Participant Recruitment Operations Manager

The Participant Recruitment Operations Manager at Headlands Research is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the centralized patient recruitment function and recruitment call center. This role translates study-level enrollment requirements into actionable recruitment workloads, staffing, productivity, and funnel goals, while monitoring performance and taking timely corrective actions 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.