25 Years in Clinical Operations at ICON: Ricardo Cortizo Justo Q&A

April 2nd 2026 marked a significant milestone for me as I celebrated my 25th year with ICON. I still remember my wife pointing out an advertising on a journal and saying "this could be interesting for you". Clearly, she was right. I joined ICON with the goal of building a strong foundation in clinical research within an organization with high potential and recognized for its quality, and integrity. ICON France was composed of a large multicultural group of CRAs. We were only 16 or 17 employees in France at the time, today we are 1200. From France we were covering other EMEA countries Spain, Italy, Portugal, Belgium, UK, etc. The camaraderie, mutual support and team spirit contributed to developing ownership and a feeling of belonging to the company.

What has kept me here is ICON’s ability to continuously evolve - both as a business and as a place to build a long term career. Throughout my time at ICON, I have been given opportunities to grow, to take on new challenges, and to contribute meaningfully to how we deliver for our customers and, above all for patients. The people I have worked with and continue to work with have been a constant source of motivation.

My progression reflects a combination of hands on experience, continuous learning, flexibility, willingness to grow and leadership support. Starting as a CRA allowed me to understand the realities of study delivery, site relationships, and quality which should remain one of ICON’s foundations. 

As I moved into leadership roles, my focus expanded from individual contribution to building capable teams, improving processes, and driving consistent, high quality delivery. For the past six years, as Director of Clinical Operations my role has been about aligning local execution with ICON’s global strategy, while ensuring our teams are supported, engaged, and positioned for long term success.

As my experience grew, I became increasingly interested in contributing to a larger scale, to develop stronger and better adapted processes, and lead behaviors in line with ICON’s values. Moving into project and process focused roles allowed me to influence how work is structured, how teams collaborate, and how we continuously improve delivery of our projects.

Core skills such as clear communication, flexibility, sound judgment, and stakeholder partnership have been essential throughout my career. Today, these need to be complemented by strong change leadership, data driven decision making, and a focus on talent development. After 25 years, I believe one of the most important leadership capabilities is the willingness to keep learning and adapting in a rapidly evolving environment.

ICON France can be defined by professionalism, collaboration, and a strong sense of accountability. Everyone shows up to work every day to do their best. We set high standards and challenge ourselves to continuously improve, which drives both quality and consistency in delivery. What makes the team distinctive is the way we combine this focus on excellence with a supportive, collaborative environment where people help each other succeed.

My days are shaped by a balance of operational decision making, strategic leadership and people development. This includes close collaboration with global and regional partners, supporting my team in navigating operational challenges, and ensuring alignment between business priorities and team wellbeing. As Site Head, I also place strong emphasis on engagement, communication, and fostering a culture where people can feel supported, engaged and develop a sense of belonging.

Over my years in ICON I have had the opportunity to participate in multiple initiatives both on process and system development and improvement. When one of these initiatives helps our teams to be more efficient, to improve quality and to strengthen delivery to our customers you feel that your time was well spent. However, I am particularly proud when I see the members of my team grow and develop. ICON offers multiple opportunities for career growth and to see the CSAs become CRAs, the CRAs become CTMs or MCOs, and the MCOs reach Director roles or above is very satisfying.

The increasing complexity of clinical trials has been a challenge; however, it has also reinforced the importance of agility, innovation, and strong leadership. Advances in technology, sponsors’ changing expectations, market challenges have modified how we plan and deliver studies. As a leader, this requires balancing between rigor and support to ensure teams are equipped to adapt while maintaining ICON’s high standards.

Focus on building a strong foundation, take ownership of your work, and seek opportunities to learn beyond your immediate role. Leadership develops over time through experience, feedback, and consistency. After 25 years at ICON, I can say that integrity, reliability, and commitment to developing self and developing others are essential for long term success

ICON offers a dynamic environment where individuals can build meaningful, long term careers. With access to global projects, complex studies, a large pallet of ICON departments being represented here and strong development pathways, there are significant opportunities to grow both technically and as leaders. For those who are engaged, curious, and committed to quality, ICON provides the platform to make a real impact on clinical research and patient outcomes.

View our current Clinical Operations job openings at ICON today.