Senior Director, IT R&D and Clinical Systems

Arvinas • New Haven, CT

5h • Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Director, IT R&D and Clinical Systems serves as the strategic IT business partner for the R&D and Clinical organizations, supporting early drug discovery through clinical development. This role is accountable for shaping and executing the R&D and Clinical IT roadmap, translating scientific and clinical objectives into scalable, compliant, cost-effective, and integrated technology capabilities that enable high-quality science and operational excellence. This individual will work closely with Arvinas’ R&D and Clinical team members to gain a deep understanding of the operations and objectives of each team and then develop multi-year IT capability roadmaps. The Senior Director has end-to-end accountability for all R&D and Clinical systems, non-GxP laboratory IT systems, scientific computing environments, and high-performance computing (HPC) platforms that support computational chemistry, bioinformatics, structural biology, and modeling and simulation activities. This individual will ensure these environments are reliable, secure, performant, and well-integrated with upstream and downstream data platforms while remaining fit for rapid scientific iteration. The Senior Director will lead and develop a high-performing R&D and Clinical IT team and will define, select, communicate, and manage strategic IT service providers and vendors to ensure the right mix of internal capabilities and external partnerships. This includes accountability for service quality, delivery outcomes, cost effectiveness, and alignment with scientific and clinical priorities. The position requires a strong understanding of integrated scientific and clinical workflows, regulated systems, and data flows across discovery, preclinical, and clinical environments. This position will work closely with core R&D and Clinical functions at Arvinas, including biology, chemistry, cheminformatics, proteomics, compound management, laboratory automation, bioinformatics, DMPK, clinical data management and biostatistics, and clinical operations. The individual must have a proven ability to: Lead significant projects, Deliver, integrate, and maintain high-quality R&D systems and Clinical systems, and Work with the teams to design a roadmap of the R&D and Clinical systems for the next 3-5 years. This position reports to the Senior Vice President, Information Technology Systems & Security and can be hybrid or located at our headquarters in New Haven, CT.

Requirements

• 12+ years of experience in life sciences IT support.
• Demonstrated experience serving as a senior IT business partner to R&D and/or Clinical leadership, translating scientific and clinical strategies into multi-year technology and data capability roadmaps.
• Experience leading IT organizations, including operating model design, prioritization, integrated solutions, and portfolio management.
• Proven experience defining, selecting, and managing strategic IT service providers and vendors, including contract negotiation, service-level management, and cost optimization.
• Experience overseeing high-performance computing (HPC) and/or scientific computing environments.
• Familiarity with on-premise and/or cloud-based HPC architectures, capacity planning, and cost-performance tradeoffs.
• Experience with laboratory operational requirements and the balance between flexibility, reliability, and security in research environments.
• Demonstrated experience leading organizational change and driving adoption of new technologies within R&D and Clinical organizations.
• Must have project management experience (Project Management Certification a plus).
• Strong interpersonal effectiveness, able to build trust and drive adoption of new software platforms.
• Demonstrated flexibility in being able to flex to operational work as needed.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Very strong business analysis skills, problem-solving techniques, and follow-up
• Experience with GxP guidance and controls.
• Experience with Research processes (internal and external) and related systems (e.g. ELN, compound registration and inventory, assay and protocol management, SAR analysis and visualization solutions).
• Experience with Clinical processes and related systems (e.g. eTMF, SAS, CTMS).
• Broad understanding of enterprise IT infrastructure domains (networking, compute, operating systems, and cloud services) sufficient to guide architectural decisions and collaborate effectively with infrastructure and security teams.
• Experience with IT process, ITIL, and ticketing systems (e.g., ServiceNow, etc.) is highly desirable.
• Experience with Clinical electronic Trial Master File (eTMF) systems (especially Veeva Vault eTMF).
• Arvinas will not be providing VISA sponsorship for this position now or in the future. You must have the ability to work without a need for current or future VISA sponsorship.
• Employees must be able, with or without an accommodation to lift/carry 15/30 pounds unassisted/assisted; work comfortable in a controlled environment with and around biological, infectious and hazardous materials; gown/degown PPE; use a computer; engage in communications via phone, video, and electronic messaging; engage in problem solving, analysis and dialogue; collaborate with others; maintain general availability during standard business hours.
• Bachelor’s degree in life sciences or IT disciplines (computer programming, software engineering, or related) with advanced degree (MS, PhD) preferred.
• The combination of education and experience enables exceptional skill level in conversational capability with R&D and clinical colleagues, and understanding of research biology, chemistry, and clinical functions and their respective supporting IT systems and processes.

