Implementation Science Research Scientist

RTI Health Solutions (RTI-HS), a business unit of RTI International, is an independent and internationally recognized research organization. We provide healthcare consulting and research expertise to optimize decision-making for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device products across the development and marketing life cycle. Clients rely on our expertise, quality standards, and integrity to guide their product development and regulatory and market access strategies.

Our service groupings include Value, Access, and HEOR;
Patient-Centered and Outcomes Research;
Epidemiology and Biostatistics;
Medical Communications;
Global Business Operations; and Strategic Consulting and Growth. RTI-HS has office locations in the US, UK, Spain, France, and Sweden.

The Patient-Centered and Outcomes Research (PCOR) team consists of accredited researchers who aim to produce evidence that empowers patients and healthcare providers to make informed decisions that optimize health outcomes, enhance patient-centered care, and improve the overall quality and efficiency of healthcare delivery.

Our PCOR team is made up of 5 practice areas:

• Health Economics Database Studies
• Health Preference Assessment
• Patient-Centered Outcomes Assessment
• Surveys and Observational Studies
• Implementation Science

RTI Health Solutions is seeking an experienced, strategic, and highly collaborative Associate Director, Implementation Scientist to support the continued growth and execution of our Implementation Science Program. This role is ideal for an implementation scientist or research leader who combines strong methodological expertise with an understanding of pharmaceutical development, evidence generation, and the practical factors that influence the adoption of therapies and healthcare solutions.

In this role, you will lead implementation science projects from initial scoping and research design through execution, interpretation, and delivery. You will assume ownership of project scope, scientific quality, timelines, budgets, risks, team coordination, and client communication while remaining actively engaged in qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods research. You will also provide technical guidance to project teams and collaborate with scientific experts across RTI-HS and RTI International.

You will partner with pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients to apply implementation science proactively across the development lifecycle. Your work will help identify potential adoption roadblocks early in the clinical development pipeline and integrate practical, evidence-based solutions into research and evidence-generation strategies. As needed, you will contribute to business development, proposals, capability presentations, client cultivation, and growth of the Implementation Science practice.

• Lead complex implementation science and applied health research projects from initial scoping and study design through final delivery.
• Translate client objectives and evidence needs into scientifically rigorous, feasible, and decision-relevant research strategies.
• Provide strategic direction on the application of implementation science to pharmaceutical development, evidence generation, healthcare delivery, and product adoption challenges.
• Serve as the scientific and project lead for multidisciplinary teams, establishing clear roles, decision points, quality expectations, and communication pathways.
• Exercise sound judgment when balancing scientific rigor, operational feasibility, client priorities, timelines, and available resources.
• Provide scientific review of study plans, instruments, analyses, interpretations, reports, presentations, and other client deliverables.
• Identify and manage scientific, operational, and client risks, escalating issues when appropriate and developing practical mitigation plans.

• Design implementation science studies using qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods approaches appropriate to the research question and decision context.
• Select and apply implementation science theories, models, and frameworks, such as CFIR, RE-AIM, EPIS, or other fit-for-purpose approaches.
• Develop or oversee logic models, theories of change, implementation strategies, evaluation plans, study protocols, analysis plans, and implementation outcome measures.
• Design and oversee interviews, focus groups, surveys, observations, stakeholder-engagement activities,…