Global Study Delivery Lead

Job Title:  Global Study Delivery Lead

Location:  Remote-Flexible/Global

Job Type:  Full-Time, exempt

Reports To : Chief Operating Officer



 

SUMMARY

To lead and be accountable for Civia's global study delivery function, setting the standard for operational excellence, building high-performing delivery capability, and ensuring the successful delivery of all studies to time, cost, quality, and client expectations.

SCOPE 

This is a hands-on, operational delivery role — not advisory and not a back-office systems function. The Global Study Delivery Lead is the global delivery authority for Civia’s studies, accountable for delivering them to time, cost, and quality, acting as a primary client point of contact, and owning project-management excellence across the organisation. Its defining way of working is close, day-to-day partnership with in-country delivery teams — enabling them and holding a single, high standard everywhere — and it is the single accountable owner of how delivery performance is reported. Where study-level delivery is managed at country level, this role owns delivery across the entire global portfolio, together with the methodology, baselines, and KPIs that make it repeatable.

The role operates at enterprise level within the study delivery leadership structure and holds no responsibility for strategic partners. The methodology, documentation, and reporting it builds are a means to an end: consistently delivering studies and exceeding client expectations.

KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES

• Accountability for delivering Civia’s study portfolio to time, cost, and quality, globally
• Partnering closely with in-country delivery teams to raise and hold a single, high standard across every study and geography
• Acting as a primary point of contact for clients on delivery, building trust and ensuring every commitment is met
• Ownership of project-management excellence across Civia, holding internal functions to account for delivery
• Direct, decisive intervention whenever delivery performance is at risk
• Identification, creation, and implementation of the methodology, documentation, baselines, forecasts, and KPIs that make delivery repeatable
• Sole ownership of study-performance reporting — ensuring delivery is represented accurately, currently, and in KPI terms always
• Sustained client confidence through delivery that consistently meets and exceeds expectations
• The accountable leader in Civia for setting the tone and expectations for study management, fostering excellence, and a mentor who develops less experienced delivery colleagues.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Study Delivery — Time, Cost & Quality

• Own delivery of the global study portfolio to time, cost, and quality, end to end across start-up, recruitment, execution, and close-out
• Maintain a forward-looking view of delivery health and forecast accuracy, and intervene directly and decisively when any study is at risk
• Drive the trade-offs and recovery actions that keep studies on schedule, on budget, and at the required quality
• Protect delivery quality, timelines, and cost discipline through proactive risk identification and resolution

Client Leadership & Point of Contact

• Act as a primary point of contact for clients on delivery, owning the relationship and representing Civia’s delivery performance
• Provide transparent, forward-looking delivery communication — progress, risks, variance, and recovery actions
• Build trust through reliability and consistency, ensuring every commitment made to a client is met
• Enable repeat work by making Civia predictable and exceptional to deliver with

Project-Management Excellence Across Civia

• Own the standard of project-management excellence across Civia, leading the study delivery and project-management methodology
• Set clear ownership, decision rights, governance routines, and escalation pathways for study delivery
• Coach and uplift delivery and project-management capability so studies are run to a consistently high standard everywhere
• Hold internal functions accountable for their contribution to delivery commitments
• Mentor and develop more less experienced delivery and project-management colleagues, actively building the next generation of delivery talent

Global Partnership & Cross-Functional Alignment

• Work closely and continuously with in-country delivery teams— the primary partnership through which studies are delivered — enabling them, aligning on priorities, and holding a single, high standard everywhere
• Align Site Operations, Recruitment, Regulatory, Data, Quality, and Safety with country teams to deliver each study to plan
• Facilitate portfolio- and study-level delivery reviews and drive timely resolution of bottlenecks
• Establish clear accountability so every country team and function knows what it owns and by when
• Escalate constructively and act decisively when delivery performance deviates from plan

Methodology, Baselines, Forecasts & KPIs

• Identify, create, and implement Civia’s study delivery methodology, documentation, and processes — the means by which studies are delivered reliably
• Define the reporting baselines and forecasting models against which all study delivery is planned and measured
• Design, implement, and own the KPI framework for study delivery, ensuring metrics are meaningful, comparable, and acted upon globally
• Act as the single source of truth for study-performance reporting — owning the accuracy, currency, and integrity of every system, report, and KPI
• Embed a single, repeatable way of working that removes delivery variability across studies, sites, and geographies

Governance, Risk & Continuous Improvement

• Establish disciplined governance routines and a performance cadence across the portfolio
• Ensure continuous audit and inspection readiness is built into delivery
• Lead corrective actions and continuous-improvement initiatives, closing the loop from insight to embedded change
• Continuously refine methodology based on delivery data, lessons learned, and evolving client and regulatory expectations

Performance Measures (KPIs)

• On-time delivery: Studies delivered to agreed timelines across the global portfolio
• On-budget delivery: Delivery to cost and margin protection across the portfolio
• Quality: Delivery to required quality, with continuous audit and inspection readiness sustained
• Portfolio delivery vs commitment: ≥100% of study commitments met across the global portfolio
• Client satisfaction: Strong sponsor feedback on delivery and repeat awards
• Country-team partnership: Strength of collaboration with in-country delivery teams, evidenced by consistent, high-quality delivery and expectations exceeded across geographies
• Forecast accuracy: Delivery performance tracking on or ahead of approved baselines and forecasts
• Reporting integrity: Study performance always represented accurately and current, with systems, reports, and KPIs trusted as the single source of truth
• Delivery variability: Year-on-year reduction in delivery variance and avoidable slippage
• Project-management maturity: Consistent, high-standard application of delivery methodology and KPIs across all studies and geographies

Experience & Qualifications:

Required Experience

• 10-15 years of relevant experience with deep operational understanding of clinical trial delivery and its dependencies
• Track record of delivering strategic and operational outcomes
• Proven ability to design, document, implement, and scale delivery and project-management systems
• Strong regulatory, GCP, GDPR and operational literacy
• Strong analytical and financial literacy — builds baselines, forecasts, and KPIs that hold up
• Platform experience with CRIO, HubSpot, and Monday.com

Mindset

• Deeply focused on delivery — driven to complete studies to time, cost, and quality
• Client-first and self-starting; takes ownership of the relationship and closes delivery gaps on their own initiative
• Uncompromising on delivery standards and determined to exceed client expectations

Behavior

• Brings structure, clarity, and a single way of working to complex, multi-geography delivery
• Operates hands-on and close to the work, building strong, trusting partnerships with in-country delivery teams to raise the standard everywhere
• Acts decisively when delivery is at risk; closes the loop from insight to embedded change
• Communicates with authority, transparency, and credibility at leadership level
• Focuses on practical solutions and supports others in learning and improving through challenges.

Personal Traits

• Highly accountable, resilient, and composed under pressure
• Self-directed, organised, and adaptive — treats being a self-starter as the baseline, not the goal
• Builds confidence with teams and stakeholders through follow-through and reliability
• Takes pride in honest, current reporting — owns delivery issues as a reflection of the function and moves quickly to put them right

Qualifications:

•​B.S. or B.A.; MBA or equivalent advantageous. Science related degree preferred.