Clinical Project Manager Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a clinical project manager. You can use our job description template in this article to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a clinical project manager.
Who is a Clinical Project Manager?
A Clinical Project Manager creates and carries out the team’s goals for clinical trials and research. Clinical trials are tests carried out to determine the efficacy and safety of drugs or medical devices by observing their effects on sizable populations of individuals. Clinical project managers must fulfill various educational and skill criteria to be successful in this industry.
For clinical trials, clinical project managers are in charge of planning, communicating, and assessing team goals. Clinical research associates and clinical specialists might be on their team. Clinical project managers essentially design and oversee clinical studies to provide high-quality findings. They lead in creating study-related paperwork, such as protocols, investigator files, and informed consent forms.
Invoices from study suppliers, institutional review board approvals, clinical trial agreements, and monitoring reports may also need to be reviewed by these experts. Additionally, clinical project managers participate in the analysis, synthesis, and reporting of clinical data for regulatory or commercial objectives.
Clinical project managers may also oversee and evaluate the work of clinical team members and instruct the team on regular clinical procedures. These experts also need to have cordial relationships with sponsors, who may include doctors, staff members from the medical research industry, and outside consultants. They act as a point of contact for the clinical research organization, research locations, and study sponsors. Clinical project managers are responsible for ensuring that the right resources are available for a project and for resolving any arising disagreements or concerns.
Clinical Project Manager Job Description
Below are the clinical project manager job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The duties and responsibilities of the Clinical Project Manager include the following:
- Keep the necessary records of study activities, such as case report forms, records of medication dispensing, or regulatory documents.
- Monitor study activities to ensure that research procedures and all applicable local, federal, and state regulations and institutional policies are followed.
- Ensure informed consent is appropriately acquired and documented by monitoring subject enrolment.
- Examine potential subjects’ eligibility using techniques such as screening interviews, inspections of medical records, and consultations with doctors and nurses.
- Keep track of side effects and adverse occurrences, and talk with investigators about reporting incidents to regulatory bodies.
- Prepare for or participate in quality assurance audits conducted by study sponsors, government authorities, or authorized review bodies.
- Identify protocol issues, alert investigators to issues, or help with attempts to resolve issues, such as protocol modifications.
- Prepare study-related paperwork, such as progress reports, protocol worksheets, procedure manuals, adverse event reports, and institutional review board records.
- Keep track of a subject’s enrollment status and record dropout details such as reasons for the dropout and contacts made with them.
- Review the proposed research protocols to assess elements including sample collection procedures, data management strategies, and potential subject hazards.
- Code, assess, or interpret research data.
- Participate in the creation and administration of research budgets and financial disbursements.
- Contribute to creating study protocols, such as the administration or data gathering processes.
- Teach research employees about scientific and administrative protocols of studies, such as the informed consent process, standards of care, or documentation procedures.
- Discuss research findings with laboratories or other researchers.
- Take continuing education courses, attend conferences and seminars to stay up to date with clinical research news and topics, and read scientific literature.
- Order any medications or equipment required to complete the trial.
Qualifications
- A bachelor’s degree in the sciences, such as bioengineering, health, or life sciences
- Have an advanced education, such as a Ph.D., MS, or MBA
- Experience managing projects and conducting relevant clinical trials
- Knowledgeable with good clinical practice and other pertinent regulatory requirements
- Years of expertise as a clinical research assistant or team lead
Essential Skills
Here are the skills you require to excel in your career as a Clinical Project Manager:
- Clinical Trials Design
- Conceptual Thinking
- Cross-cultural Competence
- Emotional Control
- Motivational
- Participatory Management
- Persistence
- Project Management
- Team Organization
- Team Building
- Trustworthiness
- Vendor Management
- Site Management
Clinical Trials Design
Developing a strategy for carrying out clinical trials is known as clinical trial design. This involves describing the specifics of the research, such as the categories of patients who will participate and the therapies they will receive. Additionally, it entails outlining the procedure for gathering and analyzing data. Clinical project managers must ensure that their plans adhere to regulatory requirements and yield reliable findings.
Conceptual Thinking
Understanding a situation or issue with connections or patterns while addressing the underlying problems is known as conceptual thinking.
To compete in the diversified and expanding market, a clinical project manager must be a conceptual thinker with a deep awareness of why things must be done in a certain way. They must think abstractly and apply their insights to the issue across all dimensions.
Cross-cultural Competence
The ability to communicate effectively with members of various racial, religious, cultural, national, and geographic groups is known as cross-cultural competence.
A clinical project manager needs to be very cross-culturally competent to engage successfully with members of other groups and to teach his staff how to be aware of cultural differences and willing to adapt their conduct out of respect for others.
Emotional Control
Emotional control is the ability to recognize, receptively accept, and successfully manage one’s emotions, and those around.
A clinical project manager must be able to control his emotions and help the employees do the same to maintain their professionalism, effectiveness, and productivity.
Motivational
When someone feels inspired, they are motivated to give their all to support the mission of the company where they are employed.
By providing the team with a clear vision and purpose via decisive leadership that encourages and inspires them, a clinical project manager may foster an environment where the employees can apply their professional expertise and strive to be the best.
Participatory Management
Participatory management is the process of involving all stakeholders at all organizational levels in the analysis of issues, creation of plans, and execution of fixes.
