Associate Director Strategic Clinical Outsourcing & Vendor Management

For the safety of our employees and communities in response to COVID-19, ACADIA has implemented a temporary work from home policy. As a part of this shift, we have migrated all interviews to virtual interviewing via phone and video.

Position Summary:

• This position leads and coordinates global strategy for the identification, assessment, selection, negotiation, contract execution and relationship management with Clinical CRO’s and other vendors to support human clinical trials. The role will also support the Request for Information (RFI) and Request for Proposal (RFP) processes from end to end. The individual must be experienced and capable leading complex initiatives with high monetary value; possess excellent relationship building and management skills, and be a strong negotiator. Additionally, the individual will have demonstrated leadership skills and understand the processes involved with the work in an in depth manner for GCP, GLP and GVP sourced work.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Leads vendor identification/vendor selection/vendor negotiation/vendor contract management activities in support of all human studies conducted within Clinical Research/Translational Research.
• Works closely with the Clinical Operations and Finance teams, as well as relevant functional leads to support the clinical studies’ vendor budgets and contracting needs, including change orders from CRO’s and other vendors, risk reward proposals, earn backs, volume discounts and pricing terms
• Leads the development of Requests for Information (RFI) and RFP, critically evaluates proposals, coordinates bid defense meetings, and negotiates rate cards and preferred supplier terms.
• Tracks negotiated savings
• Manages clinical vendor relationships in conjunction with Clinical Operations Teams and functional leads
• Maintains the active vendor list. Coordinates communication and acts as a liaison between internal/external stakeholders on the vendor contracts and budgets
• Leads the development of Investigator Grant costing and benchmarking
• Assists with project management and financial support/forecasting of study costing for the annual budget process
• Develops and maintains a system for tracking progress and status of clinical budgets/contracts
• Provides cost benchmarking for clinical outsourcing activities using industry-based tools or customized analysis
• Collaborates with the Commercial vendor management team, on the design and maintenance of outsourcing SOPs/procedures, creating outsourcing tools (RFP templates, budget templates, budget review tools, etc.), recommending and implementing software to prepare costing and financial projections ,and providing direction regarding corporate procurement policies and strategies
• Leads the Vendor Governance oversight activities, and participates in the development and tracking of performance metrics
• Supports Clinical Outsourcing with data collection and analysis
• Assists with the tracking of negotiated savings achieved
• Supports departmental initiatives to streamline and improve processes
• Participates as a member of the Clinical Operations’ Leadership team

Education/Experience/Skills:

BS/BA or equivalent combination of relevant education and applicable job experience will be considered. A minimum 8 years of progressive experience with vendor, contracts and budgeting administration within a pharmaceutical clinical research and clinical operations organization. CNS therapeutic experience preferred.

Must Possess:

• Familiarity with financial budgeting and forecasting reports
• Must possess strong data analysis skills and will be responsible for industry assessments, support for vendor selection, contract/budget negotiations, and contribute to cost modeling
• Ability to establish priorities, schedule and meet deadlines
• Ability to take initiative, be flexible, exercise good judgment, interface with all levels of management, multi-task and have an excellent attention to detail to ensure the most efficient and cost-effective contract solutions are achieved
• Ability to effectively work with investigators, vendors, and internal colleagues
• Demonstrated success in working collaboratively within cross-functional teams and a matrix organization
• Strong working knowledge in MS Excel, MS Word PowerPoint, and Outlook a must
• Strong working knowledge of computer and project management software packages
• Knowledge of current regulatory requirements and guidelines governing clinical research\
• Candidates must possess excellent organizational, communication and administrative skills as well as an ability to interpret and comprehend contract documentation, and contracting units, in unit cost models.
• Negotiate skillfully in tough situations with both internal and external groups
• Requires strong attention to detail
• Excellent written and oral communication
• Available for up to 25% domestic or international travel
• Ability to mentor, coach and supervise staff

Scope:

Manages segment to achieve goals in accordance with established policies, meet schedules and resolve problems; may provide direction to and review of managers, supervisors, or employees.  Works on abstract problems that may cross functional areas.  Interacts with management on matters concerning functional area.  Erroneous decisions will have a serious impact on the overall success of functional area and may impact overall company operations.

Physical Requirements:

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand; walk; sit; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance; stoop, kneel, crouch, see, talk or hear in a standard office environment and independently from remote locations. Employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 20 pounds.  

ACADIA is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer: Minority/Female/Disability/Veterans/Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity