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Bristol Myers Squibb

Director, Head of Clinical Operations

Rueil Malmaison - FR Full time

Working with Us
Challenging. Meaningful. Life-changing. Those aren’t words that are usually associated with a job. But working at Bristol Myers Squibb is anything but usual. Here, uniquely interesting work happens every day, in every department. From optimizing a production line to the latest breakthroughs in cell therapy, this is work that transforms the lives of patients, and the careers of those who do it. You’ll get the chance to grow and thrive through opportunities uncommon in scale and scope, alongside high-achieving teams. Take your career farther than you thought possible.

Bristol Myers Squibb recognizes the importance of balance and flexibility in our work environment. We offer a wide variety of competitive benefits, services and programs that provide our employees with the resources to pursue their goals, both at work and in their personal lives. Read more: careers.bms.com/working-with-us.

Position Summary

The Head of Clinical Operations, HCO, is accountable for the delivery of all clinical trials for their assigned territory.  This role will lead the head country of France, plus other countries making up the cluster region for clinical operations. The HCO will lead the team for the assigned territory/region and is responsible for overseeing all elements of delivery related to site management and monitoring of clinical trials across the BMS R&D portfolio. 

Reporting to the Regional Head of Clinical Operations, this role is a key member of the RCO and GDO extended leadership teams, as well as serving as a member of the local affiliate leadership team and affiliate leadership committees (where applicable).

Key Responsibilities

  • Accountable for France and associate region level execution strategy and delivery of all portfolio commitments
  • Lead a multi-national team of clinical operations professionals, providing strategic and operational leadership for site management, monitoring and oversight of clinical trials conducted within the assigned territory
  • Provide clear direction within the cluster to successfully deliver clinical trials across all phases of development and Therapeutic Areas, ensuring adherence to agreed timelines and required quality and cost parameters
  • Build and maintain a high performing team through, hiring talent, ongoing feedback, coaching, and career development, including actively engaging with team members to maximize their potential and support retention of talent
  • Strategically assess demand and priorities within the cluster, ensuring resource optimization of the team to deliver to committed clinical trial targets and, where needed, initiate appropriate actions in response to changes in priorities
  • Budget and resource management for the cluster
  • Approving key operational delivery elements for the cluster, including country site and enrolment targets
  • Goal setting for the cluster, including ongoing evaluation of progress against committed milestones
  • Support the proactive identification of improvement areas and contribute to continuous refinement of processes, systems and strategies to support the ongoing evolution of GDO and RCO
  • Input into global, regional and country-level initiatives to ensure regional considerations and operational implications are captured and considered
  • Adopt an enterprise perspective to decision making, considering the benefits to the wider organization in addition to the cluster/function, and support BMS to maintain a competitive industry advantage
  • Develop and maintain productive working relationships with key cross-functional stakeholders, with the ability to leverage insights, effectively express views and influence across different levels of the organization.
  • Maintain a thorough understanding of the local regulatory environment within the region, providing direction and guidance to support optimal trial delivery
  • Represent the company in key interactions with key external partners including industry bodies, investigators and site staff, local authorities as needed
  • Represents RCO and GDO within the affiliate level leadership
  • Leads communication within the affiliate regarding BMS clinical trial strategy
  • Provide support during preparation and conduct of quality audits and regulatory inspections, as needed
  • Develop and promote a workplace culture that values diversity of thought, promotes integrity and creates an atmosphere that supports coaching and fosters accountability


Qualifications & Experience
Degree Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree required with an advanced degree preferred.

Experience Requirements

  • Extensive relevant industry experience, with experience in the management of staff in a pharmaceutical and/or biotechnology environment
  • Significant experience in the delivery of global clinical trials in a variety of operating models (internal and outsourced delivery); with proven success in the delivery of clinical operations and the ability to translate science into robust operational delivery plans
  • A strong understanding of the drug development process with proven expertise in clinical trial execution and management in a global arena
  • Knowledgeable of global regulatory requirements and ICH GCP principles as they relate to clinical trial execution and impact to the business supporting clinical trial execution
  • Extensive understanding and experience of the environment in the assigned territory

Key Competency Requirements

  • Strong leadership capabilities with a proven ability to engage, manage, develop, and inspire a geographically diverse team
  • Demonstrated agility, adaptability, comfort with ambiguity, and a growth mindset
  • Strong communication skills, including written, oral and presentation skills
  • Experience leading in a matrix environment, prioritizing tasks, meeting deadlines, and managing multiple and changing demands.
  • Ability to collaborate cross-functionally, with strong influencing and networking skills to establish and maintain strong internal and external relationships
  • In-depth knowledge of clinical operations across the full development lifecycle, including monitoring methodologies, systems, regulations and compliance obligations, budget and resource management, and interactions with investigator sites

Travel Requirements

  • 10% to 20% of travel required

If you come across a role that intrigues you but doesn’t perfectly line up with your resume, we encourage you to apply anyway. You could be one step away from work that will transform your life and career.

Uniquely Interesting Work, Life-changing Careers
With a single vision as inspiring as “Transforming patients’ lives through science™ ”, every BMS employee plays an integral role in work that goes far beyond ordinary. Each of us is empowered to apply our individual talents and unique perspectives in a supportive culture, promoting global participation in clinical trials, while our shared values of passion, innovation, urgency, accountability, inclusion and integrity bring out the highest potential of each of our colleagues.

On-site Protocol

BMS has an occupancy structure that determines where an employee is required to conduct their work. This structure includes site-essential, site-by-design, field-based and remote-by-design jobs. The occupancy type that you are assigned is determined by the nature and responsibilities of your role:

Site-essential roles require 100% of shifts onsite at your assigned facility. Site-by-design roles may be eligible for a hybrid work model with at least 50% onsite at your assigned facility. For these roles, onsite presence is considered an essential job function and is critical to collaboration, innovation, productivity, and a positive Company culture. For field-based and remote-by-design roles the ability to physically travel to visit customers, patients or business partners and to attend meetings on behalf of BMS as directed is an essential job function.

BMS is dedicated to ensuring that people with disabilities can excel through a transparent recruitment process, reasonable workplace accommodations/adjustments and ongoing support in their roles. Applicants can request a reasonable workplace accommodation/adjustment prior to accepting a job offer. If you require reasonable accommodations/adjustments in completing this application, or in any part of the recruitment process, direct your inquiries to adastaffingsupport@bms.com. Visit careers.bms.com/eeo-accessibility to access our complete Equal Employment Opportunity statement.

BMS cares about your well-being and the well-being of our staff, customers, patients, and communities. As a result, the Company strongly recommends that all employees be fully vaccinated for Covid-19 and keep up to date with Covid-19 boosters.

BMS will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, pursuant to applicable laws in your area.

If you live in or expect to work from Los Angeles County if hired for this position, please visit this page for important additional information: https://careers.bms.com/california-residents/

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