Associate Director, Client Engagement

Syneos Health Commercial Solutions; United States; Sur place; USD 140 000 - 190 000; Plein temps

Résumé du poste

Syneos Health Commercial Solutions seeks an Associate Director, Client Engagement to oversee the engagement manager team and drive operational excellence across projects. The role focuses on coaching, process improvement, budget and utilization oversight, and collaboration with business development for client opportunities.

The position requires 8–10 years in PM/ops, 4+ years managing people, and experience with AI/LLMs. Travel up to 25% is expected with a flexible, strategic leadership focus.

Qualifications

• 8–10 years of experience in project management/operations.
• 4+ years of experience as people manager and/or mentoring junior staff.
• 5 years of experience in life sciences/pharma/biotech preferred.
• Experience using AI tools and LLMs to improve project management efficiency.
• 4-year college degree.
• MBA or Master’s Degree preferred.

Responsabilités

• Manages 3-5 EM team members (FLM and individual contributor) including performance mgmt/review and coaching.
• Uses approved AI tools to support coaching conversations and translate insights into guidance.
• Coaches direct reports on responsible AI use and ensuring confidentiality and compliance.
• Oversees operational processes and initiatives for Learning Solutions.
• Defines and revises operational policies and guidelines for the organization.
• Monitors revenue targets and utilization to maximize profits and ensure resources stay within targets.
• Oversees procurement and resource allocation; monitors delivery capacity.
• Manages onboarding and training for new hires; conducts onboarding sessions.
• Develops standard processes, templates, and tools for the Learning Solutions team.
• Drives process adherence and cross-team collaboration to solve issues.
• Uses AI/LLMs to draft meeting recaps, status summaries, and client/internal communications.
• Validates AI outputs for accuracy and compliance with policies before use.
• Manages budget, utilization, revenue tracking, and forecasting; flags out-of-scope requests.
• Oversees risk analysis and mitigation for EM programs.
• Ensures cross-functional communication and leverages resources across projects.
• Provides project management support to meet client needs when EM capacity is high.
• Identifies potential account opportunities and coordinates with business development.
• Other duties as needed; travel up to 25%.
• Maintains utilization targets (e.g., 40 hours base; 26 hours client billable).

Connaissances

Direction setting

Effective communication

Problem solving

Organized

Adaptable communication

Team awareness

Formation

Bachelor's degree

Master’s degree

MBA

Outils

MS Office Suite

Project Management Software

Description du poste

Description

You’re driven, resourceful, and above all else - remarkably smart. The Associate Director, Client Engagement is responsible for oversight of the engagement manager (EM) team, identifying and implementing solutions/procedures for operational effectiveness, and financial acumen oversight. In addition, this individual helps to implement approaches for planning, organizing, managing, and executing projects. Direct management of 3-5 EM team members.

Job Responsibilities

• Manages 3-5 EM team members (FLM and individual contributor), including performance mgmt/review, coaching, and professional development guidance
• Uses approved AI tools to support coaching conversations with direct reports by identifying themes from documented project updates, workload trends, development goals, and feedback, then translating those insights into clear, individualized guidance
• Coaches direct reports on responsible and effective use of approved AI tools, including prompt writing, validating outputs, protecting confidential or client information, and applying AI to improve project execution, communication, and follow-through
• Supports Director/Senior Director with oversight of engagement manager team, as well as overall operational processes and initiatives for Learning Solutions, providing coaching and guidance
• Defines, implements, and revises operational policies and guidelines for the organization
• Supports Director/Senior Director in monitoring the company’s revenue target to maximize profits and ensure resources are compliant with utilization targets
• Oversees the procurement and resource allocation management process
• Monitors resource capacity of delivery teams to identify needs for FTE and contractor support
• Manages new hire onboarding and employee training initiatives and conducts onboarding sessions as required for new hires
• Develops and implements standard processes, templates, and tools for the Learning Solutions team
• Drives processes and timeline adherence; ensures all team members, both internal and external, adhere to process guidelines and work together to problem solve issues
• Leverages approved AI tools and large language models (LLMs) to streamline routine project tasks, such as drafting meeting recaps, summarizing project status, organizing action items, and preparing first drafts of client or internal communications for review.
• Applies responsible AI practices by validating AI-generated outputs for accuracy, confidentiality, client requirements, and compliance with company policies before sharing or incorporating them into deliverables.
• Manages overall budget and utilization of contributing resources, revenue tracking, and forecasting throughout project lifecycle to ensure projects stay within scoped timeline and budget, including identifying and escalating requests that are out of scope
• Oversight of project specific risk analysis and mitigation as needed by EM team
• Ensures that all team members, including Business Development, are communicating throughout projects and leveraging key resources as needed
• Communicates the overall strategic intent of a project and provides project management support to meet the needs of the clients (i.e., both external and internal) when EM team is at capacity
• Identifies potential account/project opportunities and coordinates with business development
• Other duties as needed to meet the needs of the team
• Able to flex schedule accordingly to handle client requests and travel, as needed (up to 25% of time)
• Maintains a minimum Utilization rate of 100% (i.e., 40 Hours); with a minimum Client Billable Utilization rate of 65% (i.e., 26 Hours); Billable Utilization rate may vary based on number of direct and indirect reports

JOB QUALIFICATIONS

• Required: Minimum 8-10 years of experience in project management/operations
• Required: Minimum 4 years of experience as people manager and/or consistent mentoring of junior staff
• Preferred: Minimum 5 years of experience in life sciences/pharma/biotech industry
• Required: Experience using approved AI tools and large language models (LLMs) to improve project management efficiency, communication, documentation, or workflow automation.
• Required: 4-year college degree
• Preferred: MBA or Master’s Degree

Skills

• Required: Good at establishing clear directions; effective communicator; problem-solver; adaptable communication style; organized; understands job responsibilities of others and functions appropriately
• Required: MS Office Suite experiences
• Preferred: Project Management Software/Programs
• Preferred: Background in training, background in life sciences/pharma/biotech industry

The annual base salary for this position ranges from $X to $Y. The base salary range represents the anticipated low and high of the Syneos Health range for this position. Actual salary will vary based on various factors such as the candidate's qualifications, skills, competencies, and proficiency for the role. In addition, some positions may include eligibility to earn commissions/bonus based on company and / or individual performance.

At Syneos Health, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace. If your past experience doesn’t align perfectly, we encourage you to apply anyway. At times, we will consider transferable skills from previous roles. We also encourage you to join our Talent Network to stay connected to additional career opportunities.

Why Syneos Health?

We partner with industry experts to solve and execute against today's toughest commercialization challenges facing the world's leading healthcare companies. The diversification and breadth of our new and existing partnerships create a multitude of career paths and employment opportunities on our Commercial Operations and Leadership teams. Join our game-changing, global company dedicated to creating better, smarter, faster ways to get biopharmaceutical therapies to patients. Experience the thrill of knowing that your everyday efforts are contributing to improving patients' lives around the world.

Work Here Matters Everywhere | How are you inspired to change lives?

Syneos Health companies are affirmative action/equal opportunity employers (Minorities/Females/Veterans/Disabled)

At Syneos Health, we believe in providing an environment and culture in which Our People can thrive, develop and advance. We reward and recognize our people by providing valuable benefits and a quality-of-life balance. The benefits for this position will include a competitive compensation package, Health benefits to include Medical, Dental and Vision, Company match 401k, flexible paid time off (PTO) and sick time. Because certain states and municipalities have regulated paid sick time requirements, eligibility for paid sick time may vary depending on where you work. Syneos Health complies with all applicable federal, state, and municipal paid sick time requirements.