About OICR

OICR is Ontario’s cancer research institute. We bring together people from across the province and around the world to improve the lives of everyone affected by cancer. We take on the biggest challenges in cancer research and deliver real-world solutions to find cancer earlier and treat it more effectively. We are committed to helping people living with cancer, as well as future generations, live longer and healthier lives.

Launched in December 2005, OICR is an independent institute funded by the Government of Ontario through the Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research Excellence and Security.

Job Details

Position: Project Manager

Location: MaRS Centre, Toronto

Department: Global Alliance for Genomics and Health

Reports To: Executive Lead

Salary: Commensurate with level of experience; total compensation includes a competitive benefits plan, plus a defined benefit pension plan (HOOPP)

Hours: 35 hours/week

Job Type: Hybrid

Status: Full-time, temporary for one (1) year

Position Summary

The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) is seeking a Project Manager to support the collaboration between the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH) Work Streams and multiple external international communities of engagement and implementation.

GA4GH is an international, nonprofit alliance formed in 2013 to accelerate the potential of research and medicine to advance human health. Bringing together hundreds of contributors working in healthcare, research, patient advocacy, life science, and information technology, the GA4GH community is working together to create policy frameworks and standards to enable the responsible, voluntary, and secure sharing of genomic and health-related data. Learn more at www.ga4gh.org.
GA4GH is supported by five international hosts: the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, the Wellcome Sanger Institute, EMBL-EBI, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR), and McGill University’s Victor Phillip Dahdaleh Institute of Genomic Medicine. Eight technical and policy framing teams (“GA4GH Work Streams”) drive the standards development work to meet the specific needs of real world clinical and genomics data sharing projects. GA4GH Work Streams collaborate with Driver Projects and other genomic data initiatives that help guide our development efforts and implementations of our products.

GA4GH also hosts a number of Partner Engagement groups that work with the genomics community to identify its needs and encourage GA4GH product uptake. These groups include the Communities of Interest (CoIs), the National Initiatives Forum (NIF), and the GA4GH Implementation Forum (GIF). Current CoIs focus on the domains of Cancer, Rare Disease, Infectious Disease, Neuroscience and Clinical Genomics Laboratory. NIF works to advance genomics at scale; representatives from national-level genomic data programs meet to share best practices, avoid incompatibilities, and help translate genomics into health systems. Finally, GIF provides a venue for community members to discuss their experiences implementing GA4GH products and to learn from one another’s successes and failures. Additionally, a selection of GIF Projects pursue the implementation of existing GA4GH products in diverse federated settings to tackle real-world scientific or clinical problems.

The Project Manager will report to the Executive Lead (CEO, GA4GH) and will identify areas of collaboration and resource/expertise sharing and identify common needs for standards across multiple initiatives and communities. In particular, the Project Manager will provide critical supervision, management, and support for non-technical activities, including organizing meetings and virtual conferences, facilitating collaboration between communities and GA4GH Work Streams, and ensuring that stakeholder needs are represented across the consortium.

Eventually, the role will supervise the Project Coordinator responsible for implementation communities.

This position is temporary, full-time for one-year.

Position Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate all activities of the Partner Engagement group—including meetings, workshops, webinars, hackathons, and other collaborative initiatives—ensuring effective execution, clear outcome reporting, and timely follow-up on emerging actions
• Facilitate the flow of information between GA4GH’s standards development efforts and the Partner Engagement group to ensure strategic alignment
• Communicate the relevance and impact of GA4GH’s work to a broad range of experts across disciplines, helping them understand how it supports and advances their domains
• Manage the engagement of external consultants and collaborators, ensuring their contributions align with GA4GH principles and bring needed expertise to technical areas
• Develop and maintain strong, trust-based relationships with a globally diverse set of stakeholders—including those from healthcare, research, industry, and data sectors—while balancing varied needs to support effective collaboration and adoption
• Strategic planning and programme management with the leaders and contributors in the Partner Engagement groups to progress implementation and the identification of needs for new standards
• Promote the uptake, adoption and implementation of GA4GH tools and standards
• Align and liaise with the dispersed Secretariat, Driver Projects and Work Streams to inform the development and extension of GA4GH tools and standards,(including software development, privacy, security, ethics policy) enabling their use for domain specific data sharing: Rare Diseases, Cancer, Infectious Diseases, Neuro Sciences, and National Initiatives (NIF) and the GA4GH Implementation Forum (GIF)
• Track and report on deliverables and milestones, including realistic forecasts of expectations (eg. budget and timing) to deliver on scheduled projects and grants
• Supervise the development of high quality documents for review and feedback by implementation communities and projects, Work Stream contributors and GA4GH leadership
• Supervise the preparation of presentations and communication materials for internal and external audiences and liaise with the GA4GH Communications Team based at the Broad Institute
• Directly present on all aspects of implementation and engagement to internal and external audiences and GA4GH and international meetings
• Develop and maintain excellent relations with a geographically and disciplinary diverse set of key stakeholders balancing all of their needs for optimal outcomes– from healthcare, genomics researchers and data companies internationally
• Navigate a complex organizational structure to ensure all parts of the organization and global genomics ecosystem are represented in the alliance
• Understand and create alignment between projects covering genomic science, healthcare applications, software development, and privacy and security policy
• Analyse complex information and identify key points whilst understanding context and communicate the resulting needs to colleagues
• Maintain agility in managing multiple priorities, time zones, and deadlines while responding to evolving tasks and challenges as they arise
  
  

Qualifications

• A bachelor's degree in a science or health-related discipline, or recognized equivalent
• Work experience in project coordination activities (e.g., project planning, risk management, etc.)
• Experience presenting complex and sensitive issues to external audiences (research conferences)
• Work experience with complex international genomic or health research
• Above average writing and verbal communication skills
• Above average organizational skills
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and time management skills
• Ability to work autonomously
• Some familiarity working in a GSuite environment
• Some familiarity with Github
• Familiarity with the FAIR data principles
• Basic understanding of ethics, policies, and concerns surrounding the sharing of sensitive human data
• Knowledge of genomic database management, including submission of samples, production and release operations
• Experience with grant reporting
• Some familiarity with knowledge of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) considerations in genomics and healthcare
  

For more information about OICR, please visit the website at www.oicr.on.ca.

To learn more about working at OICR, visit our career page.

POSTED DATE: May 20, 2025
CLOSING DATE: Until filled

OICR is committed to fostering a climate of equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. This commitment is central to, and mutually supportive of, our research excellence mandate. We welcome and respect the diversity of all members of our community and we support an inclusive culture for all. We welcome all applicants, and encourage applications from racialized persons, Indigenous Peoples, women, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ2S persons, and others who may contribute to furthering a diversity of ideas within our community. OICR is committed to fair assessment of a candidate’s abilities, and consideration for diversity of thought, method, and experience. Providing an accessible workplace and recruitment process is important to us, as described in our Accessibility Plan (https://oicr.on.ca/accessibility/). Should you require accommodation during any stage in the recruitment process, please complete the form at the bottom of page https://oicr.on.ca/careers/. Information received related to accommodation will be handled confidentially.

Resume Format: If you elect to apply, please click on the “Apply for this Job” button below. You will be required to enter contact details, and to attach your resume to your application. Please attach your resume as a .pdf or .doc file.

The Ontario Institute for Cancer Research thanks all applicants. However, only those under consideration will be contacted.