Director, External Research Programs

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Working

Location:

Massachusetts, Westborough

Workplace Flexibility: Field

Company Overview: For more than 100 years, Olympus has focused on making people’s lives healthier, safer and more fulfilling. Every day, we live by our philosophy, True to Life, by advancing medical technologies and elevating the standard of patient care so people everywhere can fulfill their desires, dreams, and lives. Our five Core Values empower us to achieve Our

Purpose:

Patient Focus, Integrity, Innovation, Impact and Empathy.

Learn more about Life at Olympus:

This role is responsible for driving the successful execution of Olympus’s External Research Program—including investigator-initiated trials, collaborative research, and real-world evidence projects—and for leading the development and optimization of scalable processes that support the creation of evidence generation strategies. It oversees a team of clinical scientists and ensures that external research activities are executed with scientific rigor and operational excellence, while also establishing and refining the infrastructure needed to enable consistent, high‑quality evidence planning across the organization.

This position requires an inspiring leader with a deep understanding of clinical research, external collaborations, and real‑world evidence generation, who thrives in a dynamic and cross‑functional environment. The individual is a critical leader within the Clinical Research strategy team and collaborates with cross‑functional teams including internal and external business stakeholders within MSA, across different business units, and within the broader Olympus organization, as appropriate.

• Manages execution of Olympus’s External Research Program, ensuring studies are strategically designed to align with business priorities, efficiently run and scientifically impactful.
• Leads and mentors a team of clinical scientists supporting external research and evidence generation activities; fosters a collaborative and process‑driven culture that emphasizes scientific rigor, accountability, quality, and efficiency.
• