Becoming a Clinical Trial Manager

Clinical trials are biomedical or behavioral research studies on human subjects, which seek to find answers to many specific questions in medical science. The clinical trials are very expensive and play a key role in inventing many drugs, equipments or building research papers. A Clinical Trial Manager plays a key role in handling these high-profile and sensitive operations and take the study to the next level.

Educational Requirements: A bachelor’s degree in business management, biology, health care management or any related field is the basic requirement for this job. Long experience in managerial role is always preferred. Possessing industry certificates as a Manager, may come handy during the interview process. Clinical Trial Managers must possess excellent communication skills, leadership ability and multitasking personality.

Job Responsibilities:

  • The Clinical Trial Managers not only manage the clinical trial process completely, but also formulates effective strategies to be implemented at various stages
  • Review all trial results and ensure compliance with safety standards
  • Take care of privacy and confidentiality
  • Interact with clinical staff and offer full support
  • Make changes to the trial structure and processes based on feedback
  • Interpret and discuss research information received during the trial and document them
  • Monitor junior staff and give them feedback wherever needed
  • Conduct performance reviews
  • Prepare manuals for conferences and seminars
  • Assess screening an testing procedures
  • Must be expert in data collection, storage and inventory work.

Key Challenges:

  • Monitoring and tracking the day-to-day activities during a clinical trial and remove the obstacles
  • Writing study reports as well as noticing any adverse events or concerns expressed by staff
  • Designing, developing and executing protocols for clinical trials to meet with existing regulations, standards and procedures
  • Manage the budget effectively while focusing on quality and productivity at the same time.

Salary & Wages: According to Payscale, the average salary of a Clinical Trial Manager is around $96,494 per year. And, prospects are really good in this field.

As clinical trials often involve healthy people with no pre-existing medical conditions, but sometimes pertain to patients with specific health conditions, the process is very complex and a single mistake may lead to a disaster. The Clinical Trial Manager must have a sharp brain and instinct to ensure zero defect in this work process. This is the reason why this job is considered very challenging and tough.