Participant Recruitment Operations Manager

The posting

At Headlands Research, we are dedicated to enhancing clinical trial delivery within our communities. As a leading network of advanced clinical trial sites, we leverage cutting-edge technology and exceptional support services to broaden outreach and participation. Founded in 2018, our rapidly growing company currently operates 20+ sites across the US and Canada, with plans for further expansion.

📍 Location: Remote | 🏥 Site Name: Headlands Research Inc | 🕒 Full-Time |

The Company

At Headlands Research, we are working to improve lives by advancing innovative medical therapies. We are a family of next-generation clinical trial sites integrating technology and high-quality support services to make clinical research accessible to participants. Headlands operates clinical research sites across the U.S. and Canada and continues to grow its network and centralized capabilities.

The Role

The Participant Recruitment Operations Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operational performance of the centralized patient recruitment function and recruitment call center. This role translates study-level enrollment requirements into actionable recruitment workload, staffing, productivity, and funnel goals; monitors performance against those expectations; and takes timely corrective action when enrollment is at risk.

The Manager leads a remote team of patient recruiters and is accountable for call center execution, lead management, pre-screening productivity, call quality, participant experience, recruiter coaching, funnel forecasting, capacity planning, performance reporting, and consistent operational processes across studies and sites. Success requires a strong command of recruitment data, the ability to identify funnel leakage and operational barriers, and disciplined follow-through to ensure recruitment resources align with current and forecasted enrollment needs while maintaining a professional, empathetic, and participant-centered recruitment experience.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and supervise remote participant recruitment call center members and manage the daily operations, workload, and performance of the centralized recruitment call center.
• Translate site and study enrollment targets into weekly and daily recruitment goals, including required lead volume, contact activity, prequalification, scheduling, screening, and enrollment expectations.
• Build and maintain study-level recruitment funnel forecasts to determine the volume of leads, recruiter activity, and call center capacity required to support enrollment goals and timelines.
• Monitor actual funnel performance against forecast and identify gaps, trends, and risks early; recommend and implement corrective actions based on where performance is breaking down.
• Own call center productivity and performance management, including lead response time, contact attempts, contact rate, prequalification rate, scheduling rate, appointment conversion, recruiter throughput, backlog, aging leads, and other operational KPIs.
• Establish productivity expectations by recruiter and study based on enrollment priority, lead volume, complexity, and available capacity; rebalance workload as enrollment needs change.
• Conduct routine performance reviews of recruiter productivity and call quality; provide actionable coaching, establish improvement expectations, and escalate sustained performance gaps when necessary.
• Regularly monitor and evaluate recruiter calls for communication quality, professionalism, rapport building, active listening, study explanation, prescreening effectiveness, objection handling, and overall participant experience.
• Provide ongoing individual and team-based call coaching to strengthen recruiter communication skills, confidence, consistency, participant rapport, and effectiveness in moving qualified participants through the recruitment funnel.
• Establish and maintain call quality standards and scorecards that incorporate participant experience, communication effectiveness, protocol-appropriate study discussion, and adherence to recruitment workflows; use call monitoring trends to inform targeted training and performance improvement.
• Ensure recruiters create a professional, empathetic, and participant-centered experience throughout recruitment interactions, including for individuals who do not ultimately qualify, schedule, or enroll.
• Partner with site leaders and Recruitment leadership to establish enrollment priorities, understand screening capacity and site constraints, and align centralized recruitment activity to the studies with the greatest enrollment need.
• Evaluate study performance at the site and funnel level to distinguish lead-volume challenges from contact-center, pre-screening, scheduling, site-capacity, or downstream conversion issues.
• Maintain visibility into recruiter capacity and staffing requirements; forecast resource needs based on active study volume, anticipated lead flow, enrollment timelines, and upcoming study launches.
• Ensure leads are worked according to defined service levels and that high-priority studies receive appropriate coverage, including proactive management of lead queues, aging, follow-up cadence, and unworked leads.
• Produce and communicate recurring operational reports and dashboards that summarize enrollment progress, funnel conversion, productivity, capacity, forecast versus actual performance, risks, and corrective actions.
• Use recruitment systems, CRM/call center technology, automation, and AI-enabled tools to improve recruiter efficiency, lead prioritization, workflow management, reporting, and operational scalability.
• Partner with Recruitment Systems/Technology resources to ensure accurate data capture, standardized metric definitions, appropriate system utilization, and reliable reporting.
• Identify and implement process improvements that reduce time to contact, improve conversion, increase recruiter productivity, and create consistent recruitment workflows across the network.
• Support study launches by confirming call center readiness, recruiter coverage, lead routing, pre-screening workflows, study training, and operational handoffs before recruitment activity begins.
• Escalate enrollment and operational risks promptly with a clear assessment of impact, root cause, recommended action, owner, and expected resolution timeline.
• Ensure recruitment activities and pre-screening processes are performed consistently and in accordance with applicable GCP, regulatory, privacy, and ethical requirements.

