Director, Research Process Optimization

Role Summary

The Director, Research Process Optimization will report to One Oncology's Vice President, Clinical Research. This role is responsible for driving cross-functional process improvement across OneR, One Oncology's site management organization — spanning contracting & budgeting, study activation, regulatory, quality, study operations, finance, and network site management. Working across all functions of the research program, the Director takes ownership of improvement initiatives end-to-end — from opportunity identification and business case development through implementation and value measurement — to accelerate study activation, increase patient accrual, and improve site satisfaction across a nationally distributed oncology research network.

A defining feature of this role is the partnership with One Oncology's technology and Research Products team. The Director translates process designs into deployed solutions — including workflow platforms, tracking systems, and AI/automation tools — and is accountable for keeping technology delivery sequenced, prioritized, and on track against operational timelines. The Director defines the process requirements and success measures; actual technology build and implementation is performed by One Oncology's technology team.

This is a builder’s role, not an advisory one. The Director personally designs, builds, and rolls out process changes — working in the day-to-day alongside the teams and measured on outcomes such as faster study activation and higher patient accrual. This is a demanding, high-impact role in a high-growth organization. It requires a dynamic individual who pairs deep process-improvement expertise with hands-on experience inside clinical research operations, and who can influence and align functional leaders, technical partners, and physician & practice stakeholders to deliver sustainable, scalable results.

Opportunity Identification & Portfolio Development:
Work alongside functional leaders and their teams to identify opportunities for improvement across all research functions and develop the business cases that prioritize where to invest.

Process Analysis:
Conduct thorough assessments of existing processes using Lean Six Sigma and other data-driven approaches to identify inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and areas for improvement; lead in-person and virtual working sessions to map current- and future-state workflows.

Solution Design & Build:
Design the improved processes and build it into how teams actually work — including partnering with the technology team on the automation and tooling behind it. The automation toolkit is broad, spanning intelligent automation, task automation, AI, and other emerging technologies.

Technology Coordination & Delivery Oversight:
Serve as the primary bridge between the research operations teams and One Oncology's technology / Research Products function. Scope requirements, prioritize and sequence platform builds (e.g., Salesforce, CTMS, and AI-enabled tools), and drive the collective team to agreed upon timelines.

Implementation & Change Leadership:
Collaborate with teams to implement approved process improvements and automation solutions, ensuring a smooth transition and durable integration into existing workflows across central functions and sites (where applicable).

Foundational Process Infrastructure:
Monitor the adoption of and adherence to standardized SOPs, work instructions, and roles-and-responsibilities matrices — the shared infrastructure that makes every other process improvement repeatable and scalable as the network grows.

Process Discovery & Improvement:
Partner with team members across functions to surface their operational pain points and pinpoint the blockers holding them back, translating those insights into targeted process improvements. Apply this approach across areas such as study activation, contracting & budgeting, and ongoing study management to drive smoother, more consistent workflows network-wide.

Performance Metrics & Scorecards:
Measure the effectiveness of implemented improvements and build the metrics, scorecards, and tracking dashboards that make progress…