About Rendever

Rendever is overcoming social isolation through the power of virtual reality and shared experiences. Our resident engagement platform has been installed in more than 800 senior living communities and has provided over 3,000,000 moments to thousands of residents across the world. With Rendever, residents can travel to all corners of the world, check off bucket list items and revisit meaningful places like their childhood home. If this sounds good to you, keep reading!

We are looking for a dedicated clinical researcher to join our research team and conduct studies with older adults and their caregivers as they learn and engage with the Rendever VR platform. Our platform offering is aimed at improving the lives of seniors by enhancing interpersonal connections, reinforcing autobiographical memories, and engaging them in fun social, physical, and cognitive activities. All is supported by an incredible team, and we’re excited to add this role as we begin an exciting new chapter in our research endeavors.

We are now embarking on one of the most ambitious studies of our mission to date. The National Institute on Aging awarded Rendever a Commercialization Readiness Program grant to evaluate the impact of our VR platform with older adults living at home. This nationwide, three-year clinical trial - conducted completely remotely by Rendever and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) - will recruit 250 older adults and 125 family caregivers across 25+ sites nationwide. Participants aging in place will be connected with residents from local senior living communities for biweekly group sessions of shared VR experiences, building real friendship and fighting social isolation.

This study contributes to public health by testing the expanded networking capabilities of Rendever VR on the social health, mental health, vitality, and quality of life of people who are aging in place with diverse cognitive abilities. Ultimately, this project aims to help build a much needed infrastructure of social connectivity to combat social isolation and improve wellbeing.

The clinical researcher is primarily responsible for collecting the data. This includes remotely screening for eligibility, obtaining informed consent, teaching older adults how to safely use VR in their home, and helping participants complete surveys. We're looking for individuals who are able to create a positive research experience while driving operational efficiency.

Beyond this study, there are two ongoing remote research studies and we foresee this role as a long-term opportunity within our company. There is also room to grow in this role with finding funding opportunities, grant writing and submissions, study and protocol development, and contributing to publications.

If you’re passionate about working with people experiencing cognitive decline and doing impactful research to combat social isolation, enhance human connection, and increase well-being and overall health, you’ve come to the right place! You’ll be a part of collecting some incredible moments of impact each day, and we can’t wait to see the stories come in.

The Role

As Lead Clinical Researcher, you are the operational engine of this nationwide clinical trial. You will be responsible for the data collection during participants’ journey from first contact through study completion, lead and mentor a team of two data collectors and research interns, and ensure the integrity of data collected across a complex, multi-partner study. You report directly to the Clinical Program Manager and PI, and serve as the connective tissue between the research team, home care offices, senior living community partners, participants, and their families.

This role demands someone who is simultaneously a skilled clinical researcher, a compassionate communicator, a relentless organizer, and a natural team leader. You will engage daily with older adults - many living with mild cognitive impairment to mild and moderate dementia - and their caregivers, requiring a fluency in age-affirming communication and the patience and grit to move a complex study forward with warmth, flexibility, and professionalism.

Recruitment & Participant Engagement
• Lead and follow up on participant recruitment efforts in collaboration with home care offices and the broader research team; maintain pleasant persistence with prospective participants and their legal authorized representatives (LARs) through the entire candidate pipeline
• Build trust with older adult participants, their family caregivers, and LARs by communicating in a respectful, age-affirming, and jargon-free manner—always treating participants as capable adults
• Demonstrate grit and resilience through recruitment challenges; remain motivated and solutions-oriented when outreach efforts face barriers, cancellations, or slow response

Screening, Consent & Baseline
• Lead all screening, informed consent, and baseline survey sessions conducted over Zoom with participants, LARs, and family caregivers
• Apply expert-level soft skills when administering surveys: give clear, patient instructions; adapt communication style to cognitive and sensory needs; and calmly de-escalate minor emotional or logistical frustrations that arise with this population
• Ensure every participant completes eligibility screening, consent, and baseline measures before their first scheduled group VR session

VR Onboarding & Study Setup
• Ensure participants aging at home are fully set up with their Rendever VR headset, have received onboarding and training, and are technically and logistically ready for their biweekly group sessions with their local senior living community partner
• Provide ongoing troubleshooting support and encouragement throughout the intervention period to keep participants engaged and adherent

