At PicnicHealth, we're building the future of non-interventional clinical research, powered by AI and centered on patients. Our mission is to make it radically easier, faster, and more affordable to perform clinical trials and get better treatments to patients. We're replacing the legacy, services-heavy model with a modern, AI-first approach that unlocks insights from rich, multi-modal data—from clinical notes and imaging to lab results—at scale. By engaging patients directly through our personal health assistant, PicnicAI, which meets them where they’re at and delights them along the way (with an industry leading NPS of 76), patients participate actively in the research they care about.
PicnicHealth is already a trusted partner to 7 of the top 10 pharmaceutical companies. Our work spans 40+ disease areas and has supported over 60 peer-reviewed publications, including an FDA submission that incorporates PicnicHealth data.
Founded in 2014, we’ve raised $100M+ from top investors like Amplify Partners, Felicis Ventures, B Capital Group, and Y Combinator. Our business running non-interventional studies more than doubled last year, and we’re growing even faster in 2026. We’re a team of doctors, patients, data nerds, engineers, and builders, reimagining how clinical research works — and we’re just getting started!
The Opportunity
We run dozens of studies, and every one of them needs patients qualified, supported, and kept moving. As the Patient Engagement Team Lead, you'll own the daily operational work that keeps our patient funnel unstuck: answering patient escalations, working the qualification screen queue, and making sure our outreach contractors have the right work in front of them.
This is a short-term contractor role (estimated 20 hours a week) which is expected to be needed for about 6 months. You'll report to the Patient Engagement Manager and work as player-coach for a small team of Patient Support contractors. We're building AI agents to take on much of this work by early 2027, so you'll also see that transition up close and help shape it.
At Picnic, AI is at the core of everything we do. We're looking for people who are excited by AI and already use it in their own work.
What you'll do:
- Manage queues: Review screens daily to ensure that the patient experience is a positive one and that studies run on time.
- Own patient escalations: Be the first point of escalation for patient questions and issues. Triage, resolve what you can, and route the rest to the right person fast.
- Run team tasks: Assign and balance tasks across the contractor team so nothing sits unowned or falls behind.
- Report what moved: Send a short weekly readout of what the team cleared, what's stuck, and why.
- Flag patterns: Spot repeat issues and bring it to the team, so we fix the cause and not just the case.
What you'll bring:
- 5+ years in patient-facing operations roles (clinical research coordination, patient support, healthcare contact center, or similar)
- Experience leading or coordinating a small team
- Comfort working a queue with speed and accuracy, and judgment about what needs escalating
- Warm, clear written communication with patients, including on sensitive topics like consent and medical records
- Familiarity with clinical research, eligibility criteria, and HIPAA
- Comfort learning new tools quickly, and real interest in using AI to work faster
- A quiet workspace with reliable internet access
- Reliability: you can commit to 20 hours a week during weekdays for 6 months
Contract details
- Hourly contract: 20 hours per week estimated
- Term: Expected to be around 6 months
- Rate: $25/hour
- Fully remote within the US
- Engaged through our staffing partner (contract role, not eligible for Picnic employee benefits or equity)
Picnic is committed to promoting an inclusive work environment free of discrimination and harassment. We value a diverse and balanced team where everyone can belong.