Responsibilities

• Lead the divisional IT R&D and Clinical Systems team, providing guidance, management, and direction for a future team of analysts and administrators (staffed as necessary from system count and complexity).
• Define, select, integrate, and manage strategic IT service providers and vendors.
• Provide technical leadership and guidance for the R&D and Clinical teams at Arvinas.
• Provide clear direction for R&D and Clinical managers on IT processes and systems.
• Develop and implement policies, controls, and processes in compliance with departmental and regulatory requirements.
• Partner with business process owners and technology partners to elicit, analyze, translate, and document business processes.
• Prepare and communicate detailed capability roadmaps that define integration points and data strategy.
• Partner with Enterprise Data Architecture on developing and executing a data management strategy for R&D and Clinical.
• Identify, scope, communicate, and prioritize business technology projects.
• Lead prioritized projects from concept to execution, often providing technical leadership.
• Manage, prioritize, and reduce to practice a portfolio of prioritized initiatives.
• Manage Request for Proposal Process (RFP) including documenting requirements, identifying and engaging vendors, leading product selection processes, overseeing contracting and negotiations, and managing product vendors.
• Provide technology leadership across R&D and Clinical by proactively identifying emerging technologies and platforms (e.g., advanced analytics, AI/ML, automation) and assessing their potential applicability, value, and risk, while partnering with business stakeholders to evaluate, pilot, and integrate business-identified solutions in alignment with enterprise architecture, data strategy, and compliance requirements.
• Oversee the IT change control process (change control documentation, draft and execution of test plan, implementation of change in production) for Clinical systems.
• Coordinate global discussions and alignments on Clinical technology strategy, platforms, enhancements where applicable.
• Work with external parties’ personnel (e.g., CRO data teams) to analyze, define, and document data and information flows contributing to Clinical data management.
• Partner with external vendors and collaborators (e.g., CROs, academic partners, technology providers) to define, implement, and govern secure data flows and collaboration solutions, leveraging existing enterprise technologies (e.g., SFTP, SharePoint, and approved data exchange platforms) to ensure data integrity, accessibility, and compliance across R&D and Clinical activities.
• Develop, integrate, and maintain the IT operating budget for R&D and Clinical systems.
• Manage the lifecycle of a large portfolio of systems across R&D and Clinical.
• Ensure appropriate support solutions are in place and support knowledge is documented.
• Manage license renewals and negotiations.
• Regularly assess business usage and need.
• Act as an escalation point when required.
• Oversee the specification, integration, operation, maintenance, and evolution of both the high-performance computing (HPC) environment and lab computing environment (non-GxP), ensuring reliability, performance, security, cost-effectiveness, while aligning service levels and operating models with scientific needs and enterprise IT standards.
• Partner with IT Infrastructure and IT Security teams to ensure R&D and Clinical systems, including scientific computing and laboratory environments, are secure, compliant, and aligned with enterprise architecture, security standards, and regulatory requirements, while balancing risk management with the operational needs of research and clinical activities.
• Ensure system lifecycle management practices are followed and anticipate and plan the upgrade and obsolescence pathways.
• In partnership with IT Governance, ensure risk management priorities are reflected in strategic plans and initiatives.
• Oversee internal and external reviews, audits, inspections, and investigations related to Clinical systems.
• Maintain and annually review policies, procedures, and standards related to GxP systems and lab computing operations.
• Work in concert with the user community to actively manage change and optimize solutions through their lifecycle.
• Support systems validation/testing to GxP compliance.

Benefits

• Arvinas is proud to offer a competitive package of base and incentive compensation as well as a comprehensive benefits program designed to support the health, wellness and financial security of our employees and their families.
• Benefits include group medical, vision and dental coverage, group and supplemental life insurance, and much more.

What This Job Offers

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