IQVIA Posted October 14, 2026

Senior Director, Pharmacokinetics

Durham, United States Full time
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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

Job Overview

The Senior Director, Pharmacokinetics provides strategic, scientific, and operational leadership across Clinical Pharmacology PK/PD, Early Clinical Development Biostatistics, and Statistical Programming functions. This role is responsible for ensuring teams are appropriately resourced, equipped with the capabilities needed to meet client and project demands, and positioned to deliver high-quality outcomes across studies and development programs.

The position oversees the design and execution of early clinical development statistical strategies, including study design, analysis planning, reporting, programming delivery, standards implementation, and cross-functional collaboration. The Senior Director will establish and execute strategic objectives, drive operational excellence, and lead initiatives that enhance functional performance, innovation, and organizational effectiveness.

Key responsibilities include accountability for the planning, budgeting, and delivery of PK/PD, biostatistics, and statistical programming activities across assigned projects and portfolios, ensuring alignment with scope, quality expectations, and timelines. The role also serves as a senior scientific and operational consultant for highly complex client engagements and development programs.

Beyond departmental leadership, the Senior Director will contribute to the broader IQVIA BIOS organization by shaping functional strategy, advancing operational improvements, developing talent, promoting innovation, driving standards adoption, and leading cross-organizational initiatives that support long-term business objectives.

Essential Functions

Provide strategic, scientific, and operational leadership for Clinical Pharmacology PK/PD, Early Clinical Development Biostatistics, and Statistical Programming, ensuring high-quality, timely, and compliant delivery of project and program objectives.

Oversee the quality, consistency, timeliness, and regulatory readiness of statistical, programming, and PK/PD deliverables, including analyses, reports, tables, listings, figures, datasets, define documentation, regulatory submissions, and decision-support outputs for IQVIA clients.

Lead resource planning, workforce forecasting, capacity management, and project assignments across PK/PD, biostatistics, and statistical programming teams, ensuring optimal alignment of expertise and resources with portfolio and client needs.

Provide strategic oversight of early clinical development statistical and programming activities, including study design consultation, statistical methodology, analysis planning, data review, reporting, interpretation, and submission strategy across clinical development programs.

Establish, implement, and continuously enhance quality control, scientific review, and operational excellence processes to ensure the highest standards of quality, compliance, and efficiency.

Participate in proposal development, budget planning, bid defenses, and client presentations, providing scientific and operational leadership for Clinical Pharmacology PK/PD, biostatistics, and statistical programming components of business opportunities.

Serve as a senior scientific consultant on complex client engagements, clinical development programs, and regulatory strategies, providing guidance on PK/PD methodologies, development plans, study designs, and health authority interactions.

Provide technical leadership, mentoring, coaching, and career development support to PK/PD scientists, statisticians, programmers, and other functional staff, fostering capability growth and organizational excellence.

Contribute to the development, harmonization, and implementation of SOPs, working practices, quality standards, and governance processes across Clinical Pharmacology and the broader BIOS organization.

Act as a Clinical Pharmacology representative on corporate, cross-functional, and cross-organizational task forces, committees, and strategic initiatives.

Partner with Business Development, Project Planning, and operational leadership teams to support business growth, identify new opportunities, and ensure successful project startup and execution.

Serve as a key liaison across Clinical Pharmacology, BIOS, and other functional areas to promote collaboration, consistency, innovation, and operational alignment.

Contribute as a senior leader within the broader IQVIA BIOS organization by shaping functional strategy, driving process harmonization, advancing technology and automation initiatives, developing talent, and representing early clinical development perspectives in governance and leadership forums.

Maintain a comprehensive understanding of advancements in Clinical Pharmacology, PK/PD, biostatistics, and related scientific disciplines through ongoing evaluation of emerging methodologies, technologies, regulatory expectations, and industry best practices, while ensuring team members remain current with evolving trends.

Participate in departmental financial planning and budget management, ensuring responsible stewardship of resources and alignment with organizational objectives.

Manage staff in accordance with company policies and applicable regulations, including workforce planning, performance management, coaching, talent development, succession planning, employee engagement, recognition, corrective action, and resolution of employee relations matters.

May serve as a scientific and strategic consultant in the development of clinical development plans, study designs, PK/PD analyses, global registration dossiers, and regulatory interactions with health authorities worldwide.

Drive innovation and continuous improvement initiatives that enhance scientific rigor, operational efficiency, client experience, and the overall value delivered by Clinical Pharmacology and BIOS teams.

Perform other duties and strategic initiatives as assigned by Clinical Pharmacology leadership.

Qualifications

Ph.D. in Pharmacokinetics, Pharmaceutics, or related field and 12 years experience including Clinical Pharmacology and line management experience OR Master's Degree or PharmD in Pharmacy or related field and 14 years experience OR equivalent combination of education, training and experience required

Advanced knowledge of pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, including NCA, PopPK modeling, exposure-response analysis, and current drug development trends.

Strong understanding of PK/PD standards, methodologies, and operational processes supporting clinical development programs.

Comprehensive knowledge of the drug development lifecycle, ICH GCP, and applicable global regulatory requirements.

Proven leadership capabilities with excellent coaching, mentoring, talent development, and team-building skills.

Strong analytical, strategic thinking, and problem-solving abilities with experience navigating complex scientific and operational challenges.

Proficiency with industry-standard tools and technologies, including Phoenix WinNonlin, NONMEM, SAS, SigmaPlot, Microsoft Office, and related software, as applicable.

Excellent communication, interpersonal, influencing, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to effectively engage clients, leadership, and cross-functional teams.

Demonstrated ability to lead within global matrix organizations, manage multiple priorities, and collaborate effectively across diverse, multicultural environments.

Additional Job Details

Location: Home-based (Remote)

Travel: Occasional travel required

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 $137,600.00 - $383,300.00. 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
Senior Director
Function
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Durham, United States
Employment type
Full time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 66 comparable Senior Director Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 23 biopharma companies.

66Comparable roles tracked
63Currently active
23Companies hiring similar roles
7Countries represented

Salary context

35 of 66 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 $137,600/yr – $383,300/yr
Highest disclosed · Executive Director, Toxicology · Exelixis Inc $285,000/yr – $405,500/yr
Peer group range $0 – $345,250 (median $249,850)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 66 comparable roles

United States54
India3
China3
Portugal2
Spain1
Poland1

+ 1 more countries

Seniority mix

66 of 66 peers have a known seniority level

Director41
Senior Director16
Executive/VP9

Therapeutic area mix

16 of 66 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology11
Respiratory2
Neuroscience2
Vaccines & Infectious 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 South San Francisco, California, United States of America Senior Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Senior Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Amgen Inc. South San Francisco, United States Senior Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Senior Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Merck Rahway, New Jersey, United States of America Senior Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Lilly San Francisco, California, United States of America Senior Director
Same function Same 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.

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%
Senior Director, Pharmacokinetics
Merck · South San Francisco, California, United States of America · Senior Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Sr Director, Analytical Development
Gilead Sciences, Inc. · Foster City, United States · Senior Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Director/Sr. Director – Medicinal Chemistry (synthetic macrocycles)
Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America · Senior Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Senior Director Toxicology
Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America · Senior Director
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.