ICON is a global healthcare intelligence and clinical research organisation united by a mission to bring new medicines and treatments to patients faster.
As a values-driven organisation, integrity, collaboration, agility, and inclusion are at the heart of how we work and interact with each other, customers, patients and suppliers.
We are currently seeking a Site Specialist I – Contracts & Budgets to join our high-performing and collaborative Site Activation team at ICON. In this role, you will take ownership of clinical trial agreement negotiations, budget management, and contract execution activities with investigative sites. You will work closely with cross-functional teams to ensure timely site start-up, regulatory compliance, and effective risk mitigation across global clinical studies. This is an excellent opportunity for a contracts professional who thrives in a dynamic, client-focused environment and is passionate about delivering operational excellence.
What You Will Be Doing:- Leading the negotiation, execution, and ongoing management of Clinical Trial Agreements (CTAs) and site budgets with investigative sites.
- Collaborating with Clinical Operations and Project Management teams to support timely site activation, including forecasting and tracking contract execution timelines.
- Partnering with Functional Management to ensure adherence to local laws, regulatory requirements, and departmental policies, minimizing legal and operational risk.
- Supporting study start-up activities, including coordination of translations and assisting with submission packages for Central and Local EC/IRB and Competent Authorities.
- Reviewing and evaluating client-requested contract changes, assessing deviations, escalating when required, and applying departmental guidelines to decision-making.
- Prioritizing and managing multiple contracts simultaneously, adapting to shifting timelines and business needs.
- Proactively identifying and escalating risks or issues to the CTA Lead, FSA PM, CTM, or Contract Manager to ensure smooth project progression.
- Ensuring contracts and amendments are complete, accurate, compliant with internal standards, and appropriately filed within contract databases.
- Maintaining clear and timely documentation of all site interactions and contract status updates.
- Mentoring and guiding junior Contract Associates, supporting their professional growth and development.
- Continuously identifying opportunities to enhance processes, strengthen collaboration with project teams and investigative sites, and improve overall service delivery.
- Providing strategic insights and recommendations to CTA Leads and Project/Functional Management to enhance team efficiency and responsiveness.
- Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences or a related discipline, or equivalent relevant experience.
- 3+ years' experience negotiating and managing clinical trial contracts and site budgets within a pharmaceutical, biotech, or CRO environment.
- Strong understanding of regulatory and compliance requirements for clinical trials across jurisdictions.
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities, set clear timelines, and deliver within deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
- Excellent analytical, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to confidently explain legal and financial concepts to diverse stakeholders.
- High attention to detail with a strong track record of risk identification and mitigation.
- Experience mentoring or supporting junior team members, with the ability to work both independently and collaboratively within cross-functional teams.
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Employment with ICON is contingent upon having the legal right to work in the country where the role is based.
Rewards & Benefits
ICON offers a competitive and comprehensive total rewards package designed to support your health, wellbeing, and career development.
Benefits may include:
- Competitive base salary and performance related incentives
- Health and wellbeing programmes including medical, dental, and vision coverage where applicable
- Retirement and pension plans
- Life assurance and disability coverage
- Employee assistance programmes and wellbeing resources
- Learning and development opportunities through structured training and career pathways
Benefits may vary depending on role and location.
Visit our careers site to read more about the benefits ICON offers.
Inclusion and Accessibility
ICON is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building an inclusive and accessible workplace where everyone feels valued and supported.
If you require reasonable accommodations during the recruitment process, please let us know or submit a request here.
Are you a current ICON Employee? Please click here to apply
Skills Required
- Bachelor's degree in Life Sciences or related discipline (or equivalent relevant experience)
- 3+ years negotiating and managing clinical trial contracts and site budgets within pharmaceutical, biotech, or CRO environment
- Strong understanding of regulatory and compliance requirements for clinical trials across jurisdictions
- Ability to manage multiple priorities, set timelines, and deliver within deadlines in a fast-paced environment
- Excellent analytical, communication, and interpersonal skills; able to explain legal and financial concepts to diverse stakeholders
- High attention to detail with proven risk identification and mitigation experience
- Experience mentoring or supporting junior team members
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively within cross-functional teams
ICON plc Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about ICON plc and has not been reviewed or approved by ICON plc.
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Healthcare Strength — Benefits are described as comprehensive, with medical coverage and wellness initiatives highlighted. Larger sites are also associated with added wellness supports such as onsite fitness options and access to an employee assistance program.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time-off and flexibility provisions are positioned as a meaningful part of the total package, including vacation/annual leave and flexible work scheduling. Flexibility is sometimes cited as helping offset long hours in certain roles.
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Retirement Support — Retirement and savings support is presented as a core component of the benefits package, including offerings such as pension arrangements in some locations and a U.S. 401(k) plan with company match. Financial planning resources are also emphasized as part of broader security benefits.
ICON plc Insights
What We Do
Since our foundation in Dublin, Ireland in 1990, our mission has been to help our clients to accelerate the development of drugs and devices that save lives and improve quality of life. We do this by delivering best in class information, solutions and performance, with an unyielding focus on quality at all times. We offer a full range of consulting, development and commercialisation services from a global network of offices in 53 countries. We focus our innovation on the factors that are critical to our clients – reducing time to market, reducing cost, and increasing quality – and our global team of experts has extensive experience in a broad range of therapeutic areas.
