About the Company
HCT is committed to building and operating a consistent, measurable, and continuously improving quality system across its applied research portfolio.
About the Role
The Manager, Applied Research Quality Assurance is responsible for ensuring that applied research projects, grants, and associated support services follow a reliable lifecycle from pre-award through close-out, with clear stage-gates, standard templates, robust project controls, and performance reporting.
Responsibilities
Applied Research Quality Management System (QMS) and Stage-Gates
- Design, implement, and maintain an applied research Quality Management System aligned to HCT's applied research context.
- Define lifecycle stage-gates (pre-award, award acceptance, kick-off, execution reviews, reporting, close-out), including minimum quality criteria for each gate.
- Establish standard operating procedures (SOPs), checklists, and quality standards for project artifacts (plans, risk registers, progress updates, deliverables acceptance, close-out packs).
Project Delivery Assurance (PMO Functions Embedded into QA)
- Function as the day-to-day delivery assurance lead across the applied research portfolio, ensuring consistent project planning and controls.
- Coach PIs and project teams on work breakdown structures, schedules, milestones, KPIs, risk registers, change control, and reporting discipline.
- Facilitate kick-offs, periodic project reviews, stage-gate panels, and close-out quality reviews, escalating delivery risks early.
Research Operations Quality (Pre-Award and Post-Award Service Quality)
- Standardize and improve pre-award support quality: proposal completeness checks, budget accuracy validation support, sponsor requirement interpretation support in partnership with operations and compliance.
- Standardize and improve post-award service quality: grant set-up readiness, milestone tracking consistency, reporting quality, and close-out completeness, ensuring smooth execution for faculty.
Digital Quality and Data Integrity in RMS and Project Tooling
- Define and enforce data quality standards for core applied research records (projects, milestones, deliverables, evidence attachments, reporting fields).
- Partner with RMS owners and administrators to implement workflow controls that support quality stage-gates, required artifacts, and portfolio reporting.
- Maintain a practical template and toolset library (project templates, dashboards, trackers, risk logs), ensuring consistent usage across campuses.
- KPI Frameworks, Dashboards, and Portfolio Performance Reporting
- Own applied research delivery and quality KPIs (on-time milestones, deliverable acceptance rates, reporting punctuality, rework rates, cycle times, service SLAs, portfolio health).
- Produce portfolio dashboards and consolidated leadership reporting, including sponsor-ready progress summaries when required.
- Provide structured insights that support institutional reporting, accreditation narratives, and decision-making for resourcing and prioritization.
Continuous Improvement, Training, and Capability Building
- Run continuous improvement cycles (lessons learned, root-cause analysis of delays and rework, template updates, process refinements).
- Develop and deliver short trainings and onboarding for faculty, staff, and student teams on applied research delivery standards and tools.
- Build a quality culture that increases predictability, reduces avoidable rework, and improves faculty experience with research support services.
Qualifications
Education:
- Bachelor's degree in engineering, Science, Business, Quality Management, Project Management, or related field.
- A master's degree in a relevant discipline is preferred.
- Certifications:
- Quality: ISO 9001 (or equivalent) lead implementer/auditor, Lean Six Sigma (Green Belt or higher), or equivalent quality credential.
- Project delivery: PMP, PRINCE2, IPMA, Agile/Scrum (beneficial).
Other Requirements:
- Fluency in English, strong digital skills, comfortable operating across multiple campuses and stakeholder groups.
Required Skills
- Relevant Experience: 6+ years in a combination of quality assurance, PMO/project delivery, research operations, or regulated service environments, preferably in higher education, R&D, engineering services, or innovation programs.
- Core Skills:
- Quality system design and operationalization (stage-gates, SOPs, templates, evidence standards).
- Project governance, planning, and controls (schedule, scope, cost, risk, reporting).
- Process engineering and service improvement across workflows.
- KPI design, dashboarding, and performance storytelling for leadership.
- Stakeholder management with faculty, sponsors, and enabling functions.
- Strong tool fluency (Excel, Power BI, project tools, RMS-type systems).
Preferred Skills
- Experience in higher education, R&D, engineering services, or innovation programs.
