Director, Relationship Management – Clinical Operations

MSD

Director managing external vendors in clinical trials for Global Clinical Trial Operations at a health care leader. Overseeing supplier portfolio management, sourcing strategy, and process management.

Posted 7/22/2026full-timeNorth Wales • New Jersey, Pennsylvania • 🇺🇸 United StatesLead💰 $173,200 - $272,600 per yearWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates extensive experience in managing external vendors and partners within Global Clinical Trial Operations, ensuring effective communication, collaboration, and performance oversight. Proficient in translating business needs into actionable proposals and driving process improvements to meet strategic objectives.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Clinical Trial ExperiencePartner/Supplier ManagementCollaboration SkillsChange ManagementLeadership Skills

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

Vendor ManagementPerformance Metrics MonitoringRequest for Proposal (RFP) DevelopmentKey Performance Indicators (KPIs)Service Level Agreements (SLAs)

Soft Skills

Effective CommunicationConflict ResolutionCritical ThinkingDecision MakingInterpersonal Skills

Tools & Technologies

Interactive Response Technology (IRT)Randomization and Trial Supply Management (RTSM)

Industry Keywords

Global Clinical DevelopmentClinical Trial OperationsProcess ImprovementStakeholder ManagementOperational Meetings

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Responsible for managing external vendor(s)/partner(s) who provide resources and services that are critical to the success of Global Clinical Trial Operations (GCTO) and Global Clinical Development (GCD) objectives and deliverables.
Expected to have strong business acumen, excellent change management and leadership skills.
Responsible for the management and oversight of Interactive Response Technology (IRT) and Randomization and Trial Supply Management (RTSM) suppliers to support clinical trial execution.
Provides portfolio oversight of vendor partner(s) and serves as the primary point of contact with the supplier and internal stakeholders.
Manages supplier portfolio and serves as the primary point-of-contact to manage issue escalations and resolution with internal and external stakeholders.
Plans, coordinates and executes Operational and Executive Meetings for strategic partnerships. Ensures timely follow up from those meetings.
Established supplier KPIs and SLAs and to enable effective portfolio management.
Proactively monitors and manages key performance metrics across the assigned portfolio of partners to continuously evaluate performance.
Ensures issues are identified and managed through to resolution in a timely manner and deliverables are met as required.
Anticipates future internal stakeholder needs and actively collaborates with and provides guidance to vendor(s)/partner(s) to assure new capabilities and services are developed to meet those identified needs.
Evaluates and advises clinical teams on strategy of adding a new supplier to categories as well as vendor and market capabilities and prior performance.
Translates business needs into the Request for Proposal (RFP) specifications.
Collaborates with Research & Development Procurement to identify external vendor/partner candidates who can deliver the required services/resources for studies across the entire Clinical Development portfolio.
Anticipates internal/external business challenges and enables process improvements to address those challenges.
Identify and drive process improvement or other initiatives to meet business needs.
May plan and lead the transition activities related to managing an existing supplier into our Company's systems due to a joint venture or acquisition.
Mentor junior and new team member. May have direct management responsibility.

Requirements

What you’ll need

10+ years of clinical trial experience.
Proven partner/supplier management experience.
Must demonstrate excellent collaboration and highly effective communication skills to clearly articulate needs, effectively negotiate, and facilitate issue resolution across organizational levels.
Must demonstrate excellent interpersonal and conflict resolution skills.
Demonstrated strong ability to work independently, critical thinking and demonstrate sound and timely decision making
Bachelors or equivalent from an accredited university in Business, Technical, or Life Sciences.

Benefits

Comp & perks

medical
dental
vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family)
retirement benefits, including 401(k)
paid holidays
vacation
compassionate and sick days