Job Description

The Site Contracts & Budget Manager provides operational leadership for site contracting and budget

negotiation activities across awarded clinical trials. The role is primarily accountable for contracting strategy,

Clinical Trial Agreement negotiation and execution, site budget negotiations, amendments, and resolution of

complex contractual and financial issues.

Working in close partnership with the Site Budget & Proposal Manager, the role translates proposal-stage

budget assumptions into effective study- and site-level contracting and negotiation strategies. Together, the

roles provide complementary leadership across the site budget and contracting lifecycle, with distinct primary

areas of accountability.

The Site Contracts & Budget Manager serves as a key contact and escalation point for sponsors, sites, and

internal stakeholders and provides functional guidance, training, and support to Site Budget & Contracting

personnel

Requirements

More specifically, the Site Contracts and Budget Manager must:

· Lead and manage Site Budget & Contracting staff, providing direction, coaching, development,

workload oversight, and support to ensure consistent quality and delivery across assigned studies.

· Oversee site contracting and budget negotiation activities across the portfolio, ensuring appropriate

resourcing, prioritization, quality, timelines, and escalation of risks or issues.

· Provide oversight of site contracting for awarded clinical trials, including Clinical Trial Agreements,

associated financial exhibits, amendments, negotiation parameters, and country-specific requirements.

· Establish and maintain contracting strategies, standards, and negotiation approaches that support

timely site activation while balancing sponsor requirements, organizational standards, site

expectations, and contractual risk.

· Serve as functional escalation point for complex or high-risk contract and budget negotiations,

providing guidance to team members and facilitating decisions with sponsors, sites, Legal Affairs, and

other stakeholders.

· Oversee the operational implementation of study-specific site budgets, including negotiation

parameters, approval pathways, exceptions, and escalation requirements.

· Translate proposal-stage budget assumptions into executable study- and site-level budget and contracting strategies.

· Collaborate with Legal Affairs, Project Management, Study Start-Up, Regulatory Affairs, Clinical Operations, Finance, and other stakeholders to ensure contracting and budget activities align with study requirements and operational plans.

• Provide site contracting expertise during proposal development, including input on country-specific contracting requirements, anticipated timelines, institutional considerations, negotiation trends, risks, and resource needs.
• Participate and/or support bid defence meetings, client presentations, and sponsor strategy discussions when site contracting, budget negotiation, timelines, or associated risks are relevant.
• Monitor portfolio-level contracting and budget performance, identifying emerging risks, delays, capacity constraints, quality concerns, and opportunities for improvement.
• Own and oversee the business assets supporting Site Budget & Contracting, including contract and budget templates, negotiation tools, country intelligence, guidance documents, trackers, reference materials, and other functional resources.
• Ensure business assets remain current, fit for purpose, consistently applied, appropriately governed, and aligned with evolving operational and business needs.
• Oversee the integrity, consistency, and usability of Site Budget & Contracting data across applicable tools, trackers, and systems.
• Use contracting and negotiation outcomes to strengthen institutional and country intelligence and, in partnership with the Site Budget & Proposal Manager, inform future budget assumptions and benchmarks.
• Lead functional process improvement initiatives to improve contracting and budget negotiation quality, efficiency, consistency, scalability, and stakeholder experience.
• Support digital transformation and automation opportunities that reduce manual activities, strengthen controls, and improve the availability and quality of contracting and budget data.
• Establish and monitor relevant performance indicators and use operational data to identify trends, bottlenecks, and opportunities for corrective action or continuous improvement.
• Ensure Site Budget & Contracting staff are appropriately trained and consistently apply relevant SOPs, processes, templates, tools, and quality standards.
• Partner with senior leadership on resource and capacity planning, functional priorities, process maturity, systems and tools, quality, and continuous improvement.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, proactive risk management, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement within the Site Budget & Contracting team.
• Employee may be assigned to other responsibilities that do not pertain to their former description, if they have the required experience, are qualified and/or have received adequate training.

Profile

• B.Sc. or in a relevant field of study.
• 5+ years of experience in clinical research, clinical trial budgeting, or related financial management roles within the pharmaceutical, biotech, or CRO industry.
• Strong negotiation and communication skills to engage with sponsors, external budget contacts, and internal stakeholders, serving as the escalation point to secure optimal study budgets.
• Experience creating and maintaining budget templates tailored to global regions and therapeutic areas, ensuring scalability and consistency.
• Collaborative mindset to partner with operational leads and ensure financial assumptions align with study design, operational strategies, and delivery plans.
• Experience representing the organization in bid defense meetings and client calls, with the confidence to explain budget rationale and defend assumptions.
• Technical proficiency to maintain pricing tools, cost databases, and budget models in collaboration with Finance and IT teams.
• Leadership abilities to train and mentor junior specialists, provide guidance, and ensure team adherence to best practices.
• Demonstrated success in partnering with senior team members to refine internal processes, drive efficiencies, and improve deliverables.
• Strategic thinking to engage with leadership on process improvement initiatives, offering insights and recommendations that enhance operational excellence.
• Good knowledge of good clinical practices, and applicable Health Canada and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations/guidelines.

Our company

The work environment

At Indero, you will work with brilliant and driven colleagues. Our values are collaboration, innovation, reliability, and responsiveness. We offer a stimulating work environment and attractive advancement opportunities.

In this position, you will be eligible for the following perks:

• Permanent full-time position
• Flexible schedule
• Vacation
• Home-based position
• Ongoing learning and development

About Indero

Formerly known as Innovaderm, Indero is a world-renowned expert and clinical research leader in dermatology. We have more than two decades of experience serving a broad range of indications, patient populations, administration routes, and drug classes, and a global footprint.

Indero is a dual-focus CRO for dermatology and rheumatology, with 25+ years’ experience in clinical research and trial delivery. Our full-service approach – which includes everything from protocol design and patient recruitment to trial monitoring and biometrics – provides biotech and pharmaceutical sponsors with the rigorous scientific foundation and tailored expertise their studies need to reach the finish line efficiently and effectively. With capabilities in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America; vast, continuously growing relationships with investigators and patients; and a dedicated research clinic through which we design and execute our own studies, Indero is the ideal CRO partner for clinical needs at global scale.

Indero is committed to providing equitable treatment and equal opportunity to all individuals. As such, Indero will provide accommodations throughout the recruitment and selection process to applicants with disabilities, upon request.