Merit Review Officer

GOH is a small management consulting firm supporting the federal government since 1997 (www.gohnow.com). We are looking for an energetic new team member experienced in serving as a medical/scientific Merit Review Officer to support our Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) client. PCORI is an independent, nonprofit research funding organization that seeks to empower patients and others with actionable information about their health and healthcare choices. It funds patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) and research-related awards, issuing funding opportunity announcements several times each year. CER is a type of clinical research that compares two or more medical treatments, services, or health practices to help patients and others make better-informed decisions.

GOH is building a pipeline of qualified candidates for anticipated positions expected to be open in the near future. While no guarantee of position availability can be made at this time, we are proactively identifying and interviewing candidates to ensure readiness upon approval.

Duties and Responsibilities: The Merit Review Officer (MRO) is a scientist who presides over a merit review panel and is responsible for coordinating and reporting the discussion of each application assigned to it. The MRO serves as an intermediary between the applicant and reviewers and prepares summary statements for all applications reviewed. The GOH MRO, under the guidance of the Assistant Director, Merit Review will:

• Participate in on-the-job shadow training to closely observe MROs performing the role to learn the intricacies of PCORI’s processes and practices
• Coordinate the planning, implementation, and evaluation of high-quality, fair, and objective multi-stakeholder reviews
• Analyze applications for funding under PCORI’s National Priorities for Research and Research Agenda
• Recruit and train patients, stakeholders, and other experts for review panels
• Prepare pre- and post-review documents and materials for use by applicants, reviewers, and Science programs
• Examines applications for completeness and adherence to PCORI standards and policies
• Identify and manage conflicts of interest for all scientific reviewers
• Assist in the recruitment, selection and training of qualified reviewers to evaluate the merit of funding applications
• Foster effective communication and relationships with the scientific, patient, and stakeholder communities to enhance review activities
• Assign applications to reviewers for critique preparation and assignment of scores based on established criteria
• Lead panel review meetings
• Ensure outcomes from and deliberations at in-person Merit Review meetings are conducted in accordance with PCORI’s plans and are properly documented
• Prepare succinct, accurate, and helpful final summary statements for all applications assigned for review.
• Excellent strategic communicator with experience serving as a client-facing point-of-contact on contracts. 
• Contribute to our positive and proactive culture while working in a highly collaborative, fast-paced, and high-tempo team environment.
• Provide additional activities as needed.

Work Environment: The work environment is a typical office remote setting.

Physical demands: The physical demands of the job include sitting for extended periods and occasional walking and standing.

Position type and expected hours of work: This is a 1099 contract position working 20 - 30 hours per week.

Travel: 10% local and regional travel, with overnight stays necessary

Required education and experience: Master's degree required, PhD preferred

Additional eligibility qualifications:

• Advanced educational degree (e.g., Ph.D., DPhil, Ed.D., DNP, M.D., MPH, M.S., etc.)
• Background and experience in patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research
• Experience running merit review panels
• 10+ years of experience in relevant field
• 2+ years of prior MRO/SRO experience
• Experience and understanding of comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER), a type of clinical research that compares two or more medical treatments, services, or health practices to help patients and others make better-informed decisions
• Have significantly contributed to multiple publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals in the past 5 years
• Experience leading / contributing to research activities on a research grant/contract in PCORI-relevant field/s
• Understands the merit review process and is familiar with all procedural rules governing the process