Negotiation Governance Lead, Site Contracting

• Lead the execution of BMS Sponsored Research Agreements with investigators and institutions, focusing on escalated negotiations.
• Develop, negotiate, and oversee site-level and country-level budgets, ensuring alignment with global standards and strategic objectives.
• Develop and execute the global strategy to drive efficiencies and accelerate contract negotiations with clinical research sites - developing master agreements, rate cards, therapeutic area agreements and frameworks.
• Manage the study level contracting strategy to enable faster site activation and enrolment across regions.
• Serve as the final escalation point for legal and budget queries from site contracting operations, providing direct negotiation support in local languages where required.
• Collaborate with global colleagues and external partners to execute site budgets and contracts, ensuring consistency and compliance.
• Monitor budgets and contract status at the study and portfolio level, providing updates and strategic insights to project teams and leadership.
• Develop and maintain negotiation templates, decision histories, and fallback language libraries in partnership with legal department.
• Assure that all contractual terms and provisions comply with corporate processes, guidelines, and policies.
• Identify, drive, and implement process improvements, including automation, template standardization, and governance enhancements.
• Escalate significant legal or financial risks to appropriate BMS colleagues and ensure timely resolution.
• Ensure proper filing, documentation, and status reporting of all agreements within approved company systems.
• Provide training, mentorship, and quality oversight to team members, fostering continuous improvement and knowledge sharing.
• Lead initiatives and manage projects aimed at enhancing governance, compliance, and operational excellence.

• Deep expertise in site contract and budget negotiation for clinical trials
• Advanced understanding of global contracting standards, governance frameworks, and fallback language libraries.
• Strong knowledge of legal, financial, and compliance requirements in clinical research agreements.
• Excellent stakeholder management and conflict resolution skills.
• Ability to lead, mentor, and train team members in negotiation and governance best practices.
• Strategic thinking and process improvement orientation.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, including multilingual capabilities.
• Proficiency in contract management systems and Microsoft Office Suite.

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Law, Business Administration, Life Sciences, or related field.
• Minimum 7 years of direct clinical contract negotiation experience, preferably in the pharmaceutical industry.
• Experience in leading teams and managing complex projects.
• Certifications in contract management or legal compliance (preferred).

• Up to 20% travel may be required for stakeholder meetings, training, and global alignment.

We hire for skills and capabilities, not just credentials - if this role excites you, but doesn't perfectly match your resume, we encourage you to apply anyway.

How We Work

Where you work matters - because collaboration, innovation and patient impact happen in many settings. Our roles are structured across four work models: site-essential, site-by-design, field-based and remote-by-design. The model assigned to this role is based on its core responsibilities. Learn more at https://careers.bms.com/ways-of-working.