Client Engagement Associate (Remote)

The START Center for Cancer Research (“START”) is the world’s largest early phase site network, fully dedicated to oncology clinical research. To date, over 45 therapies conducted at START locations have obtained FDA/EMA approval. 

The START Center for Cancer Research is seeking a Client Engagement Associate (Remote).

The Client Engagement Associate supports the execution of START’s network-level client engagement strategy and serves as a key operational partner to the Vice President, Client Engagement & Study Activation. This role helps ensure a consistent, responsive, and high-quality experience for Sponsors, CROs, Principal Investigators, sites, and central teams throughout the study lifecycle. The Client Engagement Associate supports day-to-day client interactions, sponsor and CRO relationship management activities, study pipeline visibility, meeting preparation and follow-up, and coordination of client requests across the START network. The role works cross-functionally with Pre-Award, Study Activation, Regulatory, Contracts, Budgets, site teams, and other key stakeholders to obtain accurate information, facilitate timely responses, identify potential barriers, and ensure commitments and action items are appropriately tracked through resolution.

The Client Engagement Associate develops a strong understanding of START’s network capabilities, centralized operating model, study acquisition and activation processes, and individual site and investigator capabilities to effectively support client needs and communicate the value and efficiencies of the START network.

This is a remote role. The Hourly range for this role is $90,000/annual - $95,000/annual. However, base pay may vary depending on multiple individualized factors including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. 

Work Schedule:
Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:00pm, must be flexible to meet business needs in a variety of time zones. Prefer candidates in CST/EST time zones

Essential Responsibilities:

• Supports the Vice President, Client Engagement & Study Activation in the execution of START’s network-level client engagement strategy and day-to-day management of Sponsor and CRO relationships.
• Serves as a responsive point of contact for routine Sponsor and CRO inquiries, ensuring requests are acknowledged, appropriately routed, tracked, and resolved in a timely manner.
• Builds and maintains productive working relationships with Sponsors, CROs, Principal Investigators, site leadership, and central functional teams to support a consistent client experience across the START network.
• Develops a strong working knowledge of START’s network capabilities, sites, Principal Investigators, centralized processes, study activation model, and operational efficiencies to effectively respond to client questions and communicate organizational capabilities.
• Supports Sponsor/CRO strategic partnership meetings, pipeline reviews, study-specific discussions, and other client-facing meetings, including preparation of agendas, study status summaries, enrollment information, metrics, presentations, and supporting materials.
• Coordinates meeting follow-up by documenting key decisions, commitments, action items, owners, and due dates and ensuring appropriate follow-through across internal teams.
• Maintains visibility into priority studies and client portfolios, working with Pre-Award, Study Activation, Regulatory, Contracts, Budgets, and site teams to obtain accurate and timely study status information.
• Assists in proactively identifying study acquisition, feasibility, activation, and operational barriers that may affect Sponsor/CRO expectations and escalates risks or delays to Client Engagement leadership as appropriate.
• Supports communication of study activation progress, centralized efficiencies, key milestones, and barriers to Sponsors and CROs in partnership with Study Activation and other functional teams.
• Helps coordinate and respond to client requests related to study opportunities, feasibility, site and investigator capabilities, study status, activation timelines, enrollment performance, and other network-level information.
• Partners with internal teams to ensure client-facing information is accurate, consistent, current, and aligned with START’s standardized processes and commitments.
• Supports Sponsor and CRO relationship management activities by maintaining organized records of client interactions, meeting history, commitments, follow-up items, study discussions, and relevant relationship intelligence.
• Maintains accurate and timely documentation of client interactions and activities within applicable CRM, tracking systems, dashboards, and shared resources.
• Tracks recurring Sponsor/CRO requests, concerns, feedback, and service trends and helps identify opportunities to improve the overall client experience.
• Supports resolution of routine client concerns by coordinating with the appropriate internal stakeholders, maintaining communication with the client, and ensuring issues are followed through to closure.
• Escalates significant client concerns, relationship risks, service issues, or unresolved operational barriers to Client Engagement leadership in a timely manner.
• Supports preparation of client-facing metrics, dashboards, reports, presentations, and other materials highlighting network performance, study activation, enrollment, operational efficiencies, and partnership activities.
• Assists with preparation and coordination of Sponsor/CRO visits, investigator meetings, strategic partnership meetings, and other network engagement activities.
• Supports onboarding and engagement of new sites and Principal Investigators by helping ensure their capabilities and experience are appropriately represented in network-level Sponsor/CRO discussions and materials.
• Collaborates across departments and geographic regions to promote consistent communication standards and a seamless experience for Sponsors and CROs engaging with multiple START sites.
• Identifies opportunities to improve Client Engagement workflows, tracking tools, reporting, communication standards, and processes as the START network and client portfolio continue to grow.

Qualifications & Skills

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.
• Experience in clinical research, healthcare, customer/client service, account management, project coordination, or a related environment preferred.
• Strong customer-service orientation with the ability to develop professional relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong organizational and project coordination skills with exceptional attention to detail.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, client requests, meetings, deadlines, and follow-up activities simultaneously.
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to identify issues, coordinate appropriate resources, and escalate concerns when necessary.
• Ability to work effectively across multiple departments, sites, geographic regions, and levels of leadership.
• Ability to synthesize information from multiple sources into clear, concise client-facing updates.
• Demonstrated discretion and professionalism when handling sensitive client, study, and organizational information.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications; experience with CRM platforms, dashboards, reporting tools, and clinical research systems preferred.
• Knowledge of clinical research operations, study feasibility, study start-up, study activation, and Sponsor/CRO relationships preferred.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, growing, and highly collaborative environment.

Travel Expectations

• As needed; anticipated to be less than 20%

Best-in-Class Benefits and Perks

We value our employees’ time and efforts. Our commitment to your success is enhanced by a competitive compensation, depending on experience, and an extensive benefits package including:

• Comprehensive health coverage: Medical, dental, and vision insurance provided
• Robust retirement planning: 401(k) plan available with employer matching
• Financial security: Life and disability insurance for added protection
• Flexible financial options: Health savings and flexible spending accounts offered
• Well-being and work-life balance: Paid time off, flexible schedule, and remote work choices provided
• Plus, we work to maintain the best environment for our employees, where people can learn and grow with the company. We strive to provide a collaborative, creative environment where everyone feels encouraged to contribute to our processes, decisions, planning, and culture.

More about The START Center for Cancer Research

Deeply rooted in community oncology centers globally, The START Center for Cancer Research provides access to specialized preclinical and early-phase clinical trials of novel anti-cancer agents. START clinical trial sites have conducted more than a thousand early-phase clinical trials, including for 43 therapies that were approved by the FDA. START represents the world’s largest roster of Principal Investigators (PIs) across its eight clinical trial sites. Committed to accelerating passage from trials to treatments, START delivers hope to patients, families, and physicians around the world.

Learn more at STARTresearch.com.

Ready to be part of a team changing the future of cancer treatment?

Join us in our mission to conquer cancer, one clinical trial at a time. Your expertise and dedication can help us bring hope and healing to patients worldwide. Please submit your application online.

We are an equal opportunity employer that welcomes and encourages diversity in the workplace. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic information, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other status protected under federal, state, or local law.