Research Operations Manager

Position Title: Research Operations Manager

Location: Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania

Department: Research & Evaluation

Reports to: Vice President, Health Research & Evaluation 

Hire Date: Immediately

Position Summary:

Special Olympics is excited to announce a search for three (3) innovative and collaborative Research Operations Managers who have the goal of making a significant difference for one of the world’s most marginalized populations - those with intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics Inc. is an international non-governmental organization serving over 3 million people with intellectual disabilities across 200 countries. Best known for its engagement around sports, Special Olympics promotes a myriad of health services and activities and houses the largest global database of health screenings of people with intellectual disabilities. The Special Olympics Health strategy is supported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Golisano Foundation and directed towards promoting equity and reducing health disparities through four strategic activities:

• Preventive care services, including early intervention for those under 8 years of age, fitness programs and public health promotion activities;
• Assessment services, directed at preventive health screenings and early detection of the most common conditions for people with intellectual disabilities and developing person-centered care coordination and connections to reduce those conditions;
• Education and training services, to engage the health care workforce using evidence-based learning activities that employ virtual and hands-on interactions to improve quality of care; and
• Promoting health systems reform through partnerships with providers and government organizations and promoting strong self-advocacy.

The Research Operations Manageris a new initiative under the 1st  strategic pillar of prevention. Our understanding of the health status of Special Olympics athletes and the impact of their participation in Special Olympics Sport and Health programming is incomplete. Our knowledge is largely based on evidence that comes from studies that observe individuals at a single point in time, rather than following them over an extended period of time. To gain a better understanding of the impact of these activities over time, Special Olympics is implementing a longitudinal evaluation with four Special Olympics State Programs to capture changes in the physical, mental, and social-emotional well-being of athletes throughout their lifetimes.  

The Research Operations Manager will be embedded with the Special Olympics State Program as their primary work location in order to interact with State Program staff and local coaches, athletes, families and program administrators. The Research Operations Managers will serve as the project liaison on behalf of the Special Olympics Health Research and Evaluation team and participate in the Community of Practice to develop best practices among the participating Programs.

Primary Responsibilities:

Longitudinal Evaluation (80%). The Research Operations Manager will guide implementation of the evaluation protocol in collaboration with SO Program staff and local program staff/volunteers/coaches. This will include the following activities: 

• Participate in standardized training on the longitudinal evaluation protocol and implementation approach.  
• Complete CITI Program training in human subject research and perform informed consent, data collection, and data management best practices to safeguard the privacy of participants. 
• Participate in planning and training calls with the SOI Health Research and Evaluation team, occurring on a weekly basis. 
• Meet regularly with the state SO Program Health team to discuss the project and the most feasible way to recruit and retain athletes for the evaluation.  
• Recruit athletes to participate in the longitudinal evaluation. 
• Collect health-related fitness data, physical assessment, and survey data over time as outlined in the protocol. 
• Maintain personal contact with athletes, coaches, volunteers, and relevant local contacts associated with the longitudinal evaluation cohort to reduce attrition rates. 
• Support the state SO Program in their Co-Evaluator program to prepare athletes to be contributors in the implementation of the longitudinal evaluation. 

Health Research and Evaluation Activities (20%). The Research Operations Manager will support the state SO Health team to support on-going data collection efforts to evaluate the impact of their programs. Projects include the following: 

• Health promotion evaluation including one or more of the following: Young Athletes, SO fitness models, Inclusive Health, and/or other health promotion project(s) designated by the SO Program.
• Digitization and reporting, including support to digitize sport and health-related data, such as data entry for Healthy Athletes Screenings, athlete registration, and medical forms.

Required Qualifications:

• Proven record of study coordination for clinical trials or research projects.
• Currently living in a state of the participating Special Olympics State Programs: Arizona, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, or Wisconsin.
• Bachelor’s degree in public health, health sciences, nursing, or related field.
• At least 2 years of experience working in clinical research or a related field.
• Experience working with individuals with intellectual disabilities.
• Excellent oral communication skills in English, including a demonstrated ability to build and maintain networks, and communicate effectively with a culturally and professionally diverse range of stakeholders.
• Fluency with current workplace technology, including latest developments in remote collaborative technology.
• Strong administrative and organizational skills, including the ability to multi-task and manage multiple deadlines.

Desired Qualifications:

• Experience working with people with intellectual disabilities or familiarity with Special Olympics programs
• Experience in Program Evaluation and Community-Based Participatory Research

Special Olympics provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.