Associate Director, Site Start Up and Maintenance

Job Description

Associate Director, Site Start‑Up and Maintenance plays a pivotal leadership role within the global clinical operations team. This position is responsible for overseeing the strategic planning and execution of global site regulatory, budgeting, and contracting maintenance activities. The role ensures the delivery of high‑quality, timely site maintenance services by collaborating closely with internal and external stakeholders.

The Associate Director, Site Start‑Up and Maintenance is responsible for line management of assigned staff, defining, developing, and delivering global site regulatory, budgeting and contracting maintenance tasks by partnering with internal and external study team members.

• Line management of assigned staff, defining, developing, and delivering global site regulatory, budgeting and contracting maintenance tasks by partnering with internal and external study team members.
• Provide guidance to staff and oversee analysis of clinical trial intelligence data and its application to effectively conduct accurate and effective resourcing forecasts, robust planning, and on time delivery of site maintenance tasks.
• Directly support priority or highly complex projects through study closure.
• Champion the creation and implementation of innovative processes, methodologies, data and technologies that will ensure ongoing delivery of valued site startup and maintenance services.
• Responsible for line management, mentoring, and development of assigned staff.
• Accountable for defining, developing, and delivering site maintenance tasks.
• Partners with CROs, Clinical Operations teams, and TAU partners to improve overall metrics and implement processes.
• Provides guidance, oversight, and training to the Site Start‑Up and Maintenance Teams.
• Ensures consistent standards are applied to the site maintenance process across project portfolios and supports continuous improvement activities while developing and implementing TA‑aligned strategies / approaches.
• Drives the creation and implementation of innovative solutions to improve processes and accelerate site maintenance timelines.
• Leverages leading industry tools and data sources to provide data on timelines and performance to assist study teams with study site maintenance timeline forecasting.
• Agrees to deliverables on a country and site‑level basis with the study team and monitor adherence to these. Promptly recognize and remediate potential delays, and escalates non‑performance as needed.
• Leads the cross‑functional site maintenance team.
• Serves as point of escalation and assists in resolution of issues.
• Act as a role model for Takeda’s values.

• BS degree in life sciences or international equivalent; advanced degree preferred.
• Extensive experience (≥ 8 years) in Clinical Operations, Project Management, study start‑up, site budgeting and contracting and/or trial optimization with evidence of increasing responsibility within a pharmaceutical company, CRO or relevant industry vendor.
• More than 5 years of direct responsibility in site management and oversight of the site maintenance processes of clinical research studies at a sponsor or CRO.
• Expertise in clinical trial regulations and ethics committee submissions.
• Expertise in site contract and budget amendments administration.
• Expertise in leading edge trial optimization vendors, tools, and methods.
• Experience in line management and working in a matrix environment.
• Proficiency with software models and database structures.
• Expertise in principles driving site maintenance strategies including site contract amendments.
• Direct experience in the pharmaceutical industry or related field.
• Ability to strongly demonstrate, interpret, explain, represent, and drive unbiased data insights into clinical trials operational delivery.
• Ability to develop deep insights, uncover unmet needs, drive innovation, inspire, develop, collaborate and lead within a global matrixed team.
• Ability to explain data, facilitate decision making processes to be data driven.

Zurich, Switzerland

Employee

Regular

Full time