Assistant clinical project managers play an important role in helping to plan, execute, and manage clinical trials efficiently and effectively. They are responsible for providing support, status updates, and reports to supervisory project leaders while overseeing daily operational tasks associated with conducting a clinical study. Assistant clinical project managers typically hold a bachelor's degree in a life sciences-related field and have basic knowledge of the relevant therapeutic area and overall clinical research processes. Strong communication, collaboration, customer service, and problem-solving skills are needed to be successful as someone in this role often serves as a liaison for upper management, study teams, and external stakeholders.

Provide Support During Trial Preparation and Training

There is a great deal of planning, documentation, and training that must occur before a clinical trial can begin. During this stage, assistant clinical project managers will often help managers and directors with organizing the study teams, preparing necessary documentation, and conducting trainings, both internally for new employees as well as externally for clinical trial sites.

Liaise Amongst Internal and External Stakeholders

There are a variety of stakeholders involved throughout the course of a trial, from internal teams within the sponsoring organization to research sites, contract research organization’s (CRO’s), vendors, and patients. The assistant clinical project manager may serve as a key point of contact for the study, responsible for maintaining communication and addressing questions that arise across the various stakeholders. In addition to fielding questions and providing information externally, the assistant clinical project manager will also communicate feedback and information received from the various stakeholders to senior managers or directors.

Track Clinical Activities, Progress and Time Lines

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As clinical trials require a large amount of data to be collected from a variety of site locations over various time intervals, assistant clinical project managers often spend a significant amount of time tracking process, products and data. From managing product shipments with logistics vendors, to ensuring accurate data inputs, and reporting, coordination of all clinical activities is integral to keeping trials on schedule, within budget and scientifically accurate.

Support Data Collection, Management and Reporting

Throughout the course of a clinical trial, a large amount of data is collected from various sources, systems and locations. Not only is scientific data collected about the product and its outcomes, but also data relating to the trial itself, such as budget, inventory, shipment or personnel data. Various data-related tasks will often fall within the scope and responsibilities of the assistant clinical project manager. This may encompass data collection and reconciliation, information system management, accuracy checking, analytics or reporting.