Project Manager

Staff - Non Union

Job Category: M&P - AAPS Job Profile: AAPS Salaried - Research and Facilitation, Level C Job Title: Project Manager Department: Health Data Research Network | Population Data BC | Faculty of Medicine Compensation Range: $7,622.83 - $11,886.67 CAD Monthly

The Compensation Range is the span between the minimum and maximum base salary for a position. The midpoint of the range is approximately halfway between the minimum and the maximum and represents an employee that possesses full job knowledge, qualifications and experience for the position. In the normal course, employees will be hired, transferred or promoted between the minimum and midpoint of the salary range for a job.

Posting End Date: March 6, 2025

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.

Job End Date: Mar 31, 2026

This position is expected to be filled by promotion/reassignment and is included here to inform you of its vacancy at the University.

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.

Job Summary
Population Data BC (PopData) is a multi-university, data and education resource facilitating interdisciplinary research on the determinants of human health, well-being and development. We support secure research access to individual-level, de-identified longitudinal data on 5.4 million residents living in British Columbia, linking data across various sectors such as health, education, early childhood development, workplace and the environment.

We are a key member of the International Population Data Linkage Network, through which we have promoted international research collaborations and fostered working groups on privacy and access to data. Population Data BC is also one of 14 centres that comprise Health Data Research Network Canada (HDRN Canada), a research-enabling, distributed network that supports multi-regional, person-focused research. The work of HDRN Canada is supported by a seven-year, $39M grant awarded by the CIHR under its Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR), and has in-kind contributions from network member organizations across Canada. HDRN Canada is a federally incorporated not-for-profit organization with many complex and strategic relationships with Ministries of Health and other government entities (which are often funders of network members), with federal agencies and with other groups, networks and data providers. The network is comprised of every national, provincial, and territorial centre that holds population-wide health data. As HDRN Canada, our 14 centres work together and share resources to support researchers in using over 550 health and social datasets that our centres hold.

The Network Coordination and Operations (NCO) team for Health Data Research Network Canada (HDRN Canada) and the SPOR Canadian Data Platform (CDP), the first initiative of HDRN Canada, are based at Population Data BC.

The Project Manager will exercise professional judgment and initiative in planning, coordination and management of strategic projects within HDRN Canada, including the SPOR CDP initiatives and emerging strategic initiatives. They will be accountable for the effective execution of all assigned activities. They will manage the entire project lifecycle of medium-scale or complex projects including developing project plans, assembling project teams, assigning individual responsibilities, identifying appropriate resources needed, and developing schedules to ensure timely completion of projects.

Organizational Status
This position reports to the Director of Operations, SPOR Canadian Data Platform and will have accountability as well to the SPOR CDP Nominated Principal Investigator and HDRN Canada Executive Committee. As a key contributor to a nationally distributed network, the incumbent is expected to liaise with a broad range of external researchers, members of partner institutions, project leads, UBC departments, and cross-institutional committees.

The Project Manager is part of HDRN Canada's NCO (National Coordination and Operations) team, and a member of Population Data BC. Population Data BC is a part of the School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia.

Work Performed

• Facilitates the growth and development of the SPOR CDP, taking a senior role in operations and development initiatives led by the Director of Operations and Nominated Principal Investigator.
• Operationalizes network development initiatives and strategic work plans, performing ongoing operational analyses of HDRN Canada projects under areas of responsibility to ensure efficacy and efficiency, and to foresee potential problem areas.
• Provides project management for centrally-driven projects, including the development and implementation of new protocols, processes, policies and services offered by HDRN Canada.
• Initiates projects following appropriate project management methodology including gathering and defining project requirements, developing project charters, project plans, budgets and schedules, identifying staffing requirements, and forming project teams.
• Responsible for the logistics, planning and execution of HDRN Canada hybrid and in-person events under the SPOR CDP. This includes pre-event planning, managing and coordinating with suppliers, day-of execution, and post-event evaluation.
• Participates in, contributes to and monitors the progress of major project objectives for the SPOR CDP, including: planning the creation of a multi-jurisdictional data access support system; facilitating data harmonization and standardization; expanding the sources and types of data and linkages available; the development of technology infrastructure for data access requests and the documentation, storage, and re-use of algorithms and existing data; the development of data analytics and data collection and analysis infrastructure; facilitating patient, public, and Indigenous community engagement; and enabling pan-Canadian coordination.
• Reviews grant objectives and requirements in order to establish and implement protocols for quarterly reporting of work plan progress, timeline updates and financial accountability summaries from across the CDP network.
• Manages network-wide reporting on CDP objectives.
• Supports network-wide work plan submissions, reviewing and advising sites on participation in network objectives and initiatives.
• Works with all Working Groups, Teams, Councils and Committees within HDRN Canada and the SPOR CDP network to set priorities and goals, prepare budgets and forecast requirements.
• Provides authoritative information on the project to all partners and personnel.
• Provides input and collaborates on project reports for the Board, Exec and project funders.
• Leads the development of briefing notes for the evaluation of new project proposals.
• Builds and maintains strong relationships with staff, specialists, and subject matter experts at sites across the network, ensuring consistency, open communication and convergence.
• Responsible for the coordination of reviews or audits, in areas of security, privacy; includes overseeing requests for proposals and selecting vendors.
• Draws on understanding and expertise of researcher access to data and analytic requirements in BC, Canada and around the world in order to support efforts to streamline data access at the provincial and national levels.
• Fosters and strengthens relationships among HDRN Canada member organizations.
• Provides senior-level management for the administration of strategic projects within HDRN Canada and the SPOR CDP.
• Performs other duties as required.

Consequence of Error/Judgement
The Project Manager will exercise professional judgment and initiative in the overall coordination and management of the SPOR CDP. They will be accountable for the effective execution of all assigned activities. They will make decisions regarding the project review process and the development of collaborative agreements and plans.

Supervision Received
Works with considerable latitude. Reports to the Director of Operations, SPOR Canadian Data Platform. The incumbent will work with and occasionally receive direction from other senior members of the SPOR CDP Leadership team as well as senior staff members of Population Data BC.

Supervision Given
Provides direction and technical knowledge to others working on SPOR Canadian Data Platform-related projects or objectives. The incumbent will supervise Project Coordinators and provide direction and task supervision to collaborating staff and students.

Minimum Qualifications
For research work, a post-graduate degree or equivalent professional designation with a minimum of four years of related experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Otherwise, an undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline is required with a minimum of six years of related experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

- Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own.

- Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Preferred Qualifications

Post-graduate degree in Health Sciences or other relevant discipline is preferred. Experience working with a data-focused organization or health-related institution is an asset. Project Management certification or Project Management Professional designation is considered an asset. Experience in working within a statutorily-regulated or privacy-sensitive environment is highly desirable.

Skills:

• Strong oral and written communication skills, including proficiency in the use of English grammar, spelling, punctuation, and technical terminology.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to liaise with individuals at varying levels of expertise, including programming staff, senior government staff, researchers, and community leaders.
• Strong ability to exercise tact, discretion, and judgment.
• Strong understanding of how to function as a team player in a multi-stakeholder environment.
• Ability to understand technical terms and concepts.
• Exceptional attention to detail.
• Demonstrated time management and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multitasking and competing priorities.
• Exceptional initiative and willingness to learn new concepts and detailed procedures.
• Ability to work effectively both independently and within a team environment.
• Must be positive in attitude and a team player.