Technical Project Manager - College of Engineering - BioMedical Engineering

About the Role

The Department of Biomedical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University is seeking a Technical Project Manager to provide scientific and technical leadership for a large-scale project focused on developing a wearable, multimodal maternal–fetal monitoring system to transform intrapartum care. This technical and science-facing role involves overseeing the full translational pipeline—from multimodal sensing hardware to physiology-informed AI, human-factors design, and clinical validation across multiple hospital sites.

The Technical Project Manager works closely with the Principal Investigator (PI) and task leads to ensure coherence in the program’s science and engineering directions. Responsibilities include engaging with clinicians to identify translationally relevant questions, tracking progress at partner labs and companies, and providing high-level technical oversight of approaches, dependencies, and timelines. This role regularly handles sensitive and pre-publication technical information and is ideal for a senior research scientist transitioning into a collaboration- and leadership-oriented position.

Responsibilities

• Clinical Coordination and Translational Direction
  • Build and maintain relationships with clinical collaborators, including maternal-fetal medicine specialists, OB/GYN faculty, neonatologists, and pediatric anesthesiologists.
  • Engage with clinicians to understand intrapartum monitoring practices, unmet needs, decision points, and the clinical context of fetal hypoxia and labor management; surface insights to the PI and task leads.
  • Identify clinically meaningful opportunities for the solution platform and translate these into experimental questions, study aims, and validation priorities.
  • Shape protocol design, endpoints, and clinical data collection plans to ensure scientific rigor and clinical credibility; coordinate with clinical co-investigators on protocol refinement.
  • Represent the technical team in discussions with clinical partners, communicating technical capabilities and constraints in actionable terms.
• External Lab and Industry Partner Coordination
  • Serve as the substantive technical point of contact between CMU lead labs and external academic/industry partners.
  • Develop a working understanding of sensor designs, signal processing approaches, software stacks, hardware integration plans, and regulatory/manufacturing posture.
  • Track partner progress against deliverables, surface technical risks early, and flag dependencies at risk.
  • Synthesize partner activity into clear technical updates for the PI, task leads, and funding agencies.
• Technical Direction and Strategic Oversight
  • Provide high-level technical oversight across project tasks, assessing whether the overall strategy and individual work plans are coherent and on track.
  • Identify technical risks, gaps, and over-investments; recommend prioritization, scope adjustments, or additional collaborations to the PI.
  • Maintain an up-to-date internal picture of the system architecture to ensure seamless integration of partner efforts.
  • Support technical content for reporting, milestone reviews, FDA Q-submissions, and regulatory planning in collaboration with the Program Manager and task leads.
• Science Engagement and Leadership
  • Remain hands-on with the science: participate in technical discussions, review data and figures, and contribute to manuscripts, abstracts, and grant proposals as a senior author or co-author.
  • Mentor graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and research staff on experimental design, multimodal data interpretation, and translational thinking.
  • Foster a collaborative and inclusive lab and consortium culture, particularly across engineering, clinical, and industry boundaries.

Requirements

• PhD in biomedical engineering, electrical engineering, biophysics, neuroscience, applied physics, or a related field (or equivalent research experience).
• Multiple years of post-PhD research experience in a relevant laboratory or research-and-development setting.
• Demonstrated experience working in or coordinating multi-institutional and/or international research collaborations (strongly preferred).
• Familiarity with clinical research, human-subjects studies, IRB processes, and/or regulated medical device development (IDE, De Novo, PMA, 510(k)) (preferred).
• Prior experience interfacing with federal sponsors such as ARPA-H, DARPA, NIH, or DoD on milestone-driven programs (a plus).
• Significant prior research experience in biomedical engineering, biomedical optics, biomedical instrumentation, neuroengineering, or a closely related field—ideally several years of postdoctoral, staff scientist, or equivalent experience in an active research lab.
• Technical depth in one or more sensing modalities relevant to the project (e.g., diffuse optics, EEG/EMG/ECG, ultrasound, photoacoustics) and the breadth to engage credibly with adjacent modalities and AI/ML work.
• A track record of substantive scientific output (peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, and/or contributions to funded grants).
• Demonstrated ability to coordinate and lead across multiple stakeholders—academic collaborators, clinicians, and/or industry partners—and to translate between their distinct cultures and constraints.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; ability to engage clinicians on clinically meaningful questions and engineers on technical detail, and to summarize either for the other.
• Sound technical judgment: the ability to evaluate whether a proposed approach is appropriate, whether a plan is realistic, and where risks lie without needing to design every method personally.
• Strong interpersonal skills and a collaborative disposition; comfort operating across institutional and international boundaries.
• A clear interest in growing as a scientific leader/coordinator who remains engaged with the science.
• Successful background check.

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, prescription, dental, and vision insurance.
• Generous retirement savings program with employer contributions.
• Tuition benefits.
• Ample paid time off and observed holidays.
• Life and accidental death and disability insurance.
• Free Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus pass.
• Access to the Family Concierge Team to help navigate childcare needs.
• Fitness center access.

Pay

Salary-based compensation.

Schedule

Full-time, fixed-term staff position.

Location

Pittsburgh, PA.