, leading experts, and other stakeholders. Ensure that PCORI is a strong voice in and contributor to the nonprofit health research funding sector.
• Represent PCORI at relevant sector events, including the research communities, and promote our unique patient-centered approach to merit review.

Qualifications

• A minimum of 10 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.
• A doctorate or professional degree (e.g., PhD, ScD, MD, DrPH) in a relevant field is required.
• Demonstrated experience in effectively managing staff and leading teams in a collaborative environment. A minimum of 5 years of staff supervision experience is preferred.

About Us

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is an independent nonprofit organization authorized by Congress in 2010 and the leading funder of patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research in the US. 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.

Staffing Advisors is committed to reducing bias in every aspect of the hiring process. We have long recommended a competency-driven approach to hiring. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. We encourage you to apply even if your experience is not a 100% match with the position description; we will consider people from a variety of backgrounds and career experiences.