Data Collection & Completeness
• Administer all participant-facing surveys at assigned time points, including baseline, and 2 timepoints collecting user experience (UX) date, and post-project interviews over Zoom. It’s important to patiently help participants feel comfortable using modern response scales methodologies – training will be provided.
• Send online surveys and timely reminders to family caregivers; monitor response completion and follow up with warmth and persistence
• Monitor Qualtrics daily to ensure data completeness across all participants; proactively identify and resolve gaps in screening forms, consent forms, and ongoing survey submissions
• Maintain meticulous, up-to-date master tracking spreadsheets capturing participant status, milestone completion, and communication history across all study sites

Team Leadership & Oversight
• Provide direct oversight and day-to-day mentorship to two data collectors and research interns; set clear expectations, model best practices, and ensure consistency in protocol execution across all study locations
• Conduct regular check-ins with team members to troubleshoot challenges, reinforce age-affirming communication norms, and maintain quality standards
• Foster a team culture grounded in empathy, dependability, and a shared commitment to participant dignity and data integrity

Scheduling & Dependability
• Show up - without exception - to all scheduled Zoom appointments with participants; dependability is non-negotiable when working with this population
• When rescheduling is unavoidable on their side, handle it with kindness and persistent follow-through, taking full ownership of reconnecting with the participant or caregiver in a timely manner
• Manage participant schedules across multiple time zones, balancing flexibility with rigorous adherence to study timelines

Skills Required

• Clinical Research Experience: Minimum 2 years of experience in clinical research, ideally in behavioral neurology, geriatric psychiatry, or a closely related field. Experience conducting studies with adults 65+ is required; experience working with individuals living with MCI or dementia is strongly preferred
• Age-Affirming Communication: Deep awareness of ageism in everyday language and practice. You communicate with older adults as capable, whole adults—never reverting to infantilizing language, elderspeak, or oversimplified framing. You know how to be warm and patient without being condescending
• Empathy & De-escalation: Ability to recognize and respond compassionately to emotional distress, frustration, or cognitive fatigue in participants and caregivers. You know how to settle a tense moment, reset a conversation, and keep people engaged
• Recruitment Grit: Proven persistence and resilience in participant recruitment. You are comfortable with the slow build, the unanswered calls, and the gentle follow-up. And you do not give up.
• Organizational Excellence: Exceptional organizational skills and attention to protocol are essential. You track every detail, miss nothing, and ensure that in a nationwide study with 25+ sites, nothing slips through the cracks for complete data collection. Master study spreadsheets are kept up-to-date and accurate.
• Dependability: You are someone people can count on. You show up to every appointment and follow through on every commitment, especially when working with participants who may be vulnerable or difficult to reschedule.
• Team Leadership & Mentoring: A natural mentor who leads by example. You enjoy helping others grow and can communicate expectations clearly and kindly.
• Data Collection: Proficiency administering surveys with people living with cognitive impairment. Extra training and workshops will be provided for remote data collection using Qualtrics and remote administration of the MoCA.
• Tech Comfort: Comfortable guiding older adults through digital tools over video call. Comfortable setting participants up on our VR platform and using basic computer skills to monitor their system health. Prior VR experience is a bonus but not required.
• Time Management & Flexibility: Skilled at managing your own schedule and those of participants across multiple time zones in a remote, fast-paced environment that revolves around participants’ and family caregivers’ schedules. We use Google Calendar for study management.

You're a Good Fit If You Have…

• A high level of attention to detail and adherence to study protocols
• A genuine passion for working with the aging community and their caregivers
• A passion for working with autonomy and being thoroughly organized
• The emotional intelligence to work with people experiencing cognitive decline, grief, or isolation
• A love for learning new technologies and patiently teaching others
• Comfort working autonomously within a remote, collaborative, startup environment
• Fluency in English (the universal company language); additional language skills are a plus
• A positive, grounded, and energetic personality
• Knowledge about the VR industry
• Mentoring and leadership skills

Team Culture and Values

• Proactivity, collaboration, and communication drive success.
• We thrive when we learn together.
• Our growth inspires positive change in the world of care.
• Results matter.

Why join the Rendever team?

Rendever’s award-winning virtual reality platform is being used in hospitals, senior living communities, and with individual seniors across America. By joining our team, you will have an opportunity to work with exciting technologies that make a real difference in people’s lives.We’re a small, tight-knit team, but we’re in a unique and exciting position where our industry support and adoption has hit significant strides. In order to accelerate this progress, we’re working with health foundations and corporate sponsors to bring the impact of our technology to senior living communities and other in-need populations all over North America.

NOTE: This is a role supported by a federal grant.