Senior Clinical Outsourcing Manager

Barrington James; San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 160,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Barrington James in San Francisco Bay Area (Hybrid) is seeking a Senior Manager, Clinical Outsourcing to lead vendor sourcing, contracting, and financial oversight across CROs, central labs, IRT, eCOA, recruitment, retention, and site-facing services.

You will drive the outsourcing lifecycle from RFP through closeout, collaborating with Clinical Operations, Legal, Finance, and QA to ensure quality outcomes and value.

Qualifications

• Master's degree in life sciences, clinical research, or a related field.
• 5+ years' experience in clinical research/outsourcing within pharma or biotech.
• Hands-on experience in vendor procurement, selection, and end-to-end contract negotiation.
• Strong vendor management, governance meeting leadership.
• Solid financial acumen and knowledge of ICH/GCP and industry guidelines.

Responsibilities

• Lead procurement and vendor selection: RFPs, proposal evaluations, commercial/budget analysis, and Bid Defense Meetings, in partnership with Clinical QA
• Lead contract negotiation for assigned vendors: budgets, rates, MSAs, study-level agreements, POs, change orders, reconciliation, and closeout
• Manage vendor relationships and performance, overseeing IRT, eCOA, and Central Lab vendors independently.
• Lead vendor governance and business reviews, proactively managing performance concerns and escalating operational or financial risks
• Negotiate investigator grant budgets, run financial transparency reporting, and manage program- and portfolio-level contracts and budgets

Education

Master's degree in life sciences, clinical research, or a related field

Job description

San Francisco, Bay Area CA — Hybrid, 3 days onsite per week

About the role

We're hiring a Senior Manager, Clinical Outsourcing to join our client. In this position you will be leading vendor sourcing, contracting, financial oversight, and performance management across a portfolio of clinical vendors — CROs, central labs, IRT, eCOA, recruitment, retention, and site-facing services. Sitting at the intersection of Clinical Operations, Legal, Finance, and QA, this role offers deep ownership of the outsourcing lifecycle from RFP through closeout.

What you'll do

• Lead procurement and vendor selection: RFPs, proposal evaluations, commercial/budget analysis, and Bid Defense Meetings, in partnership with Clinical QA
• Lead contract negotiation for assigned vendors: budgets, rates, MSAs, study-level agreements, POs, change orders, reconciliation, and closeout
• Manage vendor relationships and performance, overseeing IRT, eCOA, and Central Lab vendors independently.
• Lead vendor governance and business reviews, proactively managing performance concerns and escalating operational or financial risks
• Negotiate investigator grant budgets, run financial transparency reporting, and manage program- and portfolio-level contracts and budgets

What we're looking for

• Master's degree in life sciences, clinical research, or a related field
• Minimum 5 years' experience in clinical research/outsourcing within pharma or biotech
• Direct, hands‑on experience in vendor procurement, selection, and end‑to‑end contract negotiation
• Strong vendor management skills, including relationship, performance, and governance meeting leadership
• Solid financial acumen — vendor pricing, unit costs, costing structures — and strong knowledge of ICH/GCP and industry guidelines