Senior Project Lead

We are partnering with an organisation within the clinical research and innovation sector, seeking an experienced Senior Project Lead to oversee the delivery of complex clinical research programmes, with a particular focus on rare diseases.

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced clinical project professional with a strong background in rare disease research and development, who can lead complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives from initial planning through to successful delivery.

The successful candidate will take ownership of project delivery, working closely with clinical teams, external partners and research collaborators to ensure programmes are delivered against agreed timelines, budgets and quality standards.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the end-to-end delivery of complex rare disease clinical research projects, from initial planning and set-up through execution and close-out.
• Manage project timelines, budgets, milestones, dependencies and delivery risks, ensuring projects remain aligned with agreed objectives.
• Coordinate multidisciplinary clinical teams and external partners, ensuring clear accountability and effective collaboration.
• Act as the primary point of contact for assigned projects, maintaining strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Lead complex or strategically important initiatives, coordinating multiple workstreams and ensuring alignment across programme activities.
• Identify and mitigate delivery risks, escalating issues appropriately and maintaining clear governance and reporting structures.
• Provide regular project updates, performance insights and recommendations to support effective decision-making.
• Work closely with clinical operations, quality assurance and portfolio colleagues to ensure consistent delivery standards.
• Contribute to continuous improvement of project management processes and delivery approaches.
• Significant experience leading complex clinical projects or programmes, with direct experience in rare disease clinical research or development essential.
• Proven experience managing end-to-end clinical project delivery, including planning, set-up, execution and close-out.
• Strong understanding of rare disease clinical development, research environments and associated operational challenges.
• Experience working with external partners, research collaborators and multidisciplinary stakeholders across clinical initiatives.
• Demonstrable experience leading matrixed teams and coordinating multiple workstreams and dependencies.
• Strong project management capabilities, including budget management, risk mitigation, governance and performance reporting.
• Experience working within collaborative or partnership-led clinical delivery models.
• Degree in Life Sciences or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Experience acting as Programme Lead across multiple projects or partners.
• Exposure to clinical project assessment, due diligence or portfolio review.
• Postgraduate qualification such as an MSc or PhD.

The Opportunity

This role offers the opportunity to contribute to impactful clinical research initiatives, supporting the advancement of treatments and research in rare diseases and areas of significant unmet medical need.

We are particularly interested in speaking with individuals who combine strong clinical project leadership capabilities with a genuine depth of experience in rare disease programmes.

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