Strategic Communications Specialist – Clinical Trials Office

University of Washington Medical Center•Seattle, WA

About The Position

UW Medicine works to improve the health of the public by advancing medical knowledge, providing outstanding primary and specialty medical care to people of the region, and preparing tomorrow’s physicians, scientists and other health professionals. Within the large UW Medicine health system, the School of Medicine (SoM) is a world leader in biomedical research, among the largest biomedical research programs at a public university based on National Institutes of Health funding and ranking among the top research universities internationally. The Clinical Trials Office (CTO) supports the clinical research mission of UW Medicine. The CTO is an operational unit within the SoM’s Office of Research and Graduate Education charged with providing multi-service support to clinical researchers bringing important new therapies to our patients in compliance with evolving regulatory requirements. The CTO Strategic Communications Specialist is the face of the operation since they are often the primary developer and distributor of important information about strategic operational changes and improvements. The outreach by the incumbent will include not only internal UW research faculty, staff and administrators, but those from our strategic partner institutions as well. The position is key for designing and maintaining effective, informative, and creative operating communications and for productively engaging with all of our stakeholders via multiple channels, including websites, staff and leadership forums, operational workgroups, printed materials, etc. This position is a part of the operational CTO leadership and reports to the CTO Director. The Clinical Trials Office is a central clinical research operation with compliance responsibilities and services across the vast portfolio of clinical trials in UW Medicine. The CTO operation has direct impact on UW reputation with major global biotech and biopharma sponsors and the availability of funded clinical trial opportunities in UW pipeline. In addition, the CTO plays a key role in mitigating institutional financial and reputational risks by ensuring strict compliance with the CMS and the FDA regulations and guidelines. The CTO Strategic Communications Specialist is a key position to maintain secure, transparent and fully compliant CTO operation.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Communications, Marketing or related field
Five years of relevant experience in an academic work environment
Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.
Ability to manage competing priorities with minimal direction
Demonstrated skills in MS Office and design software programs, e.g. Acrobat DC, Illustrator, Photoshop, Premier, etc
Demonstrated experience effectively managing multiple project timelines
Excellent written communication skills to draft complex correspondence
Outstanding verbal and interpersonal communication skills to be able to interact effectively with all levels of leadership, faculty, research staff, sponsors, and clients
Ability to work effectively and efficiently as a team member

Nice To Haves

Experience working in a Clinical Trials Office or a similar clinical research operation
Ability to effectively utilize data and metrics in support of process improvement
Experience designing employee training materials

Responsibilities

Design, develop, introduce and implement research staff and faculty education and training materials
Organize and present information about CTO services and impact in a dynamic, creative and effective way
Establish and maintain CTO web presence relevant to all stakeholders that offers meaningful and well-organized information
Develop and disseminate timely communication about operational changes, improvements and adjustments to our research community
Design, create and introduce effective research study and research subject-facing content and materials to optimize study recruitment and retention strategies
Develop and disseminate trial start-up tools and templates for clinical research study teams
Identify and effectively collaborate with subject matter experts to serve as resource for content development and presentation
Collaborate with various UW programs and our strategic partner institutions in developing new and improving existing training resources. Our strategic partners include the UW Institute of Translational Health Sciences (ITHS), Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Fred Hutch), the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA), and Seattle Children’s Hospital (SCH).
Design and establish effective strategy and materials for onboarding of internal staff
Continually monitor, evaluate and adjust the training program based on user feedback and operational changes
Present strategic training, communication and operating improvement ideas to leadership
Accelerate awareness for the UW Clinical Trial Office services and footprint among the key stakeholders, including study teams, investigators, UW departments and divisions, UW leadership, external partner institutions and our sponsors
Design, reassess and improve the CTO website structure and content presentation
Build and maintain relationships with our investigators, study teams, subjects and sponsors to document and memorialize the UW CTO research success stories
Serve as liaison with the UW Medicine, ITHS and Cancer Consortium branding offices