Executive Director, Payment Services

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, which manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for an Executive Director, Payment Services based in the United States.

As Executive Director, Payment Services, you will lead the strategy, operations, and growth of payment solutions supporting clinical trial sponsors, contract research organizations (CROs), and research sites. You will oversee the reliable delivery of investigator payments, site payments, and patient reimbursements in a regulated life sciences environment. As a senior leader, you will build trusted executive relationships with key clients, manage complex escalations, and strengthen service quality and client retention. You will partner with Product and Engineering to translate operational challenges and client needs into scalable platform capabilities. You will also recruit, develop, and lead teams across payment operations and client services while establishing consistent processes and performance standards. This is an opportunity to shape a growing service offering, drive operational excellence, and make clinical research payments more accurate, efficient, and dependable.

• Lead the Payment Services function: Take overall responsibility for payment operations, client delivery, service quality, and the continued development of the payments offering for clinical trial sponsors, CROs, and research sites.

• Manage strategic client relationships: Serve as the executive point of contact for major sponsor, CRO, and site-network clients. Build trusted partnerships, manage escalations, support renewals, and ensure service delivery aligns with client expectations.

• Standardize and optimize payment services: Design, refine, and implement consistent processes for investigator payments, research site payments, and patient reimbursements, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and operational reliability.

• Drive operational performance: Establish and monitor key performance indicators, including payment cycle times, transaction accuracy, client satisfaction, service quality, and delivered-service margins. Use performance insights to identify improvement opportunities and address operational risks.

• Partner on product strategy and development: Collaborate with Product and Engineering teams to translate client feedback, operational requirements, and business priorities into platform enhancements and roadmap initiatives.

• Build and lead high-performing teams: Oversee hiring, team development, performance management, and organizational growth across payment operations and client services. Establish clear responsibilities, effective workflows, and a culture of accountability.

• Scale service delivery: Develop operating models, processes, and capabilities that support increasing client demand while maintaining quality, efficiency, and a strong customer experience.

• Align services with life sciences requirements: Ensure payment processes reflect the needs of sponsors, CROs, investigators, research sites, and patients within the regulated clinical research environment.

• Support business growth and profitability: Balance client satisfaction, operational efficiency, service quality, and margins while helping shape the long-term direction and scalability of the payments business.

• Navigate a developing organization: Establish processes and operating structures where needed, make pragmatic decisions in an evolving environment, and guide the function through periods of growth and change.

Requirements

• Industry experience: At least 15 years of professional experience in life sciences services, clinical research, pharmaceuticals, or related industries. Relevant backgrounds may include CROs, clinical site networks, clinical technology providers, payments vendors, consultancies, or comparable organizations.

• Executive leadership: Demonstrated experience leading a business function with broad responsibility for operations, service delivery, team performance, and business outcomes. Executive-level capability is essential, regardless of current job title.

• Life sciences services expertise: Experience working for an organization that serves life sciences clients, with a strong understanding of how pharmaceutical sponsors and CROs evaluate service providers, manage vendor relationships, and handle escalations.

• Operational leadership: Proven ability to manage complex service operations, establish performance standards, improve processes, and maintain consistent service quality across multiple stakeholders.

• Client relationship management: Strong executive presence and experience managing strategic client relationships, resolving sensitive issues, supporting renewals, and building long-term partnerships.

• Team building and development: Experience recruiting, mentoring, and developing teams, establishing accountability, and creating effective operating structures that support business growth.

• Experience in smaller or evolving organizations: Previous experience at an organization with fewer than 500 employees, demonstrating the ability to lead in environments where processes may still be developing and teams are being built.

• Strategic and commercial judgment: Ability to balance client needs, operational efficiency, service quality, and profitability while making decisions that support sustainable growth.

• Cross-functional collaboration: Experience partnering with Product, Engineering, and other business teams to translate operational challenges and customer requirements into practical solutions.

• Preferred payment expertise: Direct experience managing investigator payments, clinical site payments, or patient reimbursement programs.

• Preferred scaling experience: A track record of expanding a services function during a period of significant client growth.

• Preferred operating-model experience: Familiarity with both sponsor-side and vendor-side operating models in the life sciences ecosystem.

• Leadership style: Adaptability, sound judgment, strong communication skills, and the ability to establish clarity, build trust, and deliver results in a dynamic environment.

Benefits

• Annual compensation: $220,000–$250,000, as listed for the position.

• Employment type: Part-time executive position.

• Leadership scope: Opportunity to lead payment operations, client delivery, and service growth within the clinical research ecosystem.

• Strategic influence: Direct involvement in service design, operational strategy, client relationships, and platform development.

• Growth opportunity: Opportunity to build teams, establish scalable processes, and shape a growing payments function.

• Collaborative environment: Work closely with senior client stakeholders and internal Product and Engineering teams.

• Additional benefits: Healthcare coverage, retirement benefits, paid time off, bonus eligibility, and other benefits are not specified in the available job description and should be confirmed with the hiring team.

We use an AI-powered matching process to ensure your application is reviewed quickly, objectively, and fairly against the role's core requirements. Our system identifies the top-fitting candidates, and this shortlist is then shared directly with the hiring company. The final decision and next steps (interviews, assessments) are managed by their internal team.

We appreciate your interest and wish you the best!

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