Director, Clinical Finance

Role Overview

• Build strong relationships with the Head of Clinical Operations and their Extended Leadership Team to influence business strategy, investment prioritization, and financial outcomes.
• Own and lead financial narratives, translating complex clinical and financial data into actionable insights and strategic recommendations for senior and executive leadership.
• Lead the design, implementation, and optimization of Clinical financial processes, ensuring alignment with enterprise financial strategy and governance expectations.
• Lead a team of Finance Business Partners in support for Clinical Operations while building organizational capability and driving high performance across the function.
• Establish and leverage a deep understanding of the overall Portfolio Development and TA Strategies to shape financial planning, investment decisions, and long-term portfolio value creation.
• Provide strategic financial leadership, recommendations, and decision support to drive short
• and long-term portfolio, TA and study goals.
• Lead enterprise financial planning and forecasting activities, identifying risks and opportunities that directly impact R&D portfolio performance and strategic objectives.
• Own, design, and continuously improve financial planning, reporting, and governance frameworks, including explanation of costings for governance and financial processes.
• Drive and influence monthly and quarterly financial reviews, shaping strategic dialogue on business performance, risks, and forward-looking scenarios.
• Develop advanced, dynamic financial models to support strategic investment decisions and portfolio optimization.
• Ensure alignment of project budgets and timelines and proactively identify and address variances, recommending strategic actions to mitigate risk and improve outcomes in line with R&D decision frameworks.
• Champion and embed a strategic Business Partnering model across R&D, elevating finance as a driver of business value and strategic decision making.
• Lead financial evaluation and strategic analysis for external collaborations, partnerships, and acquisitions including due diligence and valuation insights.
• Drive transformation of finance processes and capabilities to enhance organizational performance and decision-making effectiveness.
• Enable executive decision-making by delivering data-driven insights, strategic recommendations, and scenario analyses for major investments and long-term strategic plans.
• Develop and present succinct presentations on study drivers and variances to be presented at all levels of R&D and Finance for both governance and routine financial forecasts.
• Ensure financial processes and outputs drive alignment, accountability, and strategic insight across Clinical Operations and broader R&D functions.
• Drive investment planning and budgeting processes, influencing prioritization and trade-offs across portfolio initiatives.
• Lead and develop a high-performing team of finance professionals, setting direction, building capability, and driving accountability for results.
• Shape enterprise financial insights and reporting to meet evolving business and executive leadership needs.
• Provide strategic financial input into vendor negotiations and partnership decisions, including commercial outcomes.
• Contribute to or lead global or functional specific projects of strategic importance to the organization.
• Drive the development of innovative tools, frameworks, and best practices to advance the R&D Finance strategy and capabilities.
• Lead the development and evaluation of complex business cases, investment proposals, and financial strategies, providing clear recommendations to senior leadership.

Requirements

• Bachelor degree in Accounting, Finance or related discipline; MBA or other advanced degree in related field desirable.
• Professional certification (CPA/CA) preferred.
• 10+ years' experience in in R&D Business Operations or Finance roles, with extensive experience in clinical trial financial modeling, budgeting and forecasting, analysis, including the development of business cases in a Pharmaceutical R&D environment or similar industry.
• Sound leadership and interpersonal skills, sound judgment, ability to influence.
• Ability to execute globally integrated processes, strong analytical thinking.
• Ability to lead, develop and motivate others.
• Timely decision making and priority setting.
• Organizational agility, ability to work cross-functionally and across all levels.
• Ability to build and maintain strong relationships and collaborate effectively with multiple levels and cross functionally within a site.

Benefits

• For more information on CSL benefits visit How CSL Supports Your Well-being | CSL.