Research Professional - Research Project Management

About the Job

This position supports research conducted at the Cognition and Neurodevelopmental Studies (CNS) Lab at the University of Minnesota. The CNS lab is a multiple PI‑led research lab with a significant grant funding portfolio across multiple departments (Pediatrics, ICD) housed at the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain. Drs. Meghan Swanson and Jed Elison are co Directors, and Casey Burrows is the Director of Clinical Training.

The lab focuses on understanding brain and behavioral development of infants and young children. More specifically, our research examines the critical period of brain development in the first two years of life, which represents a time interval of dynamic development, plasticity, and potential vulnerability.

Our research participants include typically developing children, autistic children, children with agenesis of the corpus callosum, infants with congenital cytomegalovirus infection, and children with Down syndrome.

Principal Investigators Swanson and Elison will be launching an innovative longitudinal study of 260 autistic toddlers and children with clinical assessments and brain imaging. The goal is to characterize how communication develops in this population across multiple ages and language profiles and to generate new quantitative tools that are sensitive to change and ready for deployment in clinical trials and clinical care.

We are hiring up to three project managers with laboratory/clinical research and early childhood experience to assist with leading this research project: one for the toddler participant cohort, one for the youth participant cohort, and one recruitment coordinator/clinical liaison. Responsibilities for these project manager positions include research study management and coordination, participant recruitment, consent, and data acquisition, training and supervision, and laboratory support.

This is a full‑time in‑person position with occasional opportunity for remote work and requires a minimum 2‑year commitment. Applications must be submitted online; please upload a cover letter and CV/resume. Your application will not be considered until all components are complete. Review of applications is ongoing, and the position(s) will remain open until the posting is removed. Anticipated position start date could be as early as January 26, 2026.

The project manager position will report directly to Shanna Mliner, Program Director.

• Research Study Management/Coordination (40%)
  • Responsible for project management of the research study from conception to completion, ensuring timely progress and high‑quality results/outcomes
  • Ensure compliance and adherence to the established research protocol and study procedures by the research team
  • Coordinate the day‑to‑day research operations and manage project teams
  • Create detailed plans for effective research progress monitoring and team management
  • Participate with PIs and Program Director in identifying solutions to complex problems to fulfill research objectives
• Participant Recruitment/Consent/Data Acquisition (25%)
  • Complete Human Subjects ethics training
  • Ethically recruit and acquire informed consent from participants
  • Identify, develop, and track success of a wide variety of participant recruitment and retention methods
  • Serve as a liaison between medical clinic and research project staff
  • Schedule assessment and MRI scan research appointments with participants
  • Reliably administer participant assessments (e.g., semi‑structured parent interviews, behavioral testing with children)
  • Complete CMRR safety training to be able to independently operate the 3T & 7T scanner consoles
  • Learn and train others on the CNS Lab developmental neuroimaging standard operating procedures
  • Assist with the collection of MRI data (may require occasional night or weekend sessions)
  • Ensure adherence to and compliance with all approved ethics and protocol procedures relating to participant privacy/confidentiality and data integrity with data acquisition techniques
• Training and Supervision (20%)
  • Train research staff and undergraduate research assistants
  • Supervise and direct work of undergraduate research assistants and study staff…