Lead Clinical Research Data Manager
Posted Sep 24, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026
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Likely interview questions for this role
Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.
About your past
Tell me about a time you found a protocol deviation. How did you handle it with the PI and the IRB?
What they are checking: Their integrity in surfacing problems and their knowledge of who must be told and when.
As a lead, how do you train and check the work of other data managers without becoming a bottleneck?
What they are checking: Whether they can build quality into a team rather than personally reviewing every entry.
Describe a process improvement you made in a research office that saved time or cut errors.
What they are checking: Whether they spot operational problems and fix them, which the posting expects from a lead.
What would you do
A sponsor monitor arrives tomorrow and you find several queries still open on one of your studies. What do you do tonight and tomorrow morning?
What they are checking: How they handle audit pressure honestly, fixing what they can without hiding what they cannot.
A PI asks you to enter a response assessment before the scans have been formally read. How do you respond?
What they are checking: Whether they will hold the line on data integrity even when someone senior asks for a shortcut.
About the work
You'd lead data management for high-complexity oncology trials with no oversight. How do you decide what to check first when a new study opens?
What they are checking: Whether they can set up a study correctly from the start, since early errors spread through every later visit.
Walk me through how you abstract data from a patient's chart into a case report form for a cancer trial.
What they are checking: Their hands-on knowledge of source documents and how carefully they match what is recorded.
How do you identify and report adverse events, and what makes one serious enough to need expedited reporting?
What they are checking: Whether they understand reporting timelines that protect patient safety and keep the institution in compliance.
Which electronic data capture systems have you worked in, such as Medidata Rave or OnCore, and how do you learn a new sponsor's system?
What they are checking: How quickly they can become productive across the many platforms that different trial sponsors require.
How do you keep track of visit windows and data deadlines across many studies at once?
What they are checking: Their personal systems for workload, since missed windows create deviations that cannot be undone.
How do you protect patient confidentiality when sending documents to sponsors or outside reviewers?
What they are checking: Their habits around redacting and handling health information under HIPAA and study agreements.
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Practice this out loudThe full job description
As published by University of Chicago.