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.
About the role:
We are seeking an experienced Commercial Excellence Training Specialist to design, deliver and continuously evolve ICON’s commercial training and capability programs. This role is intentionally broad in scope: rather than owning a single fixed curriculum, the successful candidate will build and flex a portfolio of enablement initiatives – spanning bid defense excellence, onboarding, continuous coaching and capability development – in line with ICON’s changing commercial priorities.
The role establishes a consistent, high-performing approach to commercial capability building, equipping Business Development, Operations, Therapeutic Experts and senior stakeholders to perform at their best across client-facing moments that matter. Working closely with Business Development, Clinical Operations, Proposals, Therapeutic Experts, Learning & Development and senior leadership, the role owner will maintain best-practice methodologies, training content and performance improvement frameworks, and will be expected to take on new initiatives as ICON’s commercial enablement agenda develops.
Key Responsibilities:
- Develop, implement and maintain standardised, end-to-end methodologies for priority commercial capability programmes, starting with bid defence excellence and expanding to other initiatives as agreed with leadership.
- Establish frameworks for strategy, preparation, delivery and post-activity evaluation that can be adapted across multiple training initiatives, not limited to a single programme.
- Develop and maintain playbooks, training resources, preparation tools, presentation guidelines and templates that can be reused and re-purposed across initiatives.
- Partner with commercial and operational leaders to keep methodologies aligned with client expectations, organisational capabilities and evolving business priorities.
- Drive adoption of best practice across business units, therapeutic areas and regions.
Your Profile:
Essential
- Significant experience in Commercial Excellence, Sales Enablement, Learning & Development, Business Development or a related function.
- Experience designing and delivering training for cross-functional teams and senior stakeholders.
- Experience implementing standardized methodologies, competency frameworks and improvement initiatives.
- Strong understanding of the clinical research industry and CRO business development lifecycle, including proposals and bid defenses.
- Demonstrated ability to work across multiple concurrent initiatives and adapt quickly to shifting priorities.
- Excellent facilitation, presentation, coaching, communication and stakeholder-influence skills.
- Strong project management and analytical skills; experience in a global or matrixed organization.
Desirable
- Previous experience in a CRO, pharmaceutical, biotechnology or clinical research organization.
- Direct experience supporting or participating in client bid defenses.
- Knowledge of clinical trial operations, study delivery and therapeutic strategy.
- Experience establishing commercial training programs, centers of excellence, or enablement platforms.
- Experience with AI-enabled coaching tools, digital/interactive learning design, or sales enablement technology (e.g. Seismic or similar).
- Relevant qualification in Learning & Development, instructional design, organizational development or business.
#LI-MH1
#LI-REMOTE
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
- Significant experience in Commercial Excellence, Sales Enablement, Learning & Development, Business Development, or a related function.
- Experience designing and delivering training for cross-functional teams and senior stakeholders.
- Experience implementing standardized methodologies, competency frameworks, and improvement initiatives.
- Strong understanding of the clinical research industry and CRO business development lifecycle, including proposals and bid defenses.
- Ability to manage multiple concurrent initiatives and adapt quickly to shifting priorities.
- Excellent facilitation, presentation, coaching, communication, and stakeholder-influence skills.
- Strong project management and analytical skills.
- Experience working in a global or matrixed organization.
- Previous experience in a CRO, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or clinical research organization.
- Direct experience supporting or participating in client bid defenses.
- Knowledge of clinical trial operations, study delivery, and therapeutic strategy.
- Experience establishing commercial training programs, centers of excellence, or enablement platforms.
- Experience with AI-enabled coaching tools, digital or interactive learning design, or sales enablement technology such as Seismic.
- Relevant qualification in Learning & Development, instructional design, organizational development, or business.
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.
