Director, Central Lab Alliance Lead

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Are you an experienced central laboratory alliance leader, central lab operations expert or biosampling strategist who can combine forward-looking strategy with hands-on partnership governance? This individual-contributor role will provide strategic oversight for one of GSK’s established central laboratory partnerships, helping to shape the future direction of the relationship while ensuring strong day-to-day delivery. 

The role is approximately balanced between strategy and delivery. You will help embed a new operating model and ways of working, anticipate changing portfolio demands, identify opportunities for continuous improvement, and ensure that GSK and its central laboratory partner are positioned to respond effectively. Alongside this, you will manage governance forums, monitor partnership health and study delivery, and support the resolution of urgent operational challenges. 

For candidates seeking to be located at our Stevenage site, this role will temporarily be based at Stevenage. However, the Company plans to relocate its offices to Cambridge, UK. The location of this role will therefore subsequently change to Cambridge, UK in accordance with timelines to be set by the Company. The relocation is currently proposed to take effect by early 2029.

Key responsibilities

In this role you will

• Act as the alliance lead and primary relationship owner for an assigned, established central laboratory partner, building a trusted and collaborative partnership.
• Contribute to the strategic direction of the central laboratory relationship, monitoring future portfolio demand and translating it into practical partnership priorities.
• Play a central role in embedding a new operating model and new ways of working, while continuing to identify process improvements after implementation.
• Lead and coordinate governance meetings, preparing clear materials for senior leaders on partnership health, study delivery, risks and priorities.
• Monitor KPIs, identify trends and use data to provide insight into performance, , assay usage and kit usage.
• Maintain regular interaction with the central laboratory partner and communicate relevant developments, risks and issues across GSK operational stakeholders.
• Support the timely escalation and resolution of critical delivery, quality or operational challenges, working calmly and constructively with internal teams and outsourced partners.
• Help manage urgent situations before they become crises, recognising the potential impact of delivery challenges on patients and clinical studies.
• Use AI tools, such as Claude or equivalent AI agents, to help analyse large datasets and generate insights that support decisions and continuous improvement.
• Promote harmonised ways of working across central laboratory partnerships while recognising that each partner relationship may require a tailored approach.

• A healthy, trusted and transparent relationship with the assigned central laboratory partner. 
• Successful implementation and adoption of a new operating model and associated ways of working. 
• Effective governance, clear escalation routes and timely resolution of delivery issues. 
• Meaningful insight from partnership data and KPIs, enabling informed decisions and proactive improvement. 
• Readiness for changing portfolio demands, with the central laboratory partner aligned to future needs. 

Why you?

Basic Qualifications & Skills:

We are looking for professionals with these required skills to achieve our goals:

• Bachelor’s degree in a life science, medicine, pharmacy or a related discipline. 
• Experience working in clinical trials, with direct knowledge of central laboratory operations and how central laboratories support study delivery. 
• Demonstrated experience in an alliance lead, strategic partnership or comparable external partner-management role. 
• Strong stakeholder and relationship-management skills, with the ability to work across complex, cross-functional and multicultural environments. 
• Excellent communication skills, including confidence presenting to large audiences and the ability to communicate calmly and constructively during urgent or high-pressure situations. 
• Experience managing escalations, resolving complex delivery challenges and maintaining a level-headed approach where patient or study impact may be at risk. 
• Strong analytical capability, including experience using an AI agent such as Claude, or an equivalent tool, to help analyse large datasets and draw actionable insights. 
• Ability to interpret KPIs and trends and translate data into clear recommendations for operational teams and senior leaders. 
• Strong planning, prioritisation and organisational skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities and deadlines. 
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English. 
• Flexibility for occasional travel, mainly within the UK and Europe.

Preferred Qualifications & Skills:

Please note the following skills are not necessary, just preferred, if you do not have them, please still apply:

• Experience implementing a new operating model or embedding new ways of working across an external partnership. 
• Experience within a large pharmaceutical organisation and an understanding of pharmaceutical development operations.
• A strategic and forward-looking mindset, with the ability to anticipate changing demand and identify opportunities for continuous improvement. 
• High levels of professionalism, integrity and collaboration in a regulated environment. 

Closing Date for Applications – 22nd November 2026

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Please take a copy of the Job Description, as this will not be available post closure of the advert. 

GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. We aim to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade, as a successful, growing company where people can thrive.

We get ahead of disease by preventing and treating it with innovation in specialty medicines and vaccines. We focus on four therapeutic areas: respiratory, immunology and inflammation; oncology; HIV; and infectious diseases – to impact health at scale.

People and patients around the world count on the medicines and vaccines we make, so we’re committed to creating an environment where our people can thrive and focus on what matters most. Our culture of being ambitious for patients, accountable for impact and doing the right thing is the foundation for how, together, we deliver for patients, shareholders and our people.

GSK is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This ensures that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), military service or any basis prohibited under federal, state or local law.

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