Director, Site Activation

Director, Site Activation - India, Bangalore and Chennai - Office with Flex: Experience in Clinical Systems, Project Management and scaling centralized operations to support global delivery required

ICON plc is a world-leading healthcare intelligence and clinical research organization. We’re proud to foster an inclusive environment driving innovation and excellence, and we welcome you to join us on our mission to shape the future of clinical development.

We are currently seeking a Director, FSA (Feasibility, Study Start-up, and Activation) to join our global leadership team. This position will be based in India and will play a pivotal role in driving automation-led transformation across Clinical Operations. The Director will be responsible for embedding technology, automation, and digital solutions into FSA and adjacent operational workflows to enhance efficiency, scalability, and delivery excellence across global programs.

This is a high-impact leadership opportunity for a senior professional from a CRO or pharmaceutical environment who has successfully led automation initiatives within clinical operations and delivered measurable operational outcomes through process innovation.

What You Will Be Doing:

• Lead the strategy, design, and execution of automation and technology initiatives across FSA and broader Clinical Operations to drive efficiency, quality, and scalability.
• Own and embed digital transformation across feasibility, study start-up, and activation processes, including system integration, workflow automation, and data-driven decision enablement.
• Build, scale, and manage high-performing operational teams, ensuring alignment with automation-enabled operating models.
• Act as a senior business partner to IT, product, and digital teams to define requirements, prioritize automation roadmaps, and oversee delivery using structured governance and agile methodologies.
• Drive enterprise-wide process improvement and change management initiatives, ensuring adoption of new technologies and ways of working.
• Lead global stakeholder engagement to ensure predictable outcomes, effective risk management, and consistent operational performance.
• Identify opportunities to leverage automation, AI, RPA, reporting platforms, and workflow tools to reduce manual effort, improve compliance, and accelerate timelines.
• Represent the function as a senior leader in transformation initiatives, promoting innovation, operational excellence, and best practices.

Your Profile:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Life Sciences, Business, or a related discipline.
• Extensive experience in a senior leadership role within a CRO or pharmaceutical organization, with strong exposure to Clinical Operations, Study Start-up, or Feasibility.
• Proven expertise in leading automation, digital transformation, or technology enablement initiatives within clinical operations environments.
• Demonstrated success in designing and implementing automation solutions, such as system integrations, workflow automation, RPA, AI-enabled processes, dashboards, or analytics platforms, delivering measurable efficiency and productivity gains.
• Strong background in building and scaling centralized operations with an automation-first mindset.
• Experience partnering with IT, product, and digital teams, including requirements definition, solution design, UAT leadership, and delivery governance.
• Established track record in change management, process re-engineering, and large-scale operational transformation.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence senior leaders across global, matrixed organizations.
• Strategic, data-driven, and solutions-oriented leader with strong execution capability.

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What ICON can offer you:
Our success depends on the quality of our people. That’s why we’ve made it a priority to build a diverse culture that rewards high performance and nurtures talent.

In addition to your competitive salary, ICON offers a range of additional benefits. Our benefits are designed to be competitive within each country and are focused on well-being and work life balance opportunities for you and your family.

Our benefits examples include:

• Various annual leave entitlements
• A range of health insurance offerings to suit you and your family’s needs.
• Competitive retirement planning offerings to maximize savings and plan with confidence for the years ahead.
• Global Employee Assistance Programme, LifeWorks, offering 24-hour access to a global network of over 80,000 independent specialized professionals who are there to support you and your family’s well-being.
• Life assurance
• Flexible country-specific optional benefits, including childcare vouchers, bike purchase schemes, discounted gym memberships, subsidized travel passes, health assessments, among others.

Visit our careers site to read more about the benefits ICON offers.

At ICON, inclusion & belonging are fundamental to our culture and values. We’re dedicated to providing an inclusive and accessible environment for all candidates. ICON is committed to providing a workplace free of discrimination and harassment. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.

If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, or in order to perform the essential functions of a position, please let us know or submit a request here

Interested in the role, but unsure if you meet all of the requirements? We would encourage you to apply regardless – there’s every chance you’re exactly what we’re looking for here at ICON whether it is for this or other roles.

Are you a current ICON Employee? Please click here to apply