Program Manager, Director - Cancer Research exp (Job 1347)

About the role

The Project Director (PD) will lead a major, long-standing federally funded cohort study investigating environmental and genetic risk factors for cancer and other chronic diseases. This role involves both client-facing responsibilities and internal corporate oversight.

Responsibilities

• Oversee all aspects of daily contract operations, acting as the executive liaison and primary representative to federal clients and agency leadership.
• Proactively communicate project status, risks, issues, and mitigation strategies to ensure transparency and accountability across all contract activities.
• Lead and supervise multidisciplinary teams responsible for detailed follow-up protocols, multi-mode survey data collection, and preparation of analytic datasets.
• Develop and implement culturally competent participant retention and engagement strategies to sustain high response rates and maximize longitudinal follow-up.
• Data cleaning, quality assurance, and management of multiple concurrent data streams.
• Biospecimen collection, processing, tracking, and repository operations in partnership with laboratory leadership, ensuring compliance with all safety and quality regulations.
• Health outcome validation activities, including medical record abstraction and procurement of pathology reports.
• Collaborate with Scientific Subject Matter Expert to operationalize scientific initiatives and epidemiologic guidance across all phases of cohort study operations, including study design, protocol development, and field execution.
• Ensure compliance with all federal research regulations (IRB, HIPAA, Certificates of Confidentiality), as well as rigorous adherence to confidentiality, data privacy, and ethical standards.
• Lead strategic planning and process improvement initiatives to drive continuous operational innovation and contract performance.
• Oversee Program Manager’s execution of project budget development and adherence, staffing plans, schedules, and resource allocation for optimization and sustainability of contract deliverables.

Qualifications

• 10–15 years’ progressively responsible experience (post-training) as a Principal Investigator, Project Director, or equivalent leadership on complex epidemiologic or public health research programs, with demonstrated success in longitudinal study design, execution, and operations.
• Doctorate (PhD, DrPH, ScD) in epidemiology, public health, biostatistics, or a closely related discipline. Individuals with a Master’s degree in these fields will be considered if sufficient experience with programmatic leadership is clearly demonstrated.
• Subject matter expertise in chronic disease (e.g., cancer, cardiovascular disease, aging) required; additional subject matter expertise desired in environmental health, genetics, or omics.
• Direct experience in federal research contract management and client interaction at the senior level.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor, supervise, and inspire multidisciplinary teams in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment.
• Exceptional strategic planning, executive communication, and scientific writing skills.
• Demonstrated record of peer-reviewed publications, presentations, and involvement in scientific societies or national associations.
• Project management certification (PMP or equivalent).

Skills

• Strong leadership and strategic vision.
• Mature, collaborative relationships with federal stakeholders.
• Effective communication and authority with senior agency executives, scientific partners, and internal leadership.
• Compliance with federal research regulations and ethical standards.
• Strategic planning and process improvement.
• Team leadership and supervision.
• Scientific writing and mentoring.

Benefits

Personal Time Off (PTO), medical, dental, vision, supplemental life with AD&D, short and long-term disability, flexible spending accounts, parental leave, legal services, and more. A 401(k) Retirement Plan with a matching component is also offered. DLH is committed to your career development, providing training and access to e-learning resources.

Pay

TBD

Schedule

TBD