[Hiring] Senior Manager, Feasibility & Site Activation @ICON plc

Role Description

You will provide strategic leadership across feasibility and site activation operations, ensuring consistent, high-quality delivery through a team of FSA Managers while supporting broader business and organisational objectives.

• Leading regional or global FSA Managers responsible for feasibility, country and site strategy, regulatory activation, and study start-up delivery.
• Setting the strategic direction for FSA operations across multiple studies, programmes, or portfolios and ensuring alignment with organisational priorities.
• Driving performance through managers by establishing clear objectives, monitoring operational metrics, and ensuring proactive risk identification and mitigation.
• Partnering with senior functional leaders, project teams, and customers to shape start-up strategies and support successful clinical trial execution.
• Supporting business development activities, including proposals, bid defences, customer governance meetings, and strategic growth initiatives.
• Leading organisational change, process optimisation, and continuous improvement initiatives to enhance efficiency, scalability, and quality across FSA.
• Building leadership capability within the function by coaching, mentoring, and developing FSA Managers and strengthening succession pipelines.
• Ensuring effective resource planning, workforce strategy, and capacity management to meet current and future business needs.
• Acting as a senior escalation point for complex operational, customer, and people-related matters.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant scientific, healthcare, or life sciences discipline.
• Extensive experience in clinical research ideally with significant expertise in feasibility, site selection, country strategy, regulatory activation, and study start-up.
• Proven success managing managers or multiple teams within a CRO, pharmaceutical, or related environment.
• Demonstrated ability to lead large global or regional organisations through periods of growth, transformation, and operational change.
• Strong strategic planning and business management skills with the ability to translate organisational objectives into operational execution.
• Experience partnering with senior customers and executive stakeholders, including participation in governance and business development activities.
• Strong financial, resource planning, and workforce management capabilities.
• Excellent communication, influencing, and leadership skills with the ability to build engagement and accountability across dispersed teams.
• Demonstrated track record of driving operational excellence, standardisation, and measurable performance improvement.
• Willingness to travel as required (approximately 15%).

Benefits

• Competitive base salary and performance related incentives.
• Health and wellbeing programmes including medical, dental, and vision coverage where applicable.
• Retirement and pension plans.
• Life assurance and disability coverage.
• Employee assistance programmes and wellbeing resources.
• Learning and development opportunities through structured training and career pathways.
• Benefits may vary depending on role and location.