Senior Director, Biospecimen Management

Bristol Myers Squibb • Princeton, NJ

5d • Hybrid

About The Position

Bristol Myers Squibb is building a world-class Consent, Biospecimen & Imaging (CBI) organization within Global Development Operations, designed to drive excellence and innovation across end-to-end biospecimen management in support of both Research and Development objectives. The Senior Director, Biospecimen Management is a senior leadership role reporting directly to the Executive Director, Consent, Biospecimen & Imaging Management Head. This individual will serve as a strategic and operational leader responsible for delivering high-quality, efficient biospecimen management across all BMS-sponsored clinical trials — while contributing to the broader evolution and optimization of CBI's cross-functional capabilities.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant scientific or clinical discipline (required)
• 10+ years of global experience in clinical drug development, clinical research, or a related field — with biospecimen management experience required
• 7+ years of leadership experience managing global, cross-functional teams
• Extensive drug development experience from pre-clinical through clinical testing, with a strong emphasis on the operational, regulatory, and ethical dimensions of biospecimen collection
• Demonstrated experience working with central laboratories, data management, and clinical trial operations organizations
• Prior experience with corporate drug development and submissions, particularly in clinical development and translational medicine
• Experience managing and developing relationships with biospecimen management vendors
• Advanced knowledge of GCP/ICH guidelines, biospecimen management systems, and clinical development processes
• Familiarity with chain-of-custody tracking technologies and biospecimen management tools; experience with consent management systems is a plus
• Ability to translate scientific and regulatory requirements into technology builds that enable successful digitization of biospecimen operations
• Strong project management, resource planning, and financial management capabilities
• Demonstrated ability to lead large, diverse, global teams across multiple time zones and therapeutic areas
• Outstanding communication, negotiation, and influencing skills at all organizational levels
• Proven ability to build cross-functional relationships and foster positive team dynamics
• Highly detail-oriented with the ability to manage multiple priorities and complex portfolios simultaneously
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to present complex topics clearly to varied audiences

Nice To Haves

• Master's or Doctoral degree (preferred)

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a high-performing Biospecimen Management team, with full accountability for team performance, career growth, and talent development
• Oversee biospecimen management leads supporting trials across all therapeutic areas, ensuring consistent quality and delivery
• Demonstrate exemplary leadership across large, geographically distributed on-site and remote teams
• Champion team dynamics and cross-functional relationship building in a collaborative, inclusive environment
• Drive high-quality, efficient biospecimen management support across the full BMS clinical trial portfolio
• Act as the primary escalation point for study- and portfolio-level risks or issues related to biospecimen collections
• Manage internal timelines to ensure alignment with vendor and clinical study milestones, maintaining open communication and proactively resolving or escalating vendor issues
• Define, track, and report on key performance metrics related to biospecimen management capacity and operational effectiveness
• Partner with the ED and CBI leadership team on strategic planning, process improvement, and service development initiatives
• Lead internal and external initiatives to advance operational quality, close gaps, and introduce new capabilities aligned with the CBI mission
• Lead cross-functional efforts to innovate and improve biospecimen operations at scale
• Contribute to the delivery of IT capabilities that enhance operational effectiveness, biospecimen tracking, and reconciliation
• Build and sustain partnerships across a large, diverse stakeholder network — understanding their needs and ensuring operational processes are designed to meet them
• Manage and develop relationships with biospecimen management vendors; ensure vendor performance standards are met and maintained
• Serve as a functional subject matter expert during internal audits and vendor visits
• Maintain current knowledge of relevant regulatory guidance, GCP/ICH standards, and external industry trends as they pertain to biospecimen management
• Apply scientific knowledge of safety, pharmacokinetics, genetics, and biomarker research to optimize biospecimen processing and sampling plans for clinical trials
• Ensure regulatory and ethical aspects of biospecimen collection are embedded across all operational processes
• Ensure appropriate resourcing across the book of work (BOW), including capacity planning across a portfolio of 100+ clinical studies
• Apply strong skills in project prioritization, financial planning, and portfolio management to deliver operational objectives at scale

Benefits

• wellbeing support
• retirement and financial protection benefits
• insurance offerings (medical, dental, vision, life and disability)
• Flexible Time Off (FTO)
• 11 paid company holidays
• 160 hours of paid vacation annually
• 3 optional holidays
• paid sick leave
• up to two paid volunteer days per year
• summer hours flexibility
• leaves of absence for medical, personal, parental, caregiver, bereavement, or military needs
• annual Global Shutdown between Christmas Day and New Year's Day

What This Job Offers

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