_{23rd July, 2026}

Director of Operational Strategy, Early Phase – Avance Clinical is seeking a senior operational strategy leader to join our Early Phase Centre of Excellence located in Australia or New Zealand.

Role overview
As Director of Operational Strategy, Early Phase, you will own the operating frameworks, playbooks and standards that underpin how Avance plans, prices and delivers First‑in‑Human and other early phase programs globally. This is a senior individual contributor role that leads through expertise and, reporting to the SVP & Head of Early Phase CoE and partnering closely with internal and external functional leaders.
Key responsibilities

• Lead the Operational Strategy function for the Early Phase Centre of Excellence (EP CoE), setting standards, frameworks and methodologies for building robust operational narratives, bid assumptions and scopes of work.
• Develop, own and maintain early phase operational playbooks and assumption libraries grounded in Avance’s historical delivery data and ecosystem relationships.
• Provide senior oversight of proposals and bid models to ensure operational assumptions are evidence‑based, commercially competitive and aligned to EP CoE objectives.
• Partner closely with SVP & Head of EP CoE, Commercial, Project Delivery and Finance on strategic pricing, margin management and commercial risk, including support across the full bid lifecycle and bid defences.
• Govern quality, consistency and audit‑readiness of operational strategy deliverables, including bid models, rate cards, assumption logs and staffing rationales.
• Evaluate operational and financial risk across the early phase portfolio, escalating systemic risks and proposing scenario‑based mitigations.
• Translate lessons learned from delivered programs into reusable operational intelligence to continuously improve bids and program planning.
• Support the globalization of the Early Phase CoE operating model in line with Avance’s strategic growth agenda.

  
Qualifications, skills and experience

• Bachelor’s degree in life sciences, health sciences, business or related discipline (Master’s, MBA or equivalent preferred).
• Minimum 6 years’ experience in early phase clinical research within CROs and/or Phase I units, with demonstrated leadership in project management or operational strategy roles.
• Direct, hands‑on experience with early phase programs across healthy volunteer and healthy volunteer + patient designs (FIH, SAD/MAD, food‑effect, DDI, bioequivalence and/or Phase Ib patient cohorts).
• Proven track record contributing to or leading bid development and operational strategy in a clinical research environment.
• Strong analytical capability, commercial acumen and comfort interrogating complex operational and financial models.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex operational concepts to sponsors and senior stakeholders.
• Collaborative, influence‑based leadership style with a quality‑focused, solutions‑oriented mindset.

What we offer

• Stimulating work
• Project diversity
• An intellectual challenge
• An agile & flexible workplace
• Opportunity to progress
• Stability
• Sense of community
• A leadership team that are working together on a common goal
• Flexible work options
• Great tools / tech to do your job
• A competitive salary & an extra days holiday for your birthday! 

What next?
As a growing business we’re looking for likeminded people to join us – we hope that’s you.

• To join our team please submit your CV & cover letter as one Microsoft Word document
• You must have full Australian / NZ working rights to be considered

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