Dissecting a Job Ad
One theme that comes up over and over when we talk about global health careers is the challenge of choosing the right job. In response to that, I am starting a new feature, where I've take one of our jobs for change, and walk you through its likely pros and cons. Today we'll look at a Program Manager position with the Program on Global Health and Technology Access at Duke University.
My overall take on this job is that it's primarily an administrative job, heavy on writing, detail work, and herding cats. If you like that kind of work (and I do, I'm not knocking it) it sounds like it has some real chances for growth, particularly if you are interested in research.
I've pulled out some of the job responsibilities to comment on:
Oversee day-to-day administrative operations including facilitating arrangements for Program staff meetings both on- and off-campus, development and implementation of work plans and timelines, and oversight of subcontracts. Big pile of secretarial work, and sounds like a decent portion of the job.
Assist PI with budget planning and monitoring. Master and maintain software that tracks grant submissions and program expenditures. More secretarial work. Someone else makes financial decisions and you do the typing.
Enhance the communications of the Program's work, both on campus and to the broader policy community, through the utilization of traditional (website, newsletter) as well as newer (blogs, multimedia) means. This could be a chance to shine if you're a good writer and you're good with the web, or it could be more admin work.
Manage and support-with other team members and partner organizations-the GHTA Program's fellowship and training programs, such as the Global Health Fellows Program and the Pharmaceutical Policy Leaders in Medicine Institute. Supervise research assistants and support staff, as required. Assist in training personnel. Even more administrative work.
Working with the PI and research staff, prepare reports for funding agencies, briefings for policy meetings, and abstracts/presentations for domestic and international meetings. Once again, this is what you make of it.
Assist...in the development and preparation of new research protocols and grant applications, including conduct and oversight of formative research, writing of scientific and technical grant sections, and development of supporting materials. This is good stuff. Assisting with grant prep can teach you grantwriting skills without having to learn it alone. Also seems like a chance to develop research skills.
Review journals, abstracts and scientific literature to keep abreast of new developments and to obtain information regarding previous studies to aid in the planning of new studies. Effectively summarize reported research findings on priority issues, and their applicability to the Program's research activities. That just sounds awful.
Ensure coordination and collaboration between Duke, the American Cancer Society, and the Southeast Asian Tobacco Control Alliance, and the research teams in Southeast Asia across seven target countries. Lots of email wrangling.
Ensure the creation of appropriate systems for managing and tracking subcontract efforts, manage the processing of grant-related invoices and expenditures, and handle reporting requirements under the grant for the NIH. More admin work.
Work with the PIs to ensure the creation of methodological tools for analysis, systems for managing data, and protocols for analyzing data. Support preparation of materials for disseminating study results. This sounds interesting; another chance to build research skills.
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