Study Contract Manager

Study Contract Manager At AstraZeneca,we put patients first and strive to meet their unmet needs worldwide. Working here means being entrepreneurial, thinking big and working together to make the impossible a reality. If you are swift to action, confident to lead, willing to collaborate, and curious about what science can do, then you’re our kind of person. A position providing leadership during the clinical agreement and site level budget negotiation process to ensure ethical, fair and compliant practices are followed when developing, negotiating and executing clinical agreements and investigator budgets. This position necessitates providing leadership, direction, and guidance through process improvement, interactive communication and stakeholder management. This role requires a high level of interactive communication to set clear direction for the study teams and external Institutions. Major responsibilities • Develop and negotiate clinical site budgets based on Fair Market Value. Leverage historical data, negotiation techniques, and address SoC with sites to realize cost savings. • Negotiate agreement language with clinical study sites to reach a shared understanding of deliverables, a timely study start-up and financial obligations. • Be responsible for producing clinical site budget appropriate Payment Schedules based on the Protocol and AZ policy and guidelines to provide to Clinical Delivery Team. • Formulate and identify the proper agreement template to initiate negotiations. • Act as point of contact and interface with Legal if necessary to ensure integrity of contracts. • Drive site start-up time by striving to execute CSA within KPI. • For each agreement maintain the status of agreement, budgets, issues, and communications with both internal and external sources. • Attend and engage in scheduled project team meetings. • Ensure final contract documents are consistent with agreements reached at negotiations. • Ensure all agreements are completed or captured in contracting system system • Support internal and external audits and litigation activities. • Negotiate appropriate terms and conditions of Informed Consent Forms and other Clinical Agreements and associated documents. • Ability to process agreement requests and identify correct legal entity and template to be used. • Approve Clinical Study Agreements with final signature, according to Delegation of Authority. • Negotiate a variety of common contractual issues related to standard template agreements. • Process amendments to contracts, as necessary, and manage that modification. • Work with study teams to determine priorities for meeting timelines and SIV dates. • Serve as a liaison between the legal and clinical trial teams. • Negotiate master templates with preferred or notable Institutions. • As a subject matter expert, exhibits contract and negotiation expertise to achieve a balance between external business exposure and policies/regulations. • As a subject matter expert, demonstrates an understanding of how contractual terms add value to internal and external customers. • As a subject matter expert, possesses detailed and in-depth knowledge of contract precepts, the contracting process and budget development. • Communicate confidently and competently to liaise with others through excellent communication and negotiation skills. • Demonstrate a strong understanding of how the contracting and budget processes contribute to Project Management practices (schedule/cost forecasting and risk management). • Demonstrate accurate knowledge of regulations and policies in order to maintain and develop the effectiveness of the Clinical Study Agreement & Grant Management processes. • Demonstrate ability to follow and work within processes. • Ensure compliance with AstraZeneca’s Code of Conduct and company policies and procedures relating to people, finance, technology, security and SHE (Safety, Health and Environment). Additional Responsibilities May Include • Ensure timely customization and completion of the CSA for designated studies. • Participate in training and mentoring of new members of the local Study Delivery Team ensuring compliance with ICH/GCP and AZ Procedural documents. • Ensure that all study documents are ready for final archiving and sign-off completion of the local part of the Trial Master File. • Contribute to process improvements, knowledge transfer and best practice sharing. Minimum Requirements and Preferred Background • Bachelor’s degree in related discipline, preferably in life science, or equivalent qualification. • Post-graduate training in contracts administration or work experience as a paralegal in pharmaceutical or health care industry. • Strong interpersonal, negotiation, communication and time management skills. • Experienced user of FMV tool, specifically MEDIDATA Grant Manager tool. • Five years’ experience in pharmaceutical or health care industry, or seven to ten years of experience as a paralegal or contractor administrator in pharmaceutical industry. • Strong oral, written, and organizational skills. • Fluent knowledge of spoken and written English. • Knowledge of international guidelines ICH/GCP, basic knowledge of GMP/GDP. • Good knowledge of relevant local regulations. • Good medical knowledge in relevant AZ Therapeutic Areas. • Basic understanding of the drug development process. • Good understanding of Clinical Study Management including monitoring, study drug handling and data management. • Ability to adapt to change • Ability to travel nationally as required. Competencies and Skills • Maintain ability to deliver quality according to the requested standards. • Demonstrate ability to work in an environment of remote collaborators. • Manage change with a positive approach for self, team and the business. Sees change as an opportunity to improve performance and add value to the business. • Exhibit ability to look for and champion more efficient and effective methods/processes of delivering quality clinical trials with reduced budget and in less time. • Demonstrate excellent written and verbal communication skills, negotiation, collaboration and interpersonal skills. • Possess good analytical and problem solving skills. • Demonstrate ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks with conflicting deadlines. • Possess good cultural awareness. • Prove ability to understand the impact of technology on projects and to use and develop computer skills while making appropriate use of systems/software in an e-enabled environment. • Maintain team oriented and flexible approach; possess ability to respond quickly to shifting demands and opportunities. • Exhibit customer focus in collaboration with sites and external stakeholders. Date Posted 14-Sep-2023 Closing Date 23-Oct-2023 AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics. We comply with all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorisation and employment eligibility verification requirements. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. AstraZeneca requires all US employees to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 but will consider requests for reasonable accommodations as required by applicable law. AstraZeneca is an exciting global, innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company. We’re inspired by what science can do. Driven by the desire to meet unmet patient needs in our core therapeutic areas. Bold in our thinking. Proactive in pursuing discoveries beyond imagination. At sites across the world, we bring teams together in a spirit of collaboration to turn great ideas into life-changing medicines – strengthening our product portfolio and harnessing the potential of a pipeline across all stages of the drug development process. You’ll be part of a team that’s rolling back the frontiers of science to turn yesterday’s impossible into the normal of tomorrow. So, if you share our focus and passion, join us and make a difference to patients – and in return, we’ll help you develop way beyond what you thought possible.