Sr. Director, Strategic Delivery and Growth - Oncology
Fortrea
Summary
The Senior Director, Strategic Delivery & Growth is a senior strategic leader who combines deep oncology, clinical development, and operational delivery expertise to develop differentiated clinical trial strategies and support sustainable business growth. This role partners closely with clients and cross-functional teams from early engagement and proposal development through bid defense and post-award strategy execution.
Job description
About the role
The Senior Director, Strategic Delivery & Growth is a senior strategic leader who combines deep oncology, clinical development, and operational delivery expertise to develop differentiated clinical trial strategies and support sustainable business growth. This role partners closely with clients and cross-functional teams from early engagement and proposal development through bid defense and post-award strategy execution.
The successful candidate will bring strong oncology expertise, a proven ability to design and model strategic clinical trial proposals, and the executive presence to build trusted client relationships and translate complex development needs into innovative, executable solutions.
Key responsibilities
- Lead early client engagement and serve as a senior oncology subject matter expert across strategic opportunities.
- Design innovative, evidence-based clinical trial strategies and integrated operational solutions that differentiate Fortrea in the marketplace.
- Lead strategic proposal development and modeling, including RFI/RFP responses, operational strategy, proposal development, and bid defense preparation.
- Partner across medical, scientific, operational, commercial, and other functions to create competitive, executable end-to-end solutions.
- Present Fortrea's medical, scientific, and operational capabilities to clients and establish strong relationships with senior client stakeholders, KOLs, and partners.
- Provide strategic oversight after award to ensure operational execution remains aligned with the agreed strategy, client expectations, quality requirements, and business objectives.
- Use operational, financial, and quality metrics to assess strategy performance, identify risks, and recommend adjustments throughout study delivery.
- Apply lessons learned and market insight to continuously improve trial strategy, proposal quality, win rates, and portfolio profitability.
- Contribute to oncology commercial and scientific leadership, thought leadership, conferences, presentations, and other activities that strengthen Fortrea's market position.
- Coach and mentor colleagues, support talent development, and help drive a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous learning.
Minimum qualifications
- Bachelor's degree required; relevant and equivalent experience may be considered in lieu of educational requirements.
- 10+ years of research and development and clinical research experience within pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and/or CRO environments.
- Significant oncology clinical development and operational experience.
- Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional clinical development programs; 3+ years leading full development programs preferred.
- Demonstrated experience in strategic proposal design and modeling, including development of operational strategies for complex clinical trials.
- Strong understanding of clinical trial operations and the requirements needed to translate pre-award strategy into successful post-award execution.
- Proven client-facing communication, presentation, influencing, and relationship-management skills.
Preferred qualifications
- Advanced degree, PhD, and/or MBA.
- Broad client relationship and business development experience.
- Strong RFI/RFP, proposal development, and bid defense experience.
- Demonstrated vision, strategy, and growth experience within oncology clinical development.
- Financial acumen and experience contributing to competitive and profitable study or program strategies.
- Experience operating effectively in a global, cross-functional, and complex environment.
- This role may require work outside normal office hours based on business and client needs.
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree required; relevant and equivalent experience may be considered in lieu of educational requirements.
- 10+ years of research and development and clinical research experience within pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and/or CRO environments.
- Significant oncology clinical development and operational experience.
- Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional clinical development programs.
- Demonstrated experience in strategic proposal design and modeling, including development of operational strategies for complex clinical trials.
- Strong understanding of clinical trial operations and the requirements needed to translate pre-award strategy into successful post-award execution.
- Proven client-facing communication, presentation, influencing, and relationship-management skills.
- Advanced degree, PhD, and/or MBA preferred.
- Broad client relationship and business development experience preferred.
- Strong RFI/RFP, proposal development, and bid defense experience preferred.
- Demonstrated vision, strategy, and growth experience within oncology clinical development preferred.
- Financial acumen and experience contributing to competitive and profitable study or program strategies preferred.
- Experience operating effectively in a global, cross-functional, and complex environment preferred.
Benefits
- Medical, Dental & Vision
- Life Insurance
- STD/LTD
- 401(k)
- ESPP
- Paid Time Off (PTO)
- Flexible Time Off (FTO)
- Company Bonus
Company overview
Fortrea Holdings Inc. is a leading global contract research organization (CRO) that provides comprehensive clinical development solutions to the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries. Headquartered in Durham, North Carolina with operations in over 90 countries, Fortrea specializes in managing all aspects of clinical trials from Phase I through IV, including clinical pharmacology and post-approval services. The company offers a wide range of services including regulatory affairs, protocol design, operational planning, patient recruitment, project management, data management, biostatistics, pharmacovigilance, and medical writing. With over 30 years of clinical research experience, Fortrea has evolved from its heritage as Covance and Labcorp into a pureplay CRO focused on delivering agile, fit-for-purpose solutions for both emerging and established life sciences companies. The company has conducted more than 5,850 clinical trials involving over 1 million subjects in the past five years, with particular expertise in oncology, central nervous system disorders, rare diseases, and cell and gene therapies.