Core Performance Accountabilities

• Enrollment attainment and pacing against study/site goals
• Recruitment funnel forecast accuracy and forecast-to-actual performance
• Lead response time, contact rate, and lead aging/backlog
• Contact-to-prequalification and prequalification-to-scheduled conversion
• Scheduled-to-screened and screened-to-enrolled/randomized conversion, where available
• Recruiter productivity, throughput, utilization, and adherence to assigned workload
• Recruiter call quality, coaching completion, and improvement against established quality standards
• Participant experience and consistency of recruiter communication across calls and studies
• Call center capacity versus forecasted enrollment demand
• Timely identification, escalation, and resolution of recruitment performance risks

Required Skills and Abilities

• Proven experience managing patient recruitment, call center, contact center, or centralized recruitment operations; clinical research experience strongly preferred.
• Strong analytical ability with demonstrated experience interpreting operational and funnel data and converting findings into clear actions.
• Experience forecasting workload, staffing, capacity, or funnel requirements against defined performance targets.
• Demonstrated ability to manage team productivity, establish measurable expectations, coach performance, and hold team members accountable for results.
• Demonstrated experience monitoring calls and coaching recruiters or call center staff on communication quality, rapport building, active listening, objection handling, and participant/customer experience.
• Ability to balance productivity and conversion expectations with a professional, empathetic, participant-centered approach to recruitment interactions.
• Strong understanding of call center metrics, lead management workflows, service levels, conversion metrics, and operational performance management.
• Proficiency with CRM, call center, reporting, and workforce/productivity technologies; experience using automation or AI-enabled tools to improve efficiency is a plus.
• Ability to prioritize across multiple studies and rapidly adjust resources based on changing enrollment needs and performance.
• Strong problem-solving and root-cause analysis skills, including the ability to distinguish marketing/lead-volume issues from operational funnel or site-capacity constraints.
• Clear, concise communication skills with the ability to present performance, risks, forecasts, and recommended actions to operational and site leadership.

Education and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field preferred, or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Three or more years of leadership experience in patient recruitment, call center/contact center, clinical research operations, or a related performance-driven environment preferred.
• Experience leading remote teams across multiple time zones preferred.
• General understanding of GCP, CFR, privacy requirements, and applicable state/provincial regulations.
• Demonstrated track record of using metrics, forecasting, and operational management to achieve defined performance outcomes.

Remote Pay Range

$95,000—$120,000 USD

Headlands Research will never ask a candidate for personal identifiable information (date of birth, social security number, driver’s license information, etc) via email or messenger tools, or for a financial deposit of any kind.

Headlands Research is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

Need Assistance?

Headlands Research is committed to providing access and reasonable accommodation in its employment for individuals with disabilities. To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact [email protected] for further assistance. Please note this is for individuals to request an accommodation as part of the application process and any other correspondence will not receive a response.