Associate Director, Clinical Program Operations

Title: Associate Director, Clinical Program Operations
Location: United States

Job Description:

Position Summary:

The Associate Director, Clinical Program Operations splits time between two closely integrated teams, supporting the Clinical Programs teams own initiatives and providing operational support to the Medical Affairs team. Because the two teams work so closely together, this is intended to feel seamless in practice: the associate director manages scheduling, review processes, and program tracking across both, keeping deliverables, meetings, and review cycles moving regardless of which team they touch. On the Medical Affairs side, this includes supporting knowledge mobilization and clinical guidelines efforts, particularly the operational loop between the two teams.

Blending strong program and operations management with strategic ownership, the associate director builds and maintains the operating infrastructure, including intake, workflow, budget tracking, vendor coordination, and leadership and funder reporting.

This position works closely with the Health Care Transformation and Partnerships team, as well as Medical Affairs, Professional Education, and external partners, to keep deliverables moving and stakeholders informed.

This is a grant funded role.

Responsibilities

Program & Project Management (25%)

• Drive content and deliverables through the Clinical Programs teams intake, review, and approval process, tracking status, dependencies, and risk, and escalating blockers before they threaten timelines.
• Maintain a single source of truth for program status across the teams initiatives, including content, tools, and platform-related work delivered through ALZPro and other channels.
• Coordinate cross-functional working sessions, standups, and planning meetings supporting program execution.

Operating Infrastructure & Process (15%)

• Design, implement, and refine the teams operating processes - intake, prioritization, quality review, documentation, and templates - to increase speed, consistency, and quality as programs scale.
• Partner with the Sr. Director to establish and evolve the teams operating model, including roles, governance, and portfolio management cadence.
• Identify and implement process improvements that increase efficiency, quality, and accountability across program operations.

Budget & Vendor Management (10%)

• Track budget and spend across program deliverables, flagging variances and supporting funder and leadership financial reporting.
• Manage relationships, contracts, and work orders for agencies and other vendors supporting content and program delivery, including onboarding, deliverable tracking, and invoicing.

Leadership & Funder Reporting (10%)

• Prepare clear, decision-ready status reporting on program progress for internal leadership, funders, and external partners.
• Build and maintain dashboards and reporting tools that track program-level progress, adoption, and outcomes.

Medical Affairs Scheduling & Review Coordination (25%)

• Manage scheduling between the Clinical Programs team and Medical Affairs, including recurring meeting cadences, review cycles, and sign-offs.
• Own the review process for deliverables requiring Medical Affairs input, tracking review status and turnaround and flagging delays that put timelines at risk.
• Maintain program tracking for milestones that depend on Medical Affairs review or sign-off, and prepare joint agendas and status materials for Clinical Programs-Medical Affairs touchpoints.

Knowledge Mobilization & Guidelines Support (15%)

• Support the operational loop between the two teams on knowledge mobilization and clinical guidelines efforts, keeping shared deliverables moving between Clinical Programs and Medical Affairs.
• Track status and coordinate scheduling for knowledge mobilization and guidelines-related deliverables and milestones.

Perform other duties and projects as assigned

Qualifications

• Bachelors degree required.
• 3-5 years of experience in program/project management, operations, or a related function, preferably supporting healthcare, health tech, or professional/clinical programs.
• Experience building or improving operating processes (intake, workflows, documentation) in a growing or evolving initiative preferred.
• Familiarity with dementia care, brain health, or clinical/professional audiences is preferred but not required; high motivation to learn this domain is essential.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Solid program and project management skills, with experience driving complex, cross-functional initiatives in matrixed, virtual-first environments.
• Experience coordinating scheduling and review cycles between teams with different processes and timelines - e.g., a program team and a scientific or regulatory review function.
• Working knowledge of budget tracking and financial reporting across multiple concurrent workstreams.
• Experience managing vendors or contractors, including scoping, onboarding, and deliverable tracking.
• Comfort working with data, dashboards, and performance metrics to inform reporting and decisions.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex, multi-workstream status into clear reporting for leadership, the Board, and funders.
• Understanding of the healthcare industry is helpful; a clinical background is not required.
• High attention to detail, strong organizational skills, and the ability to manage multiple priorities across concurrent initiatives in a fast-moving environment.
• Demonstrated reliability, accountability, and willingness to build new process in an evolving environment.
• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer. Ability and willingness to travel up to 10% of the time for internal and external meetings.

Title: Associate Director, Clinical Program Operations

Position Location: Remote

Full Time (37.5 hr/wk)

Position Grade & Compensation: 508 exempt The Alzheimers Association's good faith expectation for the salary range for this role is between $80,000 - $90,000

Reports To: Sr. Director, Clinical Programs, Translation & Quality Improvement

Who We Are:

The Alzheimer's Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer's care, support and research. Our mission is to lead the way to end Alzheimers and all other dementia- by accelerating global research, driving risk reduction and early detection, and maximizing quality care and support.

The Alzheimer's Association announced a landmark $100 million investment in research for 2023. This unparalleled commitment is illustrative of the momentum we are building in dementia research - our investments today will lead to breakthroughs tomorrow.

At the Alzheimer's Association, our employees are at the core of all we do. Our network of more than 1,750 employees across the United States makes a difference each and every day for those impacted by Alzheimer's and those at risk for the disease.

We warmly invite qualified applicants to consider this opportunity to make a life-changing impact on the millions living with Alzheimer's, their caregivers and those that may develop the disease in the future. Read on to learn more about the role, then visit our website www.alz.org/jobs to explore who we are and why weve been recognized as a Best Place to Work for the last twelve years in a row.

At the Alzheimers Association, we believe that diverse perspectives are critical to achieving health equity - meaning that all communities have a fair and just opportunity for early diagnosis and access to risk reduction and quality care. The Association is committed to engaging underrepresented and underserved communities and responding with resources and education to address the disproportionate impact of Alzheimer's and dementia.

The Alzheimer's Association commitment remains steadfast in engaging all communities in our full mission. The Association provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment to the fullest extent required by law, including, but not limited to, on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, gender identity, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other legally protected characteristic.

Employees working 24 hours/week or more are eligible for a comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, flex accounts, short and long-term disability, life insurance, long term care insurance, tuition reimbursement, generous Paid Time Off, 12 annual holidays and Paid Family Leave, as well as an annual Cultural & Heritage Day and Volunteer Day of their choosing. They are also eligible for our gold standard 401(k) retirement plan. 

Full time employees (37.5 hours/week), will enjoy all of the above plus an annual School Visitation Day and an Elder Care Facility Day of their choosing.

Qualified Applicants with arrest or Conviction records will be considered for Employment in accordance with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers and the California Fair Chance Act at the Alzheimers Association.

The Alzheimers Association will conduct an individualized assessment of the material job duties of this job include working with vulnerable communities which the employer may reasonably believe that Criminal History may have a direct, adverse and negative relationship for the safety of the community.

The background check will include searches for: social security person search, public reports, county & federal criminal reports, multi-jurisdictional, sex offender database, NSOPW national sex offender, education, employment history, motor vehicle or driving history, and reference checks.

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