Help us make Terry's dream of ending cancer through research a reality

About this opportunity

We're seeking a dynamic and experienced Product Owner to join our team and drive the development of the Digital Health and Discovery Platform (DHDP), a research initiative led by the Terry Fox Research Institute. Reporting to the Solutions Architect and DHDP Leadership, the successful applicant will work closely with internal and external stakeholders to deliver the DHDP, a scalable and collaborative cloud-based platform designed to tackle the challenges of sharing of health data across Canada and help accelerate the adoption of precision medicine technologies.

The DHDP will apply state-of-the-art data governance principles and technology to solve Canada’s health data sharing problem. Its mission is to bring precision medicine and personalized care to Canadians in the areas of cancer and neurodegenerative diseases through the application of big data and artificial intelligence. By transforming how health data is shared and analyzed, the DHDP aims to create new opportunities for collaborative research and stimulate the commercialization of Canadian-made, homegrown research discoveries. The DHDP is funded by a contribution from the Government of Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund Stream 4 grant program.

In this mid-level position, the successful applicant will play a key role in bridging private sector customer needs with the development team’s deliverables and with the parameters of academic and health system data custodians across Canada. They will help deliver a product that fosters a collaborative data sharing and analysis ecosystem and creates a large-scale, robust, sustainable technological infrastructure that drives scientific discovery, commercialization and national policy leadership in health data privacy protection in Canada.

To read more about the Digital Health and Discovery Platform visit dhdp.ca.

Key responsibilities

• Collaborate in defining the long-term vision, strategic goals and product roadmap for the DHDP (Digital Health and Discovery Platform) cloud solution, ensuring alignment with federal funding deliverables, external customer needs, data provider parameters, organizational priorities and technology trends.
• Collaborate with key internal and external stakeholders, including technology development partners, private-sector customers, hospitals, academic institutions, AI institutes and regulatory bodies, to ensure the product aligns with private-sector customer and health-care industry data sharing needs, policies, regulations and evolving technologies.
• Facilitate regular development feedback sessions with all stakeholders, including researchers, data provider institutions, private-sector companies and their respective IT teams to refine the product.
• Ensure the DHDP solution complies with Canadian health care regulations (e.g., PIPEDA, PHIPA) and international standards (e.g., GDPR, SOC 2).
• Own and manage the product backlog, ensuring it is prioritized, refined, clearly communicated to the development team and resolved to stay on timelines.
• Write clear and actionable customer and data provider use case stories, acceptance criteria and functional requirements.
• Participate in sprint planning, daily standups and retrospectives to ensure alignment with agile development practices.
• Stay informed about trends in digital health, data platforms and health-care interoperability standards (e.g., FHIR, HL7).
• Coordinate with training teams to develop user documentation and onboarding materials for hospitals and health-care staff.
• Identify opportunities to enhance the DHDP solution's value proposition through innovative features and integrations.
• Act as an escalation point for issues.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, health informatics, business administration or a related field or equivalent experience.
• Six to eight years of experience as a technical product owner, product manager or in similar role, preferably in the health-care sector.
• Previous experience delivering successful digital health solutions or data platforms in a manager or leadership role.
• Proven ability to own the product backlog, write clear and actionable user stories and functional requirements and participate in sprint planning/agile development practices.
• Excels at stakeholder management, being able to balance and work with internal and external teams ranging across the public and private sector.
• Proven ability taking a product across the finish line while maximizing the product’s value add based on the goals of the project and needs of users (private and public sector while adhering to legal requirements).
• Strong knowledge of health-care systems (e.g., EHR/EMR), interoperability standards (FHIR, HL7) and regulatory frameworks (PIPEDA, PHIPA, SOC 2).
• Experience working across the public and private sector is an asset.
• Experience in data security, privacy and compliance for health-care applications.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities, with a focus on user-centric design.
• Proactive, adaptable and able to thrive in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong leadership and team collaboration skills.

