Director, Research Platform Strategy

Cencora • Remote, KY

1d

About The Position

The Director, Research Platform Strategy will play a critical role in shaping the future of Cencora’s Management Services Organization (MSO) Platform by helping formulate and execute the strategic plan for a cross-MSO research capability. Research is a key growth and revenue driver within the MSO Platform’s strategic growth plan, and this role will be central to determining which research capabilities should be centralized at the platform level (shared services) versus retained within individual MSOs (e.g., RCA, OneOncology) to maximize scale, efficiency, and growth.
Reporting to the SVP and Head of Clinical Trial Services, this role will assess current research capabilities across MSOs, design a future-state operating model, and partner closely with MSO leadership, Affinity Groups, and the Strategic Operating Group (SOG) to build and stand up a scalable, high-performing research platform.
The ideal candidate combines strong strategic and analytical capabilities with the ability to assess current-state capabilities, design future-state operating models, and drive execution across a complex, matrixed organization.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in life sciences, healthcare management, business administration, or a related field; advanced degree (e.g., MBA, MPH) preferred.
• 8+ years of experience in clinical research, healthcare strategy, management consulting, or a related field, including experience designing or scaling operating models across multiple business units.
• Experience in a private-equity-backed, multi-site, or platform/roll-up healthcare environment strongly preferred.
• Proven ability to translate strategy into actionable, milestone-driven execution plans with limited oversight.
• Strategic & Systems Thinking: Ability to evaluate complex, cross-organizational problems and design scalable operating models that balance centralization with local flexibility.
• Analytical Rigor: Strong capability to assess current-state capabilities, build business cases, and use data to inform platform design decisions.
• Stakeholder Influence: Ability to build alignment among peers, MSO leaders, and cross-functional partners without direct authority.
• Program Management: Skilled at translating strategy into structured plans with clear milestones, owners, and accountability mechanisms.
• Communication: Able to synthesize complex information into clear, actionable recommendations for senior leadership.
• Healthcare/Clinical Research Acumen: Working knowledge of clinical trial operations, regulatory considerations, and specialty/value-based care models.

Responsibilities

• Support the Head of Clinical Trial Services in formulating a comprehensive strategy for a cross-MSO research platform, aligned to the MSO Platform’s overall growth objectives.
• Conduct current-state assessments of existing research capabilities across MSOs (e.g., RCA, OneOncology), identifying strengths, gaps, and redundancies.
• Develop a future-state operating model that defines which research capabilities should reside at the platform level (shared services) versus the individual MSO level, balancing standardization with MSO-specific needs.
• Build the business case (investment, ROI, revenue impact) for platform-level research infrastructure, informed by the MSO Platform’s strategic growth plan.
• Map existing research functions, teams, technology, and processes across MSOs to identify overlaps, gaps, and opportunities for standardization.
• Define decision criteria and frameworks for evaluating “platform vs. MSO” placement of research capabilities (e.g., regulatory/compliance infrastructure, trial recruitment, data & analytics, contracting).
• Partner with the Data & AI and IT Infrastructure Affinity Groups to evaluate technology and analytics needs to support a scalable research platform.
• Translate the operating model into a phased implementation roadmap with clearly scoped initiatives, milestones, owners, and timelines.
• Lead execution of platform strategy initiatives, coordinating across cross-functional teams and MSO stakeholders to ensure milestones are met.
• Stand up pilot programs to test proposed shared-services models before scaling platform-wide.
• Anticipate and resolve interdependencies across MSOs, Affinity Groups, and the SOG to keep initiatives on track.
• Establish governance mechanisms (e.g., steering committees, review cadences) to sustain the research platform’s evolution over time.
• Build strong working relationships with MSO leadership (including RCA and OneOncology) to understand unique research needs and secure buy-in for the platform strategy.
• Serve as a key liaison between the Head of Clinical Trial Services and MSO/Affinity Group stakeholders, ensuring alignment on approach, scope, and sequencing.
• Communicate strategy, progress, and recommendations clearly to senior leadership, including trade-offs and risks.
• Define success metrics for the research platform strategy, including revenue growth, trial volume, and efficiency gains from shared services.
• Monitor progress against the platform roadmap and refine the strategy based on performance data and MSO feedback.
• Capture lessons learned and build reusable frameworks/playbooks to support future MSOs joining the research platform.

Benefits

• medical, dental, and vision care
• comprehensive suite of benefits that focus on the physical, emotional, financial, and social aspects of wellness
• support for working families, which may include backup dependent care, adoption assistance, infertility coverage, family building support, behavioral health solutions, paid parental leave, and paid caregiver leave
• variety of training programs, professional development resources, and opportunities to participate in mentorship programs, employee resource groups, volunteer activities

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director