AbbVie Posted November 9, 2026

Country Study Start Up Specialist

Sydney, NSW Full-time
Notify me about similar jobs

AbbVie 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

Company Description

About AbbVie

AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas including immunology, oncology and neuroscience - and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. For more information about AbbVie, please visit us at  www.abbvie.com . Follow @abbvie on  LinkedIn,   Facebook ,  Instagram ,  X  and  YouTube.

Job Description

Turn study plans into active clinical trial sites, and help bring new medicines closer to patients.

We’re looking for a proactive Country Study Start Up Specialist to take ownership of the critical activities that move clinical studies from planning through to site activation in Australia.

Working across studies and sites, you’ll be at the centre of the start-up process, coordinating ethics submissions, essential documentation, informed consent materials and site activation requirements while partnering with Clinical Operations, Regulatory Affairs, Contracts, CRAs and regional and global Study Start Up teams. You’ll anticipate roadblocks, bring the right people together and help keep studies progressing on time and to a high standard.

This is an opportunity for someone with clinical research, study start-up, site activation or regulatory submissions experience who enjoys solving problems, managing competing priorities and seeing their work translate into sites becoming ready to enrol patients.

KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Ensure successful and on time and quality execution of start-up and maintenance activities for assigned sites and studies; site assignment scope primarily central IRB/EC sites. Establish the

country/site activation plans and priorities including risk assessment and mitigation plans with CCOM/COM, Area SSU and CSM Lead, Contract Manager, CTS/Regulatory Affairs.

Proactively identify and communicate issues impacting delivery and providing proposed solutions

Attend regional/area start up calls and providing input for assigned sites/studies. Collection of essential documents from sites and completing quality check (ALCOA).

Compile and submit ethics and other required local submissions including customization of ICFs, patient facing materials and safety reporting. Coordinate with Regulatory and CTS on CA submission and approval status to assure alignment with other site activation requirements.

Collaborate with contract manager, CRA, Area CSM Lead as required to assure timely site activation.

Reviewing site and/or IRB/EC comments on ICFs and routing for approval by required functional areas. Trigger clinical supply shipments.

Complete IP release activities and triggering IP shipment.

Issue site green light letter and activating sites in IXRS. Track all start up and maintenance related activities in Vault SSU as appropriate. Maintain local country and site intelligence database and EDLs in Vault.

Maintain SSU performance metrics and KPIs for assigned sites/studies. Provide start up updates and metrics to CCOM/COM and Area SSU and CSM Leads. Ensure audit/inspection readiness.

Ensure compliance with corporate and divisional policies and procedures in alignment with worldwide regulations and guidelines.

Participate in process improvement initiatives as required.

Report any adverse event within 24 hours as per AbbVie’s policies and procedures.

Proactively participate in AbbVie’s WHS programs, adhere to policies and promote a safe work environment at all times.

Adhere to AbbVie’s codes of conduct and compliance processes, including timely training and maintaining ethics and integrity.

Other ad hoc duties such as administrative duties, as requested.

Qualifications

Bachelor's Degree (degree in health care or scientific field) highly preferred or equivalent years of experience required

A minimum of 1-2 years of clinical research experience and preferably 1+ years of study start up management experience for the designated region.

Experience working with remote/virtual teams

Strong analytical and critical thinking skills and the ability to evaluate complex issues from multiple perspectives.

Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build trust and communicate with clarity, flexibility and adaptability to changing requirements.

Demonstration of successful execution, preferably in start up, and aptitude for managing multiple priorities in a fast‐paced environment.

Working knowledge of ICH and GCP guidelines and operational understanding of the country's regulatory environment

Flexibility and Availability: In line with Australia’s 'Right to Disconnect' legislation, we recognise and respect employees' right to refuse contact outside of their working hours, unless such refusal is deemed unreasonable. As we operate in an international, matrixed environment, there may be occasions where your role requires participation in business meetings outside of standard hours. We value and support flexibility and appreciate your willingness to occasionally accommodate these requests to ensure effective collaboration and communication within our global team.

Additional Information

AbbVie is an equal opportunity employer, and dedicated to fostering an inclusive, flexible, and supportive workplace that values and respects every individual. We are committed to operating with integrity, driving innovation, transforming lives, and embracing diversity and inclusion. It is AbbVie’s policy to employ qualified persons of the greatest ability. We ensure a fair and inclusive recruitment process without discrimination against any employee or applicant because of, and not limited to, race, religion, age, physical or mental disability, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, or marital status. Our hiring process is flexible and accessible, so if you have any specific requests or accessibility requirement, please feel comfortable to let our team know by emailing  CareersANZ@abbvie.com  or speaking with your Recruiter and we'll make any necessary adjustments to accommodate your needs.

