Gilead Sciences is seeking an Associate Director, Clinical Site Partner to join our Clinical Operations team in Johannesburg, South Africa. In this critical role, you will be responsible for establishing and maintaining strategic relationships with investigator sites to optimize the delivery of our clinical trial programs. You will act as a key communication bridge between sites and Gilead, ensuring we become the Sponsor of Choice within our preferred network.
What You'll Do
- Establish and maintain strong professional and collaborative relationships with investigator sites to optimize the delivery of clinical trial programs.
- Develop strategies to drive concierge-level support for preferred sites to ensure Gilead becomes the Sponsor of Choice.
- Track key performance metrics to assess site performance and identify opportunities for acceleration and continuous improvement.
- Identify investigator sites in alignment with portfolio strategy to expand Gilead’s clinical research partnership network.
- Maintain therapeutic and technical expertise to enable scientific discussions with investigators and site personnel.
- Share ongoing information with investigators regarding Gilead's development pipeline and collect and report field-based intelligence on the competitive landscape and operational considerations.
- Provide support to study teams and Clinical Research Organizations (CROs) to ensure timely delivery of clinical trials from study start-up to close-out.
- Gather constructive feedback and insights from clinical sites to share with Gilead internal stakeholders for improvements.
- Support the development and implementation of applicable site risk plans to ensure achievement of key study and site-level milestones.
- Serve as a local point of escalation for investigator sites and partner to resolve issues and remove barriers to clinical trial execution.
- Proactively communicate and escalate issues identified at investigator sites and partner with internal functional areas to develop mitigation strategies.
- Leverage and present metrics to inform site/country/regional-level decision making.
- Develop local knowledge of investigator site capabilities and past performance and provide input into site-level recruitment forecasts.
- Partner closely with internal Clinical Operations, Clinical Development, and Medical Affairs to ensure effective communication and unified messaging to investigator sites.
What We're Looking For
- BA / BS / RN with 10 or more years’ relevant clinical or related experience in life sciences. Or MA / MS / PharmD / PhD with 8 or more years’ relevant clinical or related experience.
- Combination of scientific/medical expertise in a relevant therapeutic area, including knowledge of the clinical research landscape, and advanced knowledge of Clinical Operations.
- Strong working knowledge of Good Clinical Practice and in-country regulatory guidelines and requirements.
- Strong self-management and organizational skills; ability to manage workload, set priorities and adjust as needed.
- Ability to work both independently and collaboratively.
- Established relationships and experience in both the community and academic site and network setting.
- Excellent verbal and written communication and oral presentation skills (both in English and local language).
- Ability to establish and maintain strong long-term relationships with internal and external key stakeholders.
- Strong interpersonal skills and understanding of team dynamics.
- Strong leadership presence with demonstrated ability to lead without authority at all levels of internal and external stakeholders.
- Strong negotiation and conflict resolution skills.
- Demonstrated strategic agility and broad business acumen.
- Possess a combination of critical thinking and operational expertise and efficiency.
- Self-motivated with proactive issue monitoring and seeks opportunities to remove barriers.
- Extensive travel is required.
Nice to Have
- Oncology experience is a bonus.
Work Mode
This position is based locally in Johannesburg, South Africa, and operates in a local-country work mode.
Gilead Sciences is an equal opportunity employer.
