Senior Director, Clinical Operations
Vitalief is a consulting and professional services firm that helps clinical research sites, sponsors, and CROs improve trial activation, operational performance, and workforce readiness. Our approach combines clinical research expertise, operational excellence, and business acumen to help teams do more with less. We enable clients to streamline processes, save time, reduce costs, accelerate results, and ultimately enhance patient outcomes. The Role
Vitalief is partnering with a nationally recognized Academic Medical Center to recruit a Senior Director, Clinical Operations as a full-time, permanent member of the client’s leadership team. This role provides enterprise-wide leadership for the strategic direction, governance, and operational excellence of the institution’s clinical research portfolio. Reporting to executive leadership, the Senior Director oversees the full lifecycle of clinical research operations—from feasibility and study activation through closeout—ensuring alignment with institutional strategy, regulatory requirements, and long-term financial sustainability. This leader is accountable for building and scaling a best-in-class clinical research infrastructure that supports investigator-initiated, industry-sponsored, and federally funded (NIH) research. The role emphasizes executive partnership, performance accountability, inspection readiness, and service excellence across a complex, matrixed academic environment. Salary Range: Market competitive, commensurate with experience Work Location: Philadelphia, PA (100% on-site) Key Responsibilities
- Enterprise Strategy & Governance: Provide executive leadership and governance for clinical research operations, aligning strategy, infrastructure, and performance with institutional priorities and regulatory expectations.
- Clinical Research Portfolio Oversight: Oversee a complex, multi-therapeutic clinical trial portfolio, ensuring studies meet enrollment, timeline, budget, quality, and compliance standards.
- Organizational Leadership & Talent: Lead and develop a large, multidisciplinary, and matrixed clinical research workforce, establishing clear accountability, competency frameworks, and succession planning.
- Quality, Compliance & Inspection Readiness: Maintain enterprise-wide responsibility for regulatory compliance, quality systems, audit management, and sustained inspection readiness.
- Financial Stewardship & Resource Optimization: Provide oversight of budgets, staffing models, and resource allocation to ensure scalable, financially sustainable research operations.
- Growth & External Engagement: Advance institutional research growth through industry partnerships, NIH competitiveness, and external representation with sponsors and peer AMCs.
- Advanced degree in a health, biomedical, or life sciences discipline (e.g., MD, DO, RN, PharmD, PhD, MPH, MS), or equivalent combination of education and executive clinical research experience
- 10 to 15 years of progressive clinical research experience, including senior leadership responsibility within an academic medical center or similarly complex research environment.
- Demonstrated success leading enterprise or department-wide clinical research operations across multiple funding sources (industry and federal).
- Expert knowledge of clinical research regulations and oversight frameworks (FDA, ICH‑GCP, OHRP, NIH, HIPAA, IRB).
- Proven ability to design and scale clinical research infrastructure, SOPs, governance models, and quality systems.
- Strong financial and operational acumen, including budget oversight, staffing strategies, and performance metrics.
- Executive-level leadership skills with the ability to influence across matrixed organizations and communicate effectively with C‑suite and external stakeholders.
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