Senior Director, Project Management Centre of Excellence

ICON is seeking a Senior Director to evolve its Project Management Office into a federated Project Management Centre of Excellence. The role will establish enterprise project-management standards, governance, capability frameworks and enabling infrastructure to support consistent clinical project delivery, while building a distributed network of certified champions.

Responsibilities:

• Lead the strategy, operating model, charter and roadmap for ICON’s federated Project Management Centre of Excellence, clearly defining central ownership, local delivery responsibilities and decision rights
• Establish and govern enterprise project-management standards, methodologies, processes, templates, systems and certification requirements for clinical trial delivery
• Design and own a role-based competency framework, structured onboarding journey and continuous-learning architecture covering project-leadership roles across the organisation
• Build, train and certify a distributed network of functional champions and subject-matter experts, securing the protected capacity and governance required to deliver central standards consistently at a local level
• Standardise study intake and outtake processes and drive measurable improvements in study start-up, site activation, closeout, quality and cycle-time performance
• Establish governance, adoption measures, scorecards and accountability mechanisms that embed standards across functions, divisions and geographies
• Partner with Quality and Oversight, Governance & Oversight, Data Analytics, Business Transformation, and Digital and AI teams to scale capability, strengthen process effectiveness and demonstrate measurable business value
• Engage senior executives and delivery leaders, positioning project-management capability as a driver of quality, operational performance, sponsor experience and business growth
• Build, lead and develop a high-performing central team, with accountability for resource planning, priorities and stakeholder management

Requirements:

• Extensive global clinical trial delivery experience across the full study lifecycle, including start-up, conduct and closeout, with personal accountability for scope, timelines, financials, risk, resources, vendors, sponsors and quality
• Significant senior leadership experience within project management, a PMO or comparable enterprise capability function in a global, matrixed clinical development or CRO environment
• Proven experience designing and owning a role-based competency framework and structured onboarding and continuous-learning pathway for clinical project-leadership roles, with demonstrated adoption and measurable impact
• Demonstrated success establishing enterprise project-management standards across functions outside your direct line authority, including the governance, decision rights and accountability mechanisms needed to drive sustained adoption
• Experience building and leading a distributed capability network, such as certified champions, subject-matter experts or train-the-trainer communities, that enables central standards to be delivered consistently within individual functions
• Strong working knowledge of ICH-GCP, clinical trial regulatory and quality requirements, inspection readiness and CAPA, combined with executive-level influencing skills and the ability to lead effectively through a complex matrix
• Experience establishing a Project Management Centre of Excellence or leading a significant operating-model transformation, with demonstrated improvements in areas such as study start-up, site activation, close-out, quality or cycle-time performance
• Experience using learning platforms, analytics, digital or AI-enabled solutions to scale capability and measure effectiveness
• Proven experience using process-engineering principles to design and embed standardised, scalable project-management processes across a complex global organisation, supported by clear controls, performance measures and continuous improvement
• Bachelor's degree in life sciences, business, project management or a related discipline, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience
• relevant credentials such as PMP, PgMP, Prosci or continuous-improvement qualifications are an advantage