Clinical Program Manager Jobs in Chicago, IL (NOW HIRING)

Since our founding in 1924, we've cut cardiovascular disease deaths in half, but there is still so much more to do. To overcome today's biggest health challenges and accelerate this progress, we need passionate individuals like you. Join our movement, be part of the progress, and help ensure a healthier future for all. You matter, and so does the impact you can make with us.

The American Heart Association has an opportunity for Program Implementation Manager, Clinical Studies. This position can be home-based.

This is a full-time, benefits eligible, grant funded opportunity. Current funding will expire on July 30, 2031. 

This individual will be responsible for the day-to-day recruitment, consultation, and project management of activities for various cardiovascular clinical studies. This person will identify, build, nurture, and maintain relationships to recruit participating sites and patients to achieve program goals. Building on established relationships with hospitals, health systems and clinics, this role will provide in-depth process and quality improvement consultation including individual site support, facilitation of educational opportunities, intervention tracking, and process mapping. This person will be responsible for assisting with recruitment, onboarding, site and patient retention, and related activities to ensure excellence and attention to detail throughout the site management process. Additionally, this person will be responsible for daily operations related to meeting project deliverables.

The Association offers many resources to help you maintain work-life harmonization through your changing needs and life situations. To help you be successful, you will have access to Heart U, our award-winning corporate university, as well as additional training and support, locally.

#TheAHALife is more than a company culture; it is our way of life. It embodies our commitment to work-life harmonization and is guided by our core values where our employees can thrive both personally and professionally. Discover why you will Be Seen. Be Heard. Be Valued at the American Heart Association by following us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, X, and at heart.jobs.

This role will regularly collaborate closely with physician leadership, C-suite leadership, and site clinical and research teams, so should have experience working with these roles. Thie role also requires the individual to function and drive work independently with minimal supervision, have positive relationship cultivation skills, strong project management skills and be results-oriented.

• Leverage available data to identify and develop pipeline of prospective hospitals and associated clinics for clinical trial patient referrals in a variety of Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) trials. Cultivate and manage relationships to achieve program goals.
• Oversee and coordinate the full site activation lifecycle, including trial site contracting, regulatory onboarding, and required documentation.
• Prospect new hospitals and associated clinics by working with established customers, routinely reviewing their data, consulting on identification of patients and clearly conveying the referral process to all involved site staff,
• Serve as main account manager of participating sites. Onboard and train participating sites, providing education on protocol requirements, data collection, reporting expectations, and regulatory obligations; manage and consult sites on both site-level and system-level responsibilities.
• Ensure accuracy in information collected and oversee ongoing regulatory compliance and monitoring activities across trial sites, including internal tracking, regulatory documentation, and information shared with stakeholders.
• Routinely meet with and visit sites to boost patient referrals, focusing on gaining a deep understanding of care pathways and optimizing workflows.
• Lead and manage patient recruitment, enrollment, and retention strategies across trial sites, including outreach, screening, follow-up operations, and proactive troubleshooting of barriers; monitor performance and provide regular progress updates to trial leadership.
• Serve as the primary patient liaison throughout the clinical trial lifecycle, addressing barriers to participation, supporting long-term engagement, and sharing actionable insights with leadership to enhance patient experience and study outcomes.
• Assess each site's clinical research team's patient recruitment and retention success and offer suggestions for process improvement.
• Develop and deliver education toolkit and training materials to trial hospitals, field staff and other departments, ensuring you are always providing tangible solutions to overcome their evolving barrier(s).
• Establish and conduct related data monitoring activities including patient volume, referral tracking, data entry, engagement, data completion, data quality and patient and clinician barriers.
• Develop and deliver site and program-wide targeted education and training materials, utilizing collected insights; this includes fully developing and implementing national educational webinars for clinicians and healthcare leadership, researching and creating patient and clinician educational materials, etc.
• Identify, build, cultivate and manage key high-level partner and customer relationships to achieve program goals. Collaborate with any related project Committees, and other high-level physicians and C-suite members from participating sites and stakeholders.
• Analyze, collate, and present results of training, education, and data to continually evaluate next steps and needs for program. Address any inconsistencies appropriately and within a timely manner.
• Communicate regularly with Project leadership to ensure tasks are completed according to project timeline. Routinely prepare and present findings to internal and external project leadership. Work with colleagues and external partners through ongoing meetings to report out on project deliverables.
• Attend site meetings, project-level meetings, leadership meetings, and related scientific conferences.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for sites throughout the trial lifecycle, from initial engagement through closeout, ensuring strong collaboration, timely issue resolution, and adherence to study requirements.
• Other duties as assigned by the Supervisor, including additional trial support on other projects.

• Bachelor's Degree
• Three (3) years or equivalent experience
• Experience interacting and engaging with clinicians and C-suite, ideally in a hospital setting
• Experience communicating complex information and directions to varying levels of health care professionals and leadership
• Strong verbal, written, and presentation communications skills, including communication with clinical leadership.
• Experience in healthcare or in a public health-related organization, clinical studies, clinical registries, patient registries, or quality improvement programs
• Experience with program/project management, including experience in influencing performance without direct line accountability
• Experience with account management and sales success/business development
• Ability to function and drive work independently with minimal supervision
• Experience with Microsoft Office suite skills, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook
• Ability to work in a team environment and interact with all levels of American Heart Association staff, volunteers, and the public
• Ability to travel up to 15% nationally with overnight stay

Preferred Experience:

• Master's degree
• Knowledge of clinical trial operations, preferably from a sponsor perspective
• Knowledge of Cardiovascular Diseases

The expected pay range will be $70,000 to $90,000 . Pay is commensurate with experience; geographic differentials to the pay range may apply. The American Heart Association reserves the right to pay more or less than the posted range. The American Heart Association invests in its people. Here are the main components of total rewards package. Visit Rewards & Benefits to see more details.

• Compensation - Our goal is to ensure you have a competitive base salary.  That's why we regularly review the market value of jobs and make adjustments, as needed.
• Performance and Recognition - You are rewarded for achieving success through annual salary planning and incentive programs; eligibility for an incentive program is based on the type of position.  
• Benefits - We offer a wide array of benefits including medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance, along with a robust retirement program that includes an employer match and automatic contribution.  As a mark of our commitment to employee well-being, we also offer an employee assistance program, employee wellness program and telemedicine, and medical consultation.
• Professional Development - You can join one of our many Employee Resource Groups (ERG) or be a mentor/mentee in our professional mentoring program.  HeartU is the Association's national online university, with more than 100,000 resources designed to meet your needs and busy schedule.
• Work-Life Harmonization - The Association offers Paid Time Off (PTO) at a minimum of 16 days per year for new employees.  The number of days will increase based on seniority level.  You will also have a total of 12 paid holidays off each year, which includes several days off at the end of the year.
• Tuition Assistance - We support the career development of all employees.  This program provides financial assistance to employees who wish to further their education and career in relation to their current duties and responsibilities, or for potential future positions in the organization.

The American Heart Association's 2028 Goal: Building on over 100 years of trusted leadership in cardiovascular and brain health, by 2028 the Association will drive breakthroughs and implement proven solutions in science, policy, and care for healthier people and communities. The greatest discoveries in health must reach everyone where they are.

At American Heart Association | American Stroke Association, our mission is to be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, religion, age, language, sexual orientation, national origin and physical or cognitive abilities.This position not a match with your skills?  Click here to see other opportunities.

In accordance with local and state laws where applicable, qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment.

EOE/Protected Veterans/Persons with Disabilities