Director of Research – Boulder Care
About us : Founded in 2017, Boulder Care is a digital clinic offering long-term addiction treatment grounded in kindness, respect, and unconditional support. Our program is designed by addiction medicine specialists and people with lived experience of recovery. It is rooted in years of clinical expertise, proven research, and learnings from our participants.
Our mission is to improve the lives of people with substance use disorders. We provide the medication, resources, and support to help our participants succeed on their own terms, wherever they are in their journey.
Boulder Care is in an exciting stage of rapid growth, coming off a recent $35 million Series C round announced in May 2024, bringing total funds raised to roughly $85 million. Investors include Advance Venture Partners, First Round Capital, Laerdal Million Lives Fund, Qiming Venture Partners and Stripes. among others.
About this role: Boulder Care is seeking a Director of Research to join the Research team. You will have the opportunity to direct all research related activities, overseeing strategic research initiatives and driving high-quality research outcomes. This role involves securing grant funding, developing and implementing research strategies, partnering with clinical and operational leadership to develop research content, and ensuring the timely delivery of research findings. The Director of Research will collaborate with cross-functional teams, drive innovation, maintain a deep understanding of industry trends/emerging technologies, and cultivate and hone external partnerships.
While this role is new to Boulder Care, the director will benefit significantly from the guidance of the Medical Director of Research, Education and Quality. In addition, we have an exceptional team of clinicians, writers, data and analytics experts, operational leaders and others all eager to support our new Director.
Success in this role:
Grant Application – 40%
- Prepare, submit, and help secure grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), other Federal, State, philanthropic and other funding resources (e.g. Opioid Settlement Funds)
- Actively research and pursue prospective public and private funding sources, while developing relationships with potential funders
- Coordinate, develop, and process grant applications from conceptual to submission stage while working closely with staff throughout all phases
- Manage multiple projects and priorities including searching for funding sources, writing proposals, managing existing grants, reporting to stakeholders, and working on special projects
- To be clear, the Director of Research will lead these efforts, but they will be fully supported by a broad range of experienced Boulder colleagues from across the organization
- Prepare and submit progress reports to funding agencies and organizations
Research Portfolio Management – 30%
- Ensure clear prioritization of opportunities and projects across the research portfolio
- Develop and execute comprehensive research plans aligned with organizational goals and objectives
- Direct and coordinate all research related activities (under the supervision of business and clinical leadership), driving high-quality research outcomes
- Foster a collaborative and innovative research environment, encouraging continuous learning and professional growth
- Direct research projects from initiation to completion, ensuring adherence to timelines, budgets, and quality standards
- Write up study designs, outlined by the clinical team and others
- Participate in study implementation and assist with development and refinement of research protocols/instruments
- Develop and administer surveys and manage survey data
- Help to develop training materials and set up staff trainings
- Ensure research outputs meet industry standards, are data-driven, and provide actionable recommendations
- Supervise the Project Manager, Research & Quality
Content Development and Thought-Partnership (30%)
- Oversee the production of high-quality research reports, whitepapers, and presentations that effectively communicate findings and insights to internal and external stakeholders
- Contribute to the preparation and submission of research manuscripts to journals (e.g., editing, organizing references, online submission), with opportunity for co-authorship.
- Collaborate on white paper preparation and authorship
- Create posters, abstracts, reports, presentations and manuscripts for publication
- Conduct initial outreach to potential research partners to solicit interest
- Manage senior relationships with external research partners
- Conduct literature reviews; flag significant developments of potential interest to key stakeholders
Requirements for the role
- Bachelor’s Degree required; Master’s or more advanced degree in Public Health or Social Science discipline strongly preferred
- Minimum of five years of experience in health-related research, preferably with vulnerable populations, and have demonstrated sound independent judgment and competencies in research methodologies
- History of research, teaching or education in the field of substance use disorder care
- Demonstrated success in securing grants through effective writing and proposal submission
- Excellent written and verbal communication abilities, with a track record of producing high-quality research outputs
- Strong leadership and team management capabilities, fostering a culture of innovation and excellence, while managing multiple priorities simultaneously
- Proven ability to work effectively with practicing clinicians and researchers alike
- Biostatistics and/or the ability to effectively collaborate with biostatisticians
- Ability to develop a deep understanding of our unique role within the research landscape, including the rationale for and nuances of our operational and clinical practices
Nice to have but not required
- Passion for advancing health equity within addiction care
- Energized by creating something new, generating new ideas, new ways of doing things
- Ability to stay focused on priorities in an environment full of new ideas
Work environment
- This is a fully remote role. Changes to working location require pre-approval from People Operations and are not guaranteed.