WAYS WE WORK

All For One Abbvie; We weigh all decisions against the common good. We inspire, share and create as a team. We solve problems for all rather than serving our immediate team.

Decide Smart & Sure; We make intelligent decisions to create the best outcomes. We act quickly, embrace experimentation, and learn what doesn’t work and get on to what does.

Agile & Accountable; We streamline and eliminate unnecessary obstacles. We plan but adapt as we go. We delegate and make tough decisions to ensure focus on results, staying keenly aware of the urgency in all we do.

Clear & Courageous; Open, honest, candid dialogue is core to our work and how we act with each other. We share information freely and continuously to find solutions. We admit mistakes. We grow stronger by putting the courage of our conviction to the test.

Make Possibilities Real; We question with endless curiosity. We’re never satisfied with good enough, patients depend on us to deliver more. We challenge ourselves to find creative, constructive solutions to turn possibilities into reality.

CODE OF CONDUCT & BUSINESS INTEGRITY STATEMENT

AbbVie is committed to observing high integrity and ethical standards in all its business dealings with our customers, with each other, business partners and suppliers.

AbbVie as a responsible corporate citizen will adhere to these standards, as well as to local, national and international laws.

All AbbVie employees are responsible for maintaining the Company’s reputation for conduct in accordance with the highest level of business integrity, ethics and compliance with the law.

Soliciting and/or accepting/attempting/offering bribes or any illegal gratification is therefore cause for immediate dismissal.

AbbVie is committed to operating with integrity, driving innovation, transforming lives, serving our community, and embracing diversity and inclusion.

AbbVie is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to operating with integrity, driving innovation, transforming lives and serving our community.  Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled.

US & Puerto Rico only - to learn more, visit  https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/equal-employment-opportunity-employer.html

US & Puerto Rico applicants seeking a reasonable accommodation, click here to learn more:

https://www.abbvie.com/join-us/reasonable-accommodations.html

Job details

Seniority
Not listed
Function
Clinical Research
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Sydney, NSW
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 322 comparable Clinical Research roles across 26 biopharma companies.

322Comparable roles tracked
306Currently active
26Companies hiring similar roles
44Countries represented

Salary context

71 of 322 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function. This posting doesn't list a seniority level, so peers aren't narrowed by seniority either -- the range below may span more levels than usual.

This roleSubject Not listed on this posting
Lowest disclosed · Lab Assistant · IQVIA $25,300/yr – $52,700/yr
Highest disclosed · Senior Director, Head of Study Start Up · Merck KGaA $298,700/yr – $465,900/yr
Peer group range $39,000 – $382,300 (median $133,750)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 322 comparable roles

United States88
China40
United Kingdom30
Canada17
Italy10
Brazil10

+ 38 more countries

Seniority mix

218 of 322 peers have a known seniority level

Associate89
Senior62
Manager41
Senior Director8
Principal7
Associate Director7
Intern/Fellow/Postdoc2
Executive/VP1
Director1

Therapeutic area mix

19 of 322 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology14
Immunology2
Neuroscience2
Cardiovascular / CVRM1

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.

40%similar
IQVIA Sydney North, Australia Senior
Same function Same country
40%similar
IQVIA Melbourne, Australia Associate
Same function Same country
40%similar
AbbVie Sydney, NSW Senior
Same function Same country
25%similar
Roche Beijing, Beijing, China's Mainland Senior
Same function

Matched on job function only -- seniority, specialty, and location weren't confirmed as aligned.

25%similar
Roche Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine
Same function

Matched on job function only -- seniority, specialty, and location weren't confirmed as aligned.

25%similar
AbbVie Seoul, Seoul Senior
Same function

Matched on job function only -- seniority, specialty, and location weren't confirmed as aligned.

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 Australia, 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.

40%
Senior / Clinical Research Associate
IQVIA · Sydney North, Australia · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
25%
Sr. Clinical Research Lead
Roche · Beijing, Beijing, China's Mainland · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
25%
Clinical Research Associate (Multiple Roles)
Novartis · Field Force (England / Wales), United Kingdom · Associate
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
25%
Regional Study Start-Up Lead
Biogen · Baar, Switzerland · Seniority not listed
Function Therapeutic area 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.