Program Coordinator Full-time

Program Coordinator

The Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine is seeking a highly organized, collaborative, and experienced Program Coordinator to support the Rehabilitation Robotics Lab under the auspices of Dr. Martin Ferguson-Pell.

This is a unique opportunity for someone who enjoys working at the intersection of research operations, people leadership, community engagement, funding development, and strategic coordination. The Program Coordinator plays a central role in keeping the projects within the Community Engagement Cluster, as well as the lab's people, finances, communications, and research activities, moving forward.

The successful candidate will oversee research projects and personnel, support grant and funding applications, and manage project and lab budgets. Notably, the Program Coordinator will support the $1.8 million “Health Everywhere Hub” program. The role also involves coordinating research activities, contributing to reporting and publications, and helping create a safe, inclusive, and productive lab environment. The role also represents the lab, the faculty, and the University through professional communication with internal and external partners.

Responsibilities

As Program Coordinator, you will provide operational, research, financial, and people leadership for the Rehabilitation Robotics Lab. Your work will help keep complex research projects, funding activities, lab operations, and team members aligned and moving forward.

Research and Program Coordination

• Coordinate research projects under the direction of the Principal Investigator, including timelines, deliverables, reporting, and project milestones.
• Support research planning, including research questions, data collection methods, ethics activities, participant recruitment, and data collection.
• Prepare, edit, and submit grant applications, reports, academic papers, and other research materials.
• Monitor funded project requirements and ensure reporting is completed accurately and on time.
• Help connect multiple lab activities into a cohesive strategy that supports long-term sustainability.

Team Leadership and Supervision

• Supervise and assign work to research staff, students, interns, co-op students, and volunteers.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, training, performance feedback, and professional development for lab members.
• Foster a collaborative, inclusive, and psychologically safe lab culture.
• Work with HR partners on hiring, employee relations, performance, and compliance matters when needed.
• Liaise with HR and supervise staff, students, and trainees within a unionized environment.
• Support talent planning by identifying future staffing and development needs.

Lab, Financial, and Administrative Operations

• Manage day-to-day lab operations, including meetings, events, travel, records, equipment, workspace, and administrative processes.
• Monitor lab and project budgets, including expenses, staff salary allocations, purchasing, P-Card reporting, and financial transactions.
• Initiate hiring, payment, purchasing, travel, and expense processes through University systems.
• Maintain accurate records for research, personnel, safety, and participant documentation.
• Support lab planning, performance indicators, and continuous improvement.

Communication, Engagement, and Knowledge Translation

• Act as a key point of contact for the Rehabilitation Robotics Lab.
• Respond to inquiries from students, staff, faculty, community partners, health system partners, and other external collaborators.
• Oversee lab-wide communications, including websites, social media, reports, presentations, and project materials.
• Support lab visits, tours, presentations, conferences, and events.
• Translate complex research activity into clear, accessible communication for different audiences.

Safety and Facilities

• Support lab safety compliance, including hazard assessments, safety information, training, signage, and access.
• Liaise with Facilities and Operations on space, access, maintenance, and lab-related needs.
• Help ensure the lab remains a safe, organized, and effective environment for staff, students, visitors, and research participants.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in science, health care, public health, rehabilitation, or a related field or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in an academic research, health research, or related research environment.
• Experience managing budgets of $1 million or higher.
• Proficiency with common office, collaboration, and data management tools, such as Microsoft Office, Google applications, PeopleSoft, or REDCap.
• Experience supervising, mentoring, assigning work, or coordinating the work of staff, students, trainees, interns, or volunteers.
• Experience coordinating research projects, including timelines, deliverables, reporting, ethics activities, participant recruitment, data collection, or knowledge translation.
• Experience supporting research outputs such as grant applications, reports, academic publications, presentations, literature reviews, or similar written materials.
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines.
• Strong written, verbal, editing, and knowledge translation skills, with the ability to adapt communication for different audiences.
• Ability to build positive working relationships with academic, community, health system, and internal university partners.
• Demonstrated judgment, initiative, adaptability, and ability to work independently in a changing environment.

Preferred

• Patient-oriented research training, such as AbSPORU or similar.
• Experience with community engagement, rural health care, disability communities, or community-based research.
• Experience with qualitative research methods, including data collection and analysis.
• Experience managing research budgets, financial processes, purchasing, expenses, or project funding.
• Experience organizing or presenting at workshops, seminars, conferences, lab tours, or community-facing events.
• Experience contributing to inclusive, psychologically safe, and collaborative team environments.

About the Team

The Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine is Canada's only free-standing faculty dedicated to rehabilitation. It offers accredited professional programs in Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Speech-Language Pathology, along with a substantial research and continuing education portfolio. With campuses in Edmonton, Calgary, and Camrose, the faculty serves approximately 1,000 graduate students and is a national leader in advancing rehabilitation practice and outcomes.

About University of Alberta

The University of Alberta acknowledges that we are located on Treaty 6 territory, and respects the histories, languages and cultures of First Nations, Métis, Inuit and all First Peoples of Canada, whose presence continues to enrich our vibrant community. The University of Alberta is a community of knowledge seekers, change makers and world shapers who lead with purpose each and every day. We are home to over 14,000 faculty and staff, more than 40,000 students and a growing community of 300,000 alumni worldwide. Your work will have a meaningful influence on a fascinating cross-section of people – from our students and community members, to our renowned researchers and innovators, making discoveries and generating solutions that make the world healthier, safer, stronger and more just. Learn more. At the University of Alberta, we are committed to creating an inclusive and accessible hiring process for all candidates. If you require accommodations to participate in the interview process, please let us know at the time of booking your interview and we will make every effort to accommodate your needs. We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those individuals selected for an interview will be contacted. All University employees have a responsibility to foster a workplace that prioritizes safety in all its forms—physical, cultural, and psychological. This is achieved by promoting a safe environment, adhering to all safety laws, policies and procedures, completing all required safety training, identifying hazards and implementing controls, reporting incidents, and contributing to a culture of belonging and respect, while endeavoring to ensure that all colleagues feel valued and safe to express their thoughts, perspectives and concerns. The University of Alberta is committed to creating a university community where everyone feels valued, barriers to success are removed, and thriving connections are fostered. We welcome applications from all qualified persons. We encourage women, First Nations, Métis and Inuit persons, members of visible minority groups, persons with disabilities, persons of any sexual orientation or gender identity and expression, and all those who may contribute to the further diversification of ideas and the University to apply. L'Université de l'Alberta s'engage à créer une communauté universitaire où chaque personne se sent valorisée, où les obstacles à la réussite sont éliminés et où des connexions enrichissantes peuvent se développer. Nous accueillons les demandes de toutes les personnes qualifiées. Nous encourageons les femmes; Premières nations, Métis et Inuits; membres des group