- Occasional Travel: >5%
- Boulder Care employees are free to use our river-front HQ located in Portland, OR whenever they would like
Expected hours of work: This is a full-time remote position expected to work between Monday-Friday during standard business hours. Team members may work with their managers to adjust work hours to suit the needs of the position. Team members may be asked to work additional days as work demands require.
This is a fully remote role. Applicants must be authorized to work for any employer in the U.S. We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment Visa at this time.
Hiring process
- Brief Phone Screen (15 min)
- First Interview (1 hour video)
- Second Interview (1 hour video)
- Third Interview (1 hour video)
- Final Interview (45 min video)
- Anticipated Start Date: October 2024 – flexible and dependent upon candidate availability and team needs
Compensation: The pay range for this position at commencement of employment is expected to be between $120-135,000/year; however, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. The total compensation package for this position includes a full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits (including 401(k) eligibility and various paid time off benefits, such as vacation, sick time, and parental leave).
Some of Boulder’s amazing benefits for regular, full-time employees
- Contribution to meaningful, life-saving work!
- Health coverage through Cigna. Dental and vision coverage through MetLife
- Boulder Care pays up to 100% of monthly premiums for individual employee coverage
- Boulder Care pays 60% of monthly premiums for dependents
- Short-Term Disability
- Mental Health Services including MDLive, Talkspace, and EAP
- 4 weeks of PTO accrued per calendar year with a tenured increase to 5 weeks at 2 years of employment
- Sick leave accrued at 1 hr for every 30 hrs paid
- 9 Paid Holidays per year
- 12 weeks of 100% paid parental leave for the birth or adoption of a child (after 6 months of employment)
- 401(k) retirement savings
- Remote friendly with hardware provided to complete your work duties
Our values
- The people we care for always come first
- Our opportunity is also our duty, in service to others
- Share facts to change minds, instill empathy to change hearts
- Move the industry forward: follow the data
- Strong individuals, stronger together
- Boulder Care recognizes the value that lived experience can provide to our organization, community, and patients. Applicants with lived experience and/or training as a peer recovery specialist are encouraged to apply.
Why work at Boulder?
- Make a difference. The devastating impact of the opioid crisis, “war on drugs,” and care gaps for the underserved are at the forefront now more than any time in US history. By bringing care to more people, we are changing and saving lives. Value-based partnerships help move the industry forward toward a more modern, compassionate, and equitable healthcare system.
- Build your career with talented peers. Boulder brings together a diverse team of expert clinicians, technologists, researchers, and business strategists aligned under a common mission. Boulder’s clinical teams are the leading voices in addiction medicine and industry transformation. Our technology leadership has built products and services that scaled to hundreds of employees and hundreds of millions of end-users. Our team is wholly driven by mission, recognizing that our immense opportunity is also our duty to serve others.
- Grow with us. Boulder is a Series-C-stage, venture-funded company supported by a world-class investor group. Together, we’re building a breakthrough business through social impact. According to White House estimates, the annual societal cost due to opioid addiction is $1.5 trillion. A member with untreated opioid use disorder (OUD) drives 620% greater healthcare costs to payers than the average member (Optum analysis, 2017). Boulder partners with leading commercial and Medicaid health plans to bring better experiences and effective services to their members, significantly reducing costs and sharing in the economic savings we create.
Boulder Care believes the people who manage our product and team should be representative of those who use the platform. This includes people from backgrounds that are historically underrepresented in the industry. We celebrate differences and are committed to equal employment opportunities regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or veteran status. If you are a qualified person with a passion for what we do, please apply!