Sr. Clinical Specialist, Surgical Operations

Aspen Neuroscience•Chicago, IL

11h•$136,800 - $167,200•Onsite

About The Position

Aspen is seeking a Senior Clinical Specialist, Surgical Operations as a founding member of a field team supporting neurosurgical procedures for Parkinson’s cell therapy studies. We are looking for candidates who are eager to translate field experience into scalable standards, influencing training, workflows, and operational strategy across the clinical program. This ideal candidate operates with a high degree of autonomy, partnering closely with investigators, surgeons, and cross-functional stakeholders to lead site readiness, procedural execution, and continuous improvement of surgical delivery practices. Roles are currently open in the Great Lakes Region (WI/IL/MI/OH) and Mountain West (Denver/Phoenix).

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering, nursing, neuroscience, life sciences, or a related field required; advanced degree (e.g., MSN, PA, NP, PhD) preferred.
Minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible experience in field clinical support, surgical support, clinical applications, or trial-facing procedural roles within complex, procedure driven environments (e.g., neurosurgery, implantable therapies, image-guided interventions).
Extensive hands-on experience supporting high-acuity neurosurgical or interventional procedures; deep familiarity with cranial, stereotactic, or intracranial delivery workflows strongly preferred.
Demonstrated experience operating in regulated clinical trial environments, including application of GCP, protocol adherence, SOPs, and documentation requirements.
Experience supporting early-phase or first-in-human studies, MRI-guided workflows, or advanced therapy delivery (cell or gene therapy), and contributing to development of field procedures, training programs, or site readiness processes.

Responsibilities

Serve as the lead field-based clinical and technical expert across assigned sites, providing advanced guidance on surgical workflow, protocol execution, and complex case management while setting expectations for execution consistency.
Lead site onboarding, advanced training, and ongoing capability development for investigators, surgeons, and multidisciplinary teams, ensuring alignment to standardized procedural practices and trial requirements. Including surgical workflow, intraoperative imaging, cell preparation and handling requirements, and the surgical delivery components of protocol execution and documentation.
Drive site pre-case readiness across scheduling, staffing, materials, imaging coordination, and procedural flow, proactively identifying and mitigating execution risks and closing readiness gaps.
Provide advanced onsite support during complex neurosurgical procedures, delivering real time guidance, addressing workflow deviations, and resolving procedural or protocol-related issues.
Ensure consistent application of protocol requirements, patient safety standards, and data integrity expectations across sites, reinforcing compliance while influencing best practices.
Establish and maintain strong relationships with principal investigators, neurosurgeons, and key hospital stakeholders, acting as a trusted clinical advisor and representative of the Company’s surgical delivery model.
Synthesize field insights, procedural trends, and site-level challenges to inform cross functional decision-making, influencing Clinical Operations, Clinical Development, Medical, Quality, and Regulatory strategies.
Lead continuous improvement initiatives by translating field experience into enhancements to training programs, procedural workflows, tools, and site readiness models.
Contribute to the development and standardization of the Company’s surgical delivery model across the clinical network, ensuring scalability and consistency as trials expand.
Informally mentor and guide junior clinical specialists and cross-functional partners, sharing expertise and reinforcing best practices across the team.
Support trial expansion strategy, including site activation, network scaling, and investigator engagement, while ensuring readiness and execution quality across new and existing sites.
Provide thought partnership in internal case reviews, risk discussions, and cross-functional planning, contributing to trial design considerations and execution strategy.