Director, Activations Strategy and Operations

MD Ally; Cambridge (MA); Hybrid; USD 160,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work environment in NYC, Boston

Comprehensive medical, dental, and vis

Mental health and wellness support

Health HSA or FSA options

Unlimited PTO

401(k) with company match

Weekly in-office lunch

Wellness and professional development

Job summary

Iterative Health, headquartered in Cambridge, MA, seeks a Director of Activations Strategy & Operations to lead end-to-end activation, aligning Site Operations, Regulatory, Legal, and Commercial to deliver a consistent 75-day trial award to site activation timeline. You will drive process design, governance, and scalable ops across a growing portfolio of trials and sites.

This strategic, leadership role emphasizes building scalable infrastructure, cross-functional collaboration, and performance

Qualifications

• 7+ years in strategy and operations or a related field.

Responsibilities

• Own activation performance framework and hit the 75-day goal.
• Design scalable activation processes and cross-functional playbooks.
• Lead cross-functional alignment across Site Ops, Regulatory, Legal, Commercial, and Study Success.
• Build and scale the activations team and governance cadence.

Skills

Strategy & ops leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Systems thinking

Ownership mindset

Stakeholder management

Vendor management

Ambiguity navigation

Tools

Google Workspace

Microsoft Office

Job description

Iterative Health is a healthcare technology and services company powering the acceleration of clinical research to transform patient outcomes.

We built a leading performance-driven network of 100+ sites across the US, Europe, India, and Australia, conducting research directly in the communities where care is delivered across gastrointestinal, hepatology, obesity, and cardiology. By combining deep clinical trial expertise with cutting-edge AI, we connect sponsors' scientific ambitions with high-performing research teams that expedite and expand access to novel therapeutics for patients in need. Today, Iterative Health is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and New York City with 250+ employees world-wide.

As Director of Activations Strategy & Operations, you will own the end-to-end activation operating model - diagnosing where time is being lost, designing the processes and systems that compress it, and driving cross-functional execution across Site Operations, Regulatory, Legal, and Commercial to make activation faster, more predictable, and more repeatable at scale.

You’ll lead the strategy, processes, and cross-functional execution to achieve a 75 day goal from trial award to site activation needed to achieve that target consistently and sustain it as our portfolio grows.

This is an ideal role for a strategic, operationally minded leader who wants to own a business-critical outcome, build scalable infrastructure, and operate at the intersection of strategy, process design, cross-functional alignment, and performance management.

Where You'll Drive Impact

Activation Performance Ownership

• Own the end-to-end activation performance framework: setting targets, tracking milestones, and holding the function accountable to the 75-day activation goal.
• Monitor performance against targets, surface risks early, and lead the response before delays compound.
• Lead portfolio and site sequencing decisions that maximize revenue opportunity across the activation pipeline.

Process Design & Systems Thinking

• Diagnose where time is being lost across the activation lifecycle — regulatory, legal, site readiness, study startup — and identify the highest-leverage opportunities to compress timelines.
• Design and implement scalable, repeatable activation processes that reduce variability and make performance predictable across a growing portfolio of trials and sites.
• Develop and maintain activation playbooks that can be operationalized across new trials, new sites, and new therapeutic areas.
• Work with Product and Technology to build the systems and tooling that give leadership and operational teams real-time visibility into activation status, milestone risk, and portfolio sequencing.

Cross-Functional Alignment & Stakeholder Management

• Define roles, responsibilities, and handoffs across the functions involved in activation — ensuring clarity on ownership and accountability at every stage.
• Partner with Site Operations, Regulatory, Legal, Commercial, and Study Success to align on activation priorities and resolve cross-functional bottlenecks.
• Develop creative approaches to vendor partnerships that accelerate activation timelines — thinking beyond traditional procurement toward relationships that are flexible, performance-oriented, and give IH a competitive advantage.

Team & Function Development

• Build and develop the activations team as the function scales.
• Establish the operating cadence, reporting structures, and accountability mechanisms that enable the team to perform consistently as volume grows.

What You Bring to the Team

• 7+ years in strategy and operations, management consulting, or a related function — with a track record of designing and implementing operational systems that improve efficiency and scale.
• Demonstrated ability to diagnose process inefficiencies, design solutions, and drive cross-functional execution in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment.
• Strong systems thinking — you see how the pieces fit together and build processes that hold up as volume grows.
• Experience defining roles, responsibilities, and operating models across functions; comfortable having the accountability conversation and driving alignment.
• High ownership mindset with clear accountability for outcomes.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills — able to influence without authority across legal, regulatory, clinical, and commercial functions.
• Experience with vendor identification, evaluation, and management in an operational context; comfortable building the framework for how a company selects and works with external partners.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-moving, ambiguous environment where the playbook is still being written.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in healthcare, clinical research, or a regulated industry where process design carries compliance implications.
• Experience building or managing small teams.
• Strong analytical instincts — able to use data to diagnose problems and measure the impact of process changes.
• Proficiency in Google Workspace and/or Microsoft Office tools (Excel, Word, Power

How We Work

• Collaborative and low-ego team environment
• High ownership and accountability culture
• Fast-paced and highly iterative growth environment
• Open communication and continuous learning mindset
• Mission-driven organization focused on improving patient outcomes
• Comfortable navigating evolving business priorities and opportunities

Benefits That Support You

We believe great teams do their best work when they feel supported — professionally and personally.

• Hybrid work environment with in-office collaboration two days per week in either our NYC, Boston or Southlake office
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage, with up to 80% of premiums covered by Iterative Health
• Mental health and wellness support through Spring Health
• Health HSA or FSA options, and commuter FSA contributions supported by Iterative Health
• Unlimited PTO, 12 company holidays, and a company-wide shutdown between Christmas and New Years
• 401(k) program with a company match of up to 3% (up to $3,000 annually)
• Weekly in-office lunch benefit every Tuesday100% company-paid short-term and long-term disability coverage
• Annual wellness and professional development stipend to support your health and growth
• And more!

New York pay range

$160,000 — $220,000 USD

At Iterative Health, we’re actively working towards creating an environment that is representative of the diversity of patients our technology serves. We are focused on building an equitable and inclusive culture, and by extension, hiring process. If you require any accommodations to make the application process or interviewing experience more accessible to you, please contact [e-mail].