Sr Manager, Site and Patient Engagement Delivery – APAC
Fortrea Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Biotechnology Research · 10,001+ employees
About the role
The Senior Manager leads integrated patient recruitment, retention, and site engagement strategies across clinical trials to ensure effective study delivery. They also manage strategic research partner relationships and provide operational oversight to meet study goals and client expectations.
What they look for
Requirements
Candidates must have a minimum of 6 years of clinical trial-related experience, including project management and site engagement. A bachelor's degree in life sciences or a related field is required, with an advanced degree preferred.
Full description
Job Overview:
The Senior Manager, Site and Patient Engagement Delivery leads integrated recruitment, retention, site engagement, and partnership strategies across assigned studies and research partner relationships, ensuring patient-focused delivery, stronger site performance, effective vendor and partner oversight, and proactive support from early planning through study conduct.
Summary of Responsibilities:
Study Delivery and Recruitment Performance
- Lead project-level patient recruitment and retention initiatives for assigned clinical trials, ensuring strategies are practical, measurable, and focused on patients, parents, caregivers, and family members.
- Support and coach Project Managers and Project Leaders in the implementation of patient recruitment and retention plans, including targeted intervention when study performance requires additional support.
- Collect and evaluate study-level data to refine recruitment and retention strategies, support delivery decisions, and rework plans where project intervention is needed.
- Provide project team support to embed patient recruitment and retention principles, tools, and tactics into study delivery.
- Work with feasibility teams in early planning to inform recruitment, retention, site identification, and study placement decisions.
- Lead or support recruitment and retention strategy delivery across a group of assigned projects, ensuring consistent delivery standards and escalation of risks where appropriate.
Site Engagement and Partnership Delivery
- Develop and manage assigned strategic research partner relationships, including research institutions, dedicated research networks, integrated health systems, and channel partners.
- Identify relevant internal stakeholders, including therapeutic area strategy and planning experts, physicians, and operational experts, and coordinate their involvement in partner and study-level activities as appropriate.
- Maintain accurate profiling of assigned partner relationships to support reliable databases, dynamic views, study placement, and partner-level insights
- Support partner operational readiness ahead of clinical trial programs, working with contracting and legal experts on CDAs, MSAs, and data licensing agreements as required.
- Work with internal stakeholders to optimize study placement and improve understanding of which partners are most relevant for each opportunity.
- Monitor partner interest and support visibility of partner selection into clinical studies, in collaboration with teams leading the global feasibility process.
Innovation, Site and Patient Experience
- Introduce and support innovative recruitment, retention, site engagement, and patient engagement tactics at project and partner level.
- Work closely with Patient Relations and other business areas to introduce innovative tactics into research partner settings and develop strategies for partnership engagement and support.
- Proactively manage relationships with vendors, partners, investigators, and internal stakeholders to support accelerated recruitment, retention, and study delivery throughout the trial lifecycle.
- Engage with investigators during study conduct to maintain motivation, identify operational issues, and drive process improvements.
- Support collaboration across investigator, patient, operational, quality management, feasibility, and site engagement functions to identify patient and site opportunities that improve delivery and support client expectations. Vendor,
Metrics and Performance Oversight
- Work with vendors to understand costings, service provision, operational delivery, and ongoing study progress.
- Provide input into vendor balanced scorecards used to evaluate patient recruitment strategies and retention campaigns.
- Maintain partner scorecards for assigned relationships using a common model for metrics, goals, and budget forecasts.
- Track recruitment, retention, partner readiness, site engagement, and study performance indicators to support proactive issue resolution and delivery oversight. This is a suggested combined responsibility based on the scorecard, metrics, study progress, and delivery accountabilities described across both source roles.
Client and Internal Stakeholder Support
- Support client-facing discussions related to patient recruitment, retention, site engagement, partnership capabilities, delivery strategies, site performance, and relevant budgetary elements.
- Demonstrate ownership and accountability in support of clients through effective study-level problem solving and proactive delivery support.
- Support Business Development, Project Leaders, and operational teams by contributing recruitment, retention, site engagement, and partnership insights for proposals, bid defence, planning, and delivery discussions.
- Partner with key areas of the business to strengthen engagement strategies, improve study placement, and support consistent delivery across assigned studies and partner relationships.
Compliance and Quality
- Work with Quality Assurance and relevant operational teams to support inspection readiness, regulatory compliance, and adherence to ICH-GCP at assigned partner locations.
- Apply a thorough working knowledge of ICH-GCP guidelines and relevant international requirements for global clinical development programs.
- Ensure recruitment, retention, site engagement, and partnership delivery activities are conducted in line with Fortrea procedures, applicable standards, and assigned study requirements. This is a suggested combined responsibility based on the original qualification requirements and preferred knowledge of Fortrea procedures.
Qualifications (Minimum Required):
- Bachelor’s degree required, preferably in life sciences, healthcare, or a related discipline.
- Advanced degree preferred.
- Fortrea may consider relevant and equivalent experience in lieu of educational requirements.
- Certification in a related allied health profession, such as nursing, medical, or laboratory technology, may be considered relevant where applicable.
- Professional designations, certifications, or licenses may be required or preferred depending on country, role scope, or assignment requirements.
- Training model certifications preferred.
Experience (Minimum Required):
- Minimum of 6 years of clinical trial-related experience, preferably within an investigational site, research institution, pharmaceutical company, biotechnology company, contract research organization, or healthcare-related environment.
- Minimum of 8 years of professional experience preferred for roles with broader partnership delivery, stakeholder management, or regional responsibility.
- Clinical research experience should include project management exposure, with experience supporting study planning, delivery, recruitment, retention, feasibility, site engagement, or partnership delivery.
Physical Demands/Work Environment:
- Standard Office Environment or remote based work required.
- Ability to work with staff in different time zones.
- Travel is primarily to planned or active research partners throughout the assigned region, up to 20-25% of the time, with an overnight stay required for up to 90% of that time.
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