Executive Director, R&D Strategic Externalization & Business Operations

Lead R&D business operations across all functions, and all budget elements (labor/non-labor) for $1.2 Billion R&D budget. Lead excellence in the selection, setup, governance, and continuous improvement of key external partnerships to deliver seamlessly.

• Strategic Vendor and Partner Management (COE):
  Lead the Center of Excellence for key vendor and partner governance, ensuring optimal engagement models, performance monitoring, issue resolution, and continuous improvement across CROs, consultants, lab service providers, and CMC vendors.
  
• Functional Business Operations Leadership
  Provide strategic direction and operational oversight to a network of R&D functional liaisons, ensuring alignment of externalized delivery models with functional strategies, execution needs, and operational goals.
  
• Contract Management Leadership:
  Oversee centralized contract operations for approximately up to 50 major engagements annually, incl all Clinical Trial agreements, including end-to-end accountability for SOW creation, review, approval workflows, and invoice discrepancy resolution in partnership with Legal, Finance, and Procurement.
  
• Capacity Planning CoE:
  Lead the development and implementation of scalable, data-driven capacity planning frameworks that support proactive resourcing decisions across internal teams and external partners, aligned with portfolio demands.
  
• SOW & Consultant Engagement Process Ownership:
  Own and optimize centralized business processes related to consultant onboarding, SOW management, and financial reconciliation, ensuring consistency, compliance, and timely execution across the R&D organization.
  
• CRO & Business Development Partnerships:
  Drive strategic development and governance of CRO partnerships and business development engagements, supporting operational scalability, innovation, and alignment with evolving R&D needs.
  
• Lab Services Operations:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent is required. An advanced degree, Masters of Business Administration (MBA) or equivalent is a plus.
  
• Strong Business acumen with 15+ years experience working in an R&D, Business Operations, or Clinical Operations is required.
  
• Proven track record of successfully centralizing and simplifying business operations
  
• Proven track record of successfully managing complex partnerships and strategic vendors
  
• Previous experience building and managing teams 10+ years
  
• Proven leadership experience and success with building and developing matrix global teams
  
• Ability to lead interactions with multiple stakeholder groups and interfaces