Director, Operational Effectiveness

Southern Research•Birmingham, AL

About The Position

The Director of Operational Effectiveness serves as a matrix leader across Preclinical Services, partnering with the Vice President of Operations and functional leaders to improve day-to-day execution, organizational performance, and cross-functional alignment. This role is responsible for improving timeliness, quality, efficiency, and consistency of Preclinical Services operations through the introduction of industry best practices, continuous improvement, process standardization, resource alignment, and effective operational governance. The Director leads primarily through influence and works across functional groups to identify barriers, resolve operational issues, and implement sustainable solutions.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences
Minimum of 15 years in preclinical operations, contract research organization, or related life sciences environment
Minimum of 5 years in a senior leadership role with demonstrated responsibility for leading cross-functional team and enterprise-wide initiatives
Experience as full TFM delegate
Experience with GLP, Part 58 and Part 11 compliance
Proven experience developing and implementing strategic initiatives that improve organizational effectiveness and business outcomes
Strong understanding of preclinical research operations, study execution, quality systems, and regulatory expectations
Exceptional leadership, collaboration, and relationship building skills
Experience conducting root cause analyses and implementing corrective and preventative actions
Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication; able to influence stakeholders at all levels
Proven ability to lead, mentor, and develop leaders
High level professionalism, integrity, and discretion when handling confidential business matters

Responsibilities

Serve as a connector and integrator across departments, bringing together leaders to solve cross- functional challenges
Facilitate leadership alignment sessions to ensure cohesion and shared direction
Identify recurring operational barriers and implement sustainable corrective actions
Promote accountability, consistency, and follow-through across cross-functional activities
Foster a culture of problem-solving, collaboration, and continuous improvement across the organization
Serve as delegate for Vice President of Operations in designated meetings, initiatives, and operational matters
Review cross-functional operational incidents and trends to provide executive leadership recommendations to mitigate risk and improve outcomes
Facilitate cross-functional resource planning discussions, including identification of gaps
Partner with functional leaders to develop and align training matrices, competency expectations, and proficiency standards
Ensure consistency in how training requirements, qualifications, and proficiencies are defined and documented
Lead the conduct of investigation and CAPA processes and ensure timely resolution, sustainable improvement, and compliance with applicable requirements
Serve as business owner or executive sponsor for designated cross-functional systems and operational processes
Support major equipment and facility rollouts including planning, ownership alignment, readiness, training, stakeholder coordination, and reporting to leadership
Work across functional groups to develop operational measures and KPIs that provide visibility into timelines, quality, efficiency, capacity, utilization, and execution
Analyze operational trends and summarize/report to leadership, both internal trends and industry trends
Compile and prepare executive-level reports, presentations, analyses, and recommendations
Support the Vice President of Operations in preparing for leadership meetings, business reviews, planning sessions, and other executive decisions
Serve on committees as needed
Other duties as assigned