Benefits

• Flexible schedule
• Paid vacation
• Extended medical and dental coverage
• Employee Assistance Program
• A work culture that values excellence, creativity, teamwork, learning, fairness and integrity
• A passionate group of high-performing teammates across Canada

Join us!

Please email your cover letter and resume by February 28, 2025, to hr@tfri.ca with the subject line: Product Owner, DHDP.

The candidate must be authorized to work in Canada. Preference to candidates in Ontario and Quebec.

We recognize the importance of diversity and equity in our workforce and encourage all qualified applicants to apply, including Indigenous persons, women, persons with disabilities, minorities and other underrepresented communities.

“Inspired by Terry Fox, we invest in highly collaborative, world-class scientific teams to drive research discoveries that improve and save the lives of cancer patients.”

The Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI), named for Canadian icon Terry Fox, is built on Terry's dream to end cancer through research. Established in 2007, TFRI is a registered charity and invests its funds in cutting-edge cancer research through highly collaborative, team-oriented programs and national research networks. Together with its many research and funding partners, TFRI empowers Canada’s brightest researchers to seek out new transformational and precision medicine discoveries to advance our understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer with the goal of significantly improving outcomes for patients.

TFRI is seeking a highly qualified individual with a strong background in oncology to join our Board of Directors. TFRI Board is composed of professionals from diverse fields, including research, oncology, business, communication, finance and philanthropy. United by Terry Fox’s legacy, they provide strategic oversight and guidance to advance cutting-edge cancer research and improve outcomes for patients.

The ideal candidate will be a clinician or researcher with significant expertise in cancer research or clinical oncology. This individual will bring objective scientific judgment to TFRI’s strategic direction and governance while helping advance our mission to drive impactful cancer research. The Director should exemplify Terry’s values: Integrity, Inclusivity, Perseverance, Creativity and Excellence.

The role of the Board is two-fold: decision-making and oversight. The decision-making aspect includes the selection and appointment of the President & Scientific Director, and, working with management, the formulation of TFRI’s strategic goals and policies. Oversight focuses on reviewing management decisions and ensuring adequate systems, controls and the successful implementation of strategic policies. Directors receive no remuneration for their service in accordance with the by-laws of TFRI. TFRI does reimburse out-of-pocket expenses for travel and accommodation.

Key Responsibilities

Strategy

• Work with the President & Scientific Director to set long-term goals for TFRI.
• Provide objective scientific input and broad judgment to ensure strategic initiatives align with TFRI’s mission.
• Working with management to develop, approve and monitor the implementation of TFRI’s strategic plan, ensuring its success in advancing cancer research.

Governance

• Select and appoint the President & Scientific Director of TFRI.
• Nominate directors with relevant experience and qualifications to support TFRI’s strategic goals.
• Appoint and define mandates for Board committees (e.g., Nominations, Finance & Audit Committees).
• Regularly review and assess the Board’s governance structures and processes.

Financial oversight

• Steward TFRI’s financial resources by approving annual operating and capital budgets.
• Authorize expenditures and approve cancer research investments based on recommendations from the President & Scientific Director.
• Monitor financial performance against the approved budget and ensure accurate financial reporting.
• Vote on recommendations from the Finance & Audit Committee and approve the annual audited financial statements.

Stakeholder accountability and communication

• Ensure stakeholder relationships are maintained based on principles of inclusion, equity, transparency, accountability and fairness.
• Balance the interests of key stakeholders, including the Terry Fox Foundation (TFF), researchers, patients, hospitals, governments and donors.
• Contribute to the development of effective communication strategies for TFRI’s stakeholders.