To foster open and honest communication, freedom, and transparency, a clinical project manager should integrate participatory management into the organization. They should also develop self-managed teams that are simple to work with.
Persistence
Refusing to give up or abandon a steadfast or stubborn continuing line of action in the face of challenges or opposition is the definition of persistence.
When developing this crucial skill in each individual, a clinical project manager should highlight it heavily since it is the key difference between a successful and failed outcome.
Project Management
Project management is the process of organizing a list of tasks and responsibilities for your project or business and developing a plan for carrying those obligations out as soon as possible.
A clinical project manager must emphasize how the staff applies project management approaches and concepts in their everyday tasks and duties to develop efficiency and build a competitive edge in the fiercely competitive business environment.
Team Organization
Establishing a company’s strategy and coordinating staff efforts to achieve its goals are all part of team organization.
To accomplish the goals of the policies developed when making decisions to manage the business, a clinical project manager must master the skill of developing corporate policy, organizing, planning, controlling, and directing organizational resources.
Team Building
Team building refers to various actions intended to improve interpersonal relationships and clarify duties within the teams at work.
A clinical project manager should offer team-building activities to his team to foster communication, morale, motivation, and productivity and to help workers get to know one another better and learn about their respective strengths and weaknesses to create better work.
Trustworthiness
Dependability is the quality of being dependable and trustworthy throughout time by offering services that can be depended upon.
A Clinical Project Manager must be dependable and hire trustworthy workers who can be relied upon to be reliable, consistent, and advantageous to the company. This will allow them to carve out a niche for themselves as a crucial member of the larger team without worrying about putting in less than their best effort.
Vendor Management
The ability to handle interactions with suppliers and vendors is known as vendor management. This entails being aware of the goods or services you require, locating the best deals on those goods, and ensuring your business receives high-quality service from its suppliers. Strong vendor management skills may assist a clinical project manager to ensure that their business’s projects are finished on schedule and under budget.
Site Management
The ability to manage a project’s location is known as site management. Clinical project managers frequently employ this competence when working with customers across several areas or when they must travel for business. This might involve overseeing schedules, budgeting, and ensuring everyone on the team is on the same page.
How to Become a Clinical Project Manager
Below are the steps to take to become a Clinical Project Manager:
Step One: Get your High School Certificate or Its Equivalent
The initial stage in becoming a clinical project manager is completing high school, GED, or its equivalent. This shows a student’s dedication to finishing a course of study and demonstrates that they have acquired a certain degree of education. Students interested in this field should concentrate on courses like maths, biology, chemistry, business, and psychology.
Step Two: Obtain a Bachelor’s Degree
A prospective clinical project manager should have a bachelor’s degree in health science or a related discipline. They may major in clinical trial management, health science, biology, pre-medicine, and business.
Step Three: Amass Professional Experience in a Clinical Field
To work as a clinical project manager, you frequently need prior clinical trial and research job experience. Working for drug firms, academic institutions, governmental organizations, or anybody conducting clinical trials can help you gain expertise. It is important to have experience with every facet of a trial, including its design, planning, monitoring, and regulatory compliance.
Step Four: Become Certified
It is optional for clinical project managers to become certified, although doing so may help them land a job or get a promotion. The Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP) and the Society of Clinical Research Associates are the certification bodies (SOCRA). The certifications section below has information about certification requirements.
Step Five: Complete a Master’s Program
When joining this sector, having a master’s degree or a certificate in clinical trial management may be helpful. The duration of a program might range from one to three years or more. Students often learn ethics, trial design, regulatory compliance, and statistics in these programs.
Where to Work as a Clinical Project Manager
A clinical project manager may work at a hospital, clinic, pharmaceutical company, or research facility, among other places. Most of them have full-time jobs, however, others may put in more than 40 hours a week to meet deadlines or communicate with team members in various time zones.
Clinical project managers frequently travel to conferences, client meetings, and site visits. Some jobs could involve a lot of traveling. Clinical project managers could operate in a workplace that is deadline-driven and fast-paced, and they might feel pressure to finish projects on schedule and within budget.
Clinical Project Manager Salary Scale
The average yearly salary for a clinical project manager is $118,193, or $56.82 per hour in the United States, which amounts to $9,849 a month or $2,272 per week. The yearly salary ranges from $57,000 to $167,000.
In the United Kingdom, the average clinical project manager pay is £52,009 per year or £26.67 per hour. Most experienced professionals earn up to £70,000 yearly, while entry-level occupations start at £42,948.
In Canada, a clinical project manager makes an average pay of CA$78,720 per year or CA$40.37 per hour. Most experienced professionals earn up to CA$115,440 yearly, while entry-level occupations start at CA$61,325 annually.
The average salary for a clinical project manager is €58,946 per year or €28 per hour in Germany. A Clinical Project Manager can expect to make between €41,262 and €71,619 per year on average.
Australia’s national average for clinical project managers is AU$122,088 per year or AU$62.61 per hour. Most experienced workers earn up to AU$143,178 annually, while entry-level positions start at AU$116,097.
Clinical project managers in Ireland make an average of €57,034 per year and €27 per hour. The average salary range for a Clinical Project Manager is between €39,923 and €69,296.
Salary ranges can vary significantly based on various crucial aspects, including education, credentials, skills, and the length of time working in a given field.
