Project Director, Early Phase and Translational Research (EPTR)

This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for a Project Director, Early Phase and Translational Research (EPTR) based in France. This is a senior clinical research leadership opportunity overseeing complex programs and portfolios of clinical studies across international markets. You will provide strategic and operational direction across multiple projects, guiding Project Managers and ensuring successful delivery from study start-up through closeout. The role combines therapeutic expertise, financial oversight, client leadership, risk management, and operational excellence. You will work across global, multicenter studies while partnering closely with customers, functional teams, vendors, and internal leadership. Your expertise will directly influence study quality, timelines, budgets, and overall client satisfaction. This opportunity is particularly suited to an experienced clinical project leader with strong dermatology or rheumatology expertise and a hands-on approach to leadership. Oversee a portfolio or program of clinical studies and provide operational direction to the Project Managers responsible for delivery. Ensure studies are conducted in accordance with therapeutic requirements, client expectations, quality standards, SOPs, GCP, ICH guidelines, and applicable regulatory requirements. Act as a senior point of contact for customers, maintaining strong relationships, communicating program progress, and ensuring expectations and deliverables are consistently managed. Provide oversight of study contracts, budgets, expenses, financial tracking, forecasting, and overall project performance. Monitor timelines, milestones, risks, dependencies, and key performance indicators using appropriate project tracking and analysis tools. Maintain deep therapeutic and client-specific knowledge across the assigned portfolio and apply lessons learned consistently across studies. Lead contingency planning, risk mitigation, and proactive issue resolution to support successful study delivery. Oversee complex multinational and multicenter studies, including coordination of functional services and external vendors. Contribute operational expertise to proposal development, pricing, operational strategy, client presentations, and business development activities. Drive continuous performance improvement, operational efficiencies, innovative delivery approaches, and consistency across the project portfolio. Mentor, coach, and provide leadership support to Project Managers, serving as an operational and therapeutic subject matter expert. Support senior leadership initiatives and contribute to the continued development of project management capabilities. Requirements: Bachelor’s degree in a relevant scientific or professional discipline; a Master’s degree is an advantage. PMP or PRINCE2 certification is desirable. At least 15 years of relevant industry experience, including a minimum of 5 years within a Contract Research Organization (CRO) environment. At least 10 years of clinical project management experience covering the complete study lifecycle from start-up through closeout. Demonstrated experience managing functional services, external vendors, budgets, timelines, and operational delivery across complex clinical programs. Experience managing mid-size to large multinational studies spanning multiple regions and ideally more than 10–15 countries. Proven experience leading concurrent multicenter, multinational Phase III clinical trials, including financial tracking, forecasting, and budget management. Substantial experience supervising, mentoring, and coaching Project Managers. Strong business development experience, including proposal development, client presentations, bid defense meetings, and operational strategy. Required therapeutic experience in dermatology or rheumatology . Strong knowledge of Good Clinical Practice (GCP) and applicable regulatory requireme