Risk management

• Understand the risks inherent in cancer research supported by TFRI and balance these with potential benefits to patients and stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Educational Background: PhD, MD or equivalent in Oncology, Cancer Research or related fields.
• Professional Experience: Experience in clinical oncology or cancer research.
• Leadership and Governance: Previous board experience or leadership roles in research or clinical settings is an asset.
• Strategic Judgment: Proven ability to provide scientific and clinical judgment in decision-making.
• Collaborative Approach: Experience working with diverse stakeholders including researchers, clinicians, funders and policy makers.
• Commitment: Availability to attend quarterly board meetings (in-person or virtual) and engage in ongoing Board activities.

Join Us!

To express interest in this position, please submit a cover letter and CV to board@tfri.ca outlining your relevant experience and your vision for contributing to the mission of TFRI.

The Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI), named for Canadian icon Terry Fox, is built on Terry's dream to end cancer through research. Established in 2007, TFRI is a registered charity and invests its funds in cutting-edge cancer research through highly collaborative, team-oriented programs and national research networks. Together with its many research and funding partners, TFRI empowers Canada’s brightest researchers to seek out new transformational and precision medicine discoveries to advance our understanding, diagnosis and treatment of cancer with the goal of significantly improving outcomes for patients.

About this opportunity

The Research Agreements Coordinator, Grants & Funding will report to the Chief Financial Officer and play a critical role in supporting the preparation, negotiation, coordination and signing of a variety of research grants and other types of operational agreements. As an intermediate Research Agreements Coordinator, you will have the opportunity to work on a large number of simultaneous and varied agreements between TFRI and its external research partners and vendors located all across Canada, including creating the agreements, working with cancer research institutions to agree on legal terms, resolving partner concerns, tracking progress, managing electronic signing, analyzing areas of risk and offering creative alternatives for the management of such risks. This position is located in Vancouver.

Key responsibilities

• Coordinate the drafting and preparation of research grant and other operational agreements using established templates.
• Compile and interpret work plans, financial budgets and payment schedules to ensure alignment with the agreement’s legal terms.
• Monitor progress, resolve issues and ensure timely execution of agreements, including preparing amendments as needed.
• Manage the electronic signing process for agreements with external partners, ensuring adherence to organizational policies and timelines.
• Review and analyze requested changes to standard terms and conditions for compliance with legal, regulatory and organizational requirements.
• Identify areas of potential risk in agreements and propose practical alternatives to mitigate those risks.
• Track agreement progress stages using internal systems, maintaining accurate records of correspondence, changes and executed documents.
• Attend meetings with internal and external stakeholders to discuss agreement terms and requirements.
• Serve as a liaison with Canadian research institutions, including their legal, finance and research administration teams.
• Perform a variety of research or other analyses to support agreement preparation and execution.
• Other duties as assigned.

Our successful candidate

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated experience, education and interest in contract law and/or health-care law and/or research agreements.
• Excellent understanding of basic contract terms, concepts and language, including analyzing and assessing the implications and impacts of proposed changes to agreement language.
• Proactive self-starter with a very strong attention to detail and accuracy.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced environment, managing and tracking multiple concurrent agreements and priorities and delivering on established deadlines.
• Demonstrated ingenuity, judgment and creativity to perform all job responsibilities with excellent planning and organizational skills.
• Highly proficient with Microsoft Office suite (e.g., Word, Excel and SharePoint) and with the compiling of PDF documents.
• Ability to function effectively alone and in a team.
• Fluency in both Canada’s official languages would be an asset.

Benefits

• Flexible schedule
• Paid vacation
• Extended medical and dental coverage
• Employee Assistance Program
• A work culture that values excellence, creativity, teamwork, learning, fairness and integrity
• A passionate group of high-performing teammates across Canada

Join us!

Please email your cover letter and resume by February 28, 2025, to hr@tfri.ca with the subject line: Research Agreements Coordinator.

The candidate must be authorized to work in Canada.  

We recognize the importance of diversity and equity in our workforce and encourage all qualified applicants to apply, including Indigenous persons, women, persons with disabilities, minorities and other underrepresented communities.

Salary range: $56,000 - $75,000