Program Manager

This position will begin hiring on July 1, 2025.

Mission Driven, Community Focused About | Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (cdrewu.edu)

Charles R. Drew University is located in the Watts-Willowbrook area of south Los Angeles and was founded in 1966 in the wake of the Watts uprising. CDU was founded to address inadequate medical care in the region and to provide equitable medical education opportunities for underrepresented students.

CDU is strongly invested in the local and regional community. The university leads multiple partnerships and programs to provide equitable healthcare resources in a variety of south Los Angeles neighborhoods.

Job Summary:

The Program Manager (PM) reports to the Department Chairs of their assigned departments. The Program Manager will be assigned to one of the department groupings such as:

• Department of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine
• Department of Biomedical Science Education and Preventive and Social Medicine
• Department of Surgery, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

The Program Manager primary role is to manage the department fiscal and organizational structural and respond to University requests. The Program Manager will interact with departmental leadership and faculty daily to achieve their education strategy . The Program Manager is directly responsible for all administrative operations encompassed within the Department’s mission areas of teaching, research, and service. The Program Manager will closely monitor and ensure contracts and service agreements are current and updated on an annual basis or as needed. In partnership with the Chair and faculty leadership, the Program Manager will be responsible for short- and long-term strategic planning to develop departmental administrative and financial goals and objectives.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Responsible for the financial reporting of the department
• Serve as the primary point of contact.
• Assist in the development of spreadsheets to track grant funding and implementation.
• Develop and format grant budgets, narratives, and other supporting documents.
• Create templates for (letters, Memoranda of Understanding, etc.)
• Coordinate quality control checks and review all grant materials.
• Keep the team up to date on project progress and report any delays in a timely fashion
• Serve as a liaison and or delegate to staffing changes and or management to the PI
• Assist in any post-award grant revisions and conduct debrief to share feedback on unfunded grants.
• Serve as the liaison between the PI and the Office of Sponsored Programs
• Provides administrative management and oversight of all aspects of the contract and grant activity for the department by ensuring that the staff and principal investigators are following all regulations in accordance with university policy and sponsor guidelines including Federal, State, Private and Institutional sponsors.
• In conjunction with the Chair, the PM develops the annual departmental budget considering all revenue sources and departmental expenditures. They are responsible for forecasting, trending, and projecting budgetary needs for departmental expenses. Calculate project metrics; including (among others) quality assurance (QA), compliance, technical performance measures, strategic plan implementation.
• Monitor the operational budget and variance reports on a monthly basis to provide the Chair with an analysis and expectation of meeting financial goals to maintain solvency.
• In conjunction with the centralized contracting office participates in the negotiation of financial contracts with outside companies, individuals, etc. for professional services on behalf of the faculty and department
• Work with teams to create and standardize processes to reach team goals.
• Oversees the work of contracted consultants/providers to ensure fidelity with the scope of work, sponsor, and CDU requirements.
• Assist with grant budget preparations
• Monitor all grant materials and request changes to ensure that they strictly adhere to funder requirements
• Package and submit properly completed and timely grant applications per funders’ requirements to the Office of Sponsored Programs for final review and submission.
• Ensure that all application documents are uploaded and filed upon completion
• Process invoices and reimbursements using the eRequester software and reconciles expenditures to departmental budgets.
• Use project management tools to document and track project performance, specifically to streamline communication and analyze the progress towards short and long-term goals.
• Creates and distributes reports, summaries, and analyses as required.
• Take minutes at meetings
• Attends conferences and training as required by supervisor to maintain proficiency.
• Participates in Department and College of Medicine activities as directed by the Chair.
• Serves as a liaison with other departments, the COM Dean’s office, other campus offices/organization, community agencies and partners
• Manages systems and procedures to maintain departmental assets and departmental administrative organization
• Plans and implements ongoing recruitment for academic personnel, prepare and maintain personnel requisition records to ensuring compliance with academic personnel policies and procedures
• Assists with the faculty review, merit, and promotion process
• Develops resource commitments and participates in the negotiation of salaries for new faculty and assesses financial/program impact of new faculty and services
• As growth or change demands, evaluates current structure for efficiency and effectiveness in relation to function and develops policies to implement plans for adjustment, if necessary

Other Duties and Responsibilities:

• Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications/Requirements:

EDUCATION:

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree preferred.
• Public health and/or health services concentrations preferred.

EXPERIENCE:

• Experience with Academic personnel titles, series, and rank as it relates to merit and promotion policies and procedures.
• Experience in navigating in a large, complex organization with an understanding of the big picture; how the parts fit together and how to get the information necessary to resolve problems and troubleshoot.
• Demonstrated experience with financial management including budget and report preparation, analysis and forecasting across multiple funding sources from affiliation agreements, federal, state general and contract funds, grants, gifts, endowments, education, and professional fee revenue.
• Proven working experience in grant, project and database management.
• Experience in conducting long and short-range financial
• Experience in higher education, accreditation, and healthcare agencies.
• Experience with software technology; strong technical aptitude in working with project management applications.
• Experience with program evaluation and/or survey-based research approaches Demonstrated ability, using critical thinking skills, to effectively lead, manage, supervise and strategically plan administrative and fiscal operations.
• Advanced management/leadership experience in an academic healthcare
• Ability to perform well in a fast-paced environment.

KNOWLEDGE/ABILITY/SKILLS:

• Excellent interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability to use various computer programs to create systems tailored towards the needs of the Pediatrics and Internal Medicine Departments. High energy, self-motivated team player.
• Initiative to seek alternative approaches and solutions.
• Proficient and adept with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Power Point, Sharepoint, and Access).
• Proficient and adept with collaboration software including Zoom and Microsoft Teams.
• Working knowledge of Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap), New Innovations, and BlackBoard systems preferred.
• Ability to make budgets
• Ability to make procedural decisions and judgments with the guidance of the PI.
• Knowledge of grant funding policies and procedures and applicable local, state, federal and university regulations

COMPLEXITY:

• The ability to perform highly detailed work with sustained attention and care while providing/obtaining information on numerous inquiries is paramount to success in this position.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

• The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• Occasional stooping. Frequent standing. Constant walking, sitting, climbing, reaching high/low levels, finger movement, feeling, speaking clearly, hearing conversationally, and seeing far and near.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

• The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• Occasionally required to work in confined space.
• Position is on-site unless specific authorization from the manager.

MENTAL DEMANDS:

• The mental demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
• Frequent work on a variety of unrelated tasks. Constant calculating interrupted work, work on a variety of interrelated tasks, and use of sustained concentration, reasoning, judgment, resourcefulness, analytical ability, and ingenuity.

Special Requirements:

• Ability to work effectively with a diverse community.
• Applicants must be an underrepresented minority (URM) from ethnic or racial backgrounds as defined by the National Institutes of Health. See https://diversity.nih.gov/about-us/population-underrepresented.
• COVID-19 Vaccination: As a health professions institution of higher education, Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science seeks to protect the health and safety of the University community. As a condition of enrollment and employment, proof of the newest COVID-19 booster will be required for CDU students, faculty, and staff entry to the CDU campus. Please note that vaccination requirements may change as our Federal, State, and local public health laws change. Requests for disability and religious accommodations from faculty and staff will be evaluated consistent with the law and University policies and procedures.

Compensation:

• $70,000.00 - $80,000.00 Annually

Position Status:

• Full Time

• On Site

EEO Statement: Charles R. Drew University is committed to Equal Employment Opportunity. Applicants will be considered without regard to gender, race, age, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, genetic information, marital status, disability or covered veteran status.

Fair Chance Statement: Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science will consider qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with state and local “Fair Chance” laws.