IQVIA Posted October 22, 2026

Associate Director - Lab Operations

Valencia, United States Full time
Clinical Research Associate Director
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IQVIA is the source of truth for this posting and owns the application process. We surface normalized context and market comparison you won't find on the original listing.

About this opportunity

We are seeking an Associate Director, Lab Operations to join IQVIA Laboratories at Valencia, CA.

We hire passionate innovators who drive healthcare forward through thoughtful and inclusive collaboration. If you want to discover a career with greater purpose, join us as we transform and accelerate research and development.

Job Summary:

Lead laboratory teams in a regulated clinical testing environment, ensuring safe, compliant, high-quality, and efficient operations. Shape departmental strategy, develop staff, manage operational performance, and drive continuous improvement across laboratory functions.

What You'll Be Doing:

Direct the daily activities of laboratory work groups through effective delegation, technical training, coaching, and supervision

Plan, prioritize, and assign workloads, projects, and operational resources

Recruit, train, develop, and manage the performance of laboratory staff

Establish team objectives and performance metrics aligned with departmental strategy and operational goals

Identify cost-saving and revenue opportunities while supporting budget planning for consumables, instrumentation, and staffing

Resolve operational, quality, safety, and supply-chain challenges across multiple departments

Ensure regulatory and safety compliance in collaboration with Quality Assurance and Environmental, Health and Safety teams

Drive CAPA closure, quality incident resolution, root cause analysis, business continuity, and continuous improvement initiatives

What We Are Looking For:

A bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience is required; some CAP/CLIA laboratory locations may require a Bachelor of Science in a chemical, physical, biological, or clinical laboratory science, medical laboratory technology, or cytotechnology

Typically requires >8 years experience in regulated environment

5 years line management experience is required

In-depth knowledge of clinical testing procedures and applicable laboratory testing regulations

Strong technical understanding of laboratory operations, testing methods, study setup, and cross-functional or system dependencies

Working knowledge of quality assurance, quality control, CAPA, root cause analysis, and occupational safety and health regulations

Applicable certifications and licenses are required where specified by local regulations

Other equivalent combination of education, training, and experience may be accepted in lieu of degree

The Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Needed for This Role:

Ability to lead and manage processes, projects, and operational tactics across one department or multiple related departments

Effective people leadership, supervision, performance management, and coaching skills

Strong written, verbal, and presentation skills, with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels, including senior leadership

Ability to assess and prioritize multiple tasks, projects, operational risks, and competing demands

Ability to establish effective working relationships and foster collaboration with employees, managers, clients, Quality Assurance, and Environmental, Health and Safety partners

Commitment to building a unified, quality-oriented culture that supports employee engagement, customer satisfaction, operational performance, and retention

What We Offer You:

We put our employees at the center of everything we do and are committed to providing them, and their families, with benefits that meet their diverse and changing needs. We invest in integrated benefits programs and resources to take care of our employees' physical, mental and emotional, financial and social well-being so they can thrive at home and at work, at any stage of their well-being journey.

To learn more about our benefits, visit https://jobs.iqvia.com/benefits.

If you're looking to unleash your potential, join IQVIA Laboratories to help make the extraordinary possible!

IQVIA is a leading global provider of clinical research services, commercial insights and healthcare intelligence to the life sciences and healthcare industries. We create intelligent connections to accelerate the development and commercialization of innovative medical treatments to help improve patient outcomes and population health worldwide. Learn more at  https://jobs.iqvia.com

IQVIA is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other status protected by applicable law. https://jobs.iqvia.com/eoe

IQVIA is committed to integrity in our hiring process and maintains a zero tolerance policy for candidate fraud. All information and credentials submitted in your application must be truthful and complete. Any false statements, misrepresentations, or material omissions during the recruitment process will result in immediate disqualification of your application, or termination of employment if discovered later, in accordance with applicable law. We appreciate your honesty and professionalism.

The potential base pay range for this role, when annualized, is $92,200.00 - $213,900.00. The actual base pay offered may vary based on a number of factors including job-related qualifications such as knowledge, skills, education, and experience; location; and/or schedule (full or part-time). Dependent on the position offered, incentive plans, bonuses, and/or other forms of compensation may be offered, in addition to a range of health and welfare and/or other benefits.

Job details

Seniority
Associate Director
Function
Clinical Research
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Valencia, United States
Employment type
Full time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Clinical Research role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 115 comparable Associate Director Clinical Research roles across 21 biopharma companies.

115Comparable roles tracked
107Currently active
21Companies hiring similar roles
31Countries represented

Salary context

22 of 115 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.

This roleSubject $92,200/yr – $213,900/yr
Lowest disclosed · Site Contract Manager · Johnson & Johnson $76,000/yr – $121,900/yr
Peer group range $98,950 – $203,000 (median $143,300)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 115 comparable roles

United States30
China20
United Kingdom9
Brazil8
Argentina3
Taiwan3

+ 25 more countries

Seniority mix

115 of 115 peers have a known seniority level

Senior60
Manager51
Associate Director4

Therapeutic area mix

7 of 115 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology6
Rare Disease1

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.

60%similar
Merck KGaA Billerica, Massachusetts, United States Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
CSL Behring L.L.C. King of Prussia, United States Associate Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
50%similar
AbbVie Madrid, MD Manager
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country
50%similar
Biogen Remote, United States Manager
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country
50%similar
Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. US CA San Diego, United States Manager
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country
50%similar
Chimerix, Inc. Philadelphia, United States Manager
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country

Notify me about similar jobs

Get an email when we spot other openings like this one – same job function, comparable seniority, roles you'd actually want to see.

Or follow a whole field: get every new Clinical Research job in the United States, and choose locations and companies.

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.

60%
Associate Director, Start-up Lead, SiteID & Activation
Merck KGaA · Billerica, Massachusetts, United States · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
50%
Clinical Trial Manager, Class III Medical Devices
Biogen · Remote, United States · Manager
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
50%
Senior Clinical Trial Manager
Incyte · United States · Manager
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
50%
Senior Clinical Research Scientist
Abbott · Alameda, California, United States · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 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.