Clinical Operations Manager (South East) (London, London, GB)
About this opportunity
Shape the future of clinical research in the UK, and lead a team that brings life-changing treatments to patients across multiple therapy areas.
Your new role
As Clinical Operations Manager (South East) within our Clinical Development Centre (CDC) UK, you'll lead a regional team of Clinical Research Associates covering London and the South East. This role puts you at the intersection of strategic leadership and operational excellence, balancing trial delivery with relationship building, compliance with innovation, and team development with stakeholder collaboration across a vibrant network of south eastern research sites. Your responsibilities will include:
Providing strategic leadership to the Regional CRA Team, aligning with CDC objectives, driving operational excellence across multiple therapy areas and driving a risk-based quality management mindset
Overseeing the development, implementation and delivery of clinical trials at sites across the UK, ensuring full compliance with ICH GCP, regulatory requirements and ABPI Code of Practice
Acting as the key relationship owner for long-term partnerships with investigators, site governance teams, NIHR and other clinical research networks
Leading data-driven resource planning across the CRA team, balancing efficiency with quality while considering therapy area knowledge and site relationships
Supporting your team to develop site tactical plans and monitoring strategies, using accompanied site visits and available data reporting tools to ensure trial delivery meets all milestones
Conducting research pipeline and planning visits to existing and potential sites, collaborating with start-up, therapy area and clinical medical teams to expand our research network
Contributing to CDC UK strategy as part of the extended Leadership Team, creating realistic goals and inspiring your team to reach their full potential
Your new department
The Clinical Development Centre UK is at the forefront of bringing innovative treatments to patients. Our team works across multiple therapy areas, partnering with leading research sites and investigators throughout the UK. We foster a culture of risk-based quality management and continuous improvement, ensuring that every trial we deliver meets the highest standards while advancing medical science.
Your skills & qualifications
We're looking for an experienced clinical research leader who thrives in complex, matrix environments and can inspire teams to achieve excellence. You'll bring with you:
A life science degree or equivalent, with a post-graduate qualification in research being desirable
Extensive experience in clinical research management, with a proven track record of leading successful clinical trials and CRA teams
Strong leadership competencies including the ability to coach, motivate and develop talent while conducting regular talent discussions and executing robust succession plans
Excellent knowledge of UK and European clinical trial regulations, ICH-GCP requirements, clinical trial methodology and drug development processes
Outstanding stakeholder engagement skills, with experience building and maintaining networks of clinical research sites, investigators and NHS research governance teams
The ability to work effectively in an international matrix organisation, balancing multiple priorities and adapting quickly to new situations in a continuously developing environment
Strong analytical capabilities with attention to detail, including experience using data reporting tools and managing complex organisational tasks
Fluency in written and spoken English, with excellent presentation and facilitation skills
Working at Novo Nordisk
Every day we seek the solutions that defeat serious chronic diseases. To do this, we approach our work with determination, constant curiosity and a commitment to finding better ways forward. For over 100 years, this dedication has driven us to build a company focused on lasting change for long-term health. One where diverse thinking, shared purpose and mutual respect come together to create extraordinary results. When you join us, you're not just starting a job – you're becoming part of a story that spans generations.
Deadline
18 August 2026 . Applications are reviewed on an ongoing basis.
We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.
At Novo Nordisk, we're not chasing quick fixes – we're creating lasting change for long-term health. For over 100 years, we've been driven by a single purpose: to defeat serious chronic diseases and help millions of people live healthier lives. This dedication fuels our constant curiosity and inspires us to push the boundaries of what's possible in healthcare. We embrace diverse perspectives, seek out bold ideas, and build partnerships rooted in shared purpose. Together, we're making healthcare more accessible, treating and preventing diseases, and pioneering solutions that create change spanning generations. When you join us, you become part of something bigger – a legacy of impact that reaches far beyond today.
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Job details
How this role compares
Computed from every other active Clinical Development role in our database, not just this employer's listings.
We currently track 266 comparable Manager Clinical Development roles across 45 biopharma companies.
Salary context
64 of 266 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)
Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.
Where these roles are based
Top locations among the 266 comparable roles
+ 23 more countries
Seniority mix
266 of 266 peers have a known seniority level
Therapeutic area mix
26 of 266 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden
Similar opportunities
The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.
How we calculate "similar"
No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.
Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.
0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.