Research Alliances & Contracting Lead

We are seeking a highly capable Contracting and Negotiations Business Partner to support our Real-World Evidence (RWE) team. This is not a traditional contract specialist role focused on high-volume, standardized agreements. Instead, you will act as a strategic liaison between the business (research leads), legal counsel, and procurement, specifically managing highly complex, non-traditional research partnerships with academic centers and health systems. Your primary goal is to alleviate the administrative and negotiating burden on RWE leads, allowing them to focus on research strategy and scientific concepts.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic Liaison: Serve as the primary point of contact between the business project owners (RWE leads) and internal partners in legal, procurement, and operations.
• Complex Negotiations: Lead negotiations for non-standard research contracts that lack established Master Service Agreements (MSAs), often involving "stubborn" or intractable needs from academic institutions.
• Process Optimization: Identify bottlenecks in the current contracting process and develop ways to work efficiently within the enterprise's "guardrails" to reduce significant delays.
• Early Risk Mitigation: Anticipate legal and compliance hurdles—such as fair market value (FMV) and red-line issues—five steps ahead to involve the correct counsel early and streamline the process.
• External Relationship Management: Act as a professional, forward-facing representative to Principal Investigators (PIs) and high-level healthcare professionals at partner institutions, ensuring J\&J remains a preferred research partner.
• Independent Contribution: Work independently alongside RWE leads to handle operational steps, such as defining scopes of work and navigating internal compliance steps.

Required Qualifications

• Industry Experience: Significant experience working on the sponsor/pharma side is preferred over a CRO background to ensure familiarity with complex, matrixed organizations.
• Academic Partnerships: Proven track record of negotiating and managing research contracts with large academic centers, health systems, or provider groups.
• Contractual Expertise: Deep understanding of legal terminology and the ability to translate complex legal/procurement requirements for the business.
• Complex Project Management: Experience with "nooks and crannies" contracts—non-traditional, long-term collaborative agreements that are not standard CDAs or MSAs.
• Communication Skills: Ability to speak the "languages" of legal, procurement, compliance, and clinical research.
• Location: Hybrid role based in Horsham (3 days on-site required, though 2 days may be considered for the right candidate).
• Initial Phase: The first 2–3 months will involve close collaboration with the RWE team in Horsham and potentially Titusville to integrate into current projects.