Program Director, Evidence Synthesis at Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute

About Us

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is an independent nonprofit organization authorized by Congress in 2010. 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.

Position Summary

PCORI seeks a mission-driven leader with demonstrated strategic and operational excellence to lead a dynamic team to ensure a high-quality, cutting-edge evidence synthesis and assessment program.   Applicants must desire to nurture a program directly supporting PCORI’s mission and vision of funding high-quality, stakeholder-driven, patient-centered and patient-engaged CER.   PCORI seeks candidates with an ability to recruit, retain, and develop a skilled staff, along with comfort building external visibility with end-user communities representing the breadth of the American health and clinical experience. Kindness, humor, and compassion are important values to bring to a dynamic position that combines leading a funding program with engaging PCORI’s broad and diverse stakeholder community.

The Director of the Evidence Synthesis and Assessment program plays a key role in setting the strategic direction and implementation of the program.  Under the oversight of the Chief Officer, Engagement, Dissemination, and Implementation, the Director links the program’s strategy to PCORI’s mission and vision and supervises a unique portfolio of activities.  These include systematic reviews, scoping reviews, evidence visualizations, Emerging Technologies and Therapeutics Reports, and the Health Care Horizon Scanning System.  The Director leads a team of senior, mid-career, and junior staff and sets direction for the team’s work, providing strategic insights to senior colleagues and mentoring mid-career and junior colleagues.  The program is responsible for,in consultation with colleagues across PCORI, solicitation and review of topic nominations, solicitation and review of award applications, recommendation of projects for funding, and oversight of projects from award through completion.  The Director is a leader in the Engagement, Dissemination, and Implementation Division, responsible for managing an approximately $10M per year portfolio of work, providing a central point of contact for ensuring consistency of communications for the program, and direction for evaluating the program’s success.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Leads strategic planning, development, execution, and evaluation for the Evidence Synthesis program.
• Accountable for effective and efficient solicitation, review, award, and management of commitments.
• Provides the managerial direction and coordination of the program including the budget, solicitation and application, contracting, and general oversight.
• Aligns program goals and portfolio with PCORI’s strategic plan, department, and division priorities, to support rigorous, responsive evidence syntheses.
• Collaborate across PCORI to help develop an optimal topic nomination and development program to develop a pipeline of products responsive to stakeholder evidence and information needs.
• Engage health care communities, including patients, caregivers, clinicians, payers, purchasers, and policymakers, to ensure activities are responsive to stakeholder needs.
• Manage a portfolio of projects and supervise staff to ensure that they are managing their responsibilities.
• Maintain and cultivate a cohort of well-qualified, high-performing evidence synthesis vendors.
• Contributes feedback and guidance to current and prospective awardees on project concepts, deliverables, budgets, timelines, and evaluation plans.
• Oversees identification of outdated evidence products ready for archive or update, depending on stakeholder needs and resource management considerations.
• Ensures effective partnership with PCORI colleagues, including legal, finance, research, engagement, and others, as needed.
• Attends selected Board of Governors and committee meetings to support recommendations and provide information. 
• Represents PCORI professionally by responding to inquiries and attending meetings and conferences.
• Provides input into, participates in planning, and may lead components of the PCORI Annual Meeting.
• Evaluate team structure and function to ensure the team’s optimal responsiveness to internal and external evidence needs.
• Supervise and mentor a team of senior, mid-career, and junior staff to ensure their performance meets the needs of the program and to help foster their development.

Incumbent(s) in this position may be required to perform other duties and special assignments not specifically stated above. 

Statements outlined in this section are designated as essential job functions in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. 

Required Skills

• Rigor: Expertise in evidence-based medicine, systematic reviews, scientific study design, conduct, analysis, and critical appraisal; expertise in technology assessment and comparative clinical effectiveness research is a plus.
• Execution: Strong project management skills, with attention to detail, deadline management, sense of responsibility and accountability (“hands-on” mentality), and the ability to effectively multi-task.
• Strategic Ability: Ability to see opportunities, design innovative approaches backed by strong analysis and planning. 
• Decision-Making: Able to evaluate risks and opportunities, analytical and strong problem-solving skills. Strong analytical capability.
• Leadership: Vision, innovation, creativity, thought leadership, collaboration, integrity, accountability, and emotional intelligence. Strategically strong and robust demonstration of leadership skills.
• Partnership and Relationship Building: Strong professional representation of the organization, interpersonal relationship abilities, intercultural knowledge and appreciation, and strategic partnership building.
• Flexibility: Flexible adaptive with the professional capacity to innovate and change through interactive and complex processes. Must be able to identify creative solutions to interesting or unique internal and external challenges.
• Integration: Ability to demonstrate inclusiveness, collaboration, respect, and broad organizational interests.
• Communication: Strong interpersonal and communication abilities; exceptional listening, writing, and verbal skills. Ability to mediate, facilitate, and negotiate when necessary.
• People Management: Skills in team building, coaching, mentoring, delegating, inspiring, and motivating.  Excellent writing and editing skills.
• Technical: Strong knowledge in computer skills including Microsoft business productivity programs (SharePoint, Teams, PowerPoint, Word, and Excel).  
• Responsive: Well-honed timeliness in action is necessary for executing relatively short duration awards in a quick-moving program.

Required Experience

• Doctoral degree and eight (8) years of relevant experience in clinical care, clinical research, or related areas; or, master’s degree in a clinical research-related discipline such as epidemiology or public health and ten (10) years of relevant experience in clinical care, clinical research, or related areas.
• Relevant work experience includes project planning and implementation; program management; coordinating and managing award solicitations, reviews, and awards; contracts management; and, stakeholder engagement.
• Demonstrated management experience.
• Possess at least five (5) years progressively greater experience working in complex organizations; familiarity with non-profit organizations, especially in the health, health research or health policy sectors, preferred. 
• Demonstrated progressive experience working with researchers and end-users of research.

Compensation and Benefits 

 Salary Range: $200,000 - $235,000

The above range represents the salary range expected for the position; however, final offers are based on several factors such as the position’s responsibilities; the candidate’s experience, education, and skills; location; travel required; and current market conditions.  

Subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable plans then in effect, eligible employees may participate in PCORI-sponsored medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance plans for the employee and the employee’s eligible dependents. 

Conflict of Interest.

PCORI wants to ensure that prospective employees are aware of its conflict-of-interest policies so that employment deliberations take into consideration this aspect of PCORI employment. PCORI requires all PCORI employees to disclose upon commencement of their employment and on an annual basis all individual and close relatives financial, business, and personal association with the potential to bias or that have the appearance of biasing one’s decisions relating to PCORI. All disclosures made by employees are made publicly available on PCORI’s website. Disclosures must include all financial and business and personal associations with any health or healthcare-related organizations and include all associations with any other organizations that have the potential to bias or that have the appearance of biasing one’s decisions relating to PCORI, including but not limited to vendors or other third parties with whom PCORI has a contract or that PCORI has funded. For more information please visit PCORI-Conflict-of-Interest-Policies-Outside-Employment-Policy.pdf

PCORI conducts reference and background checks on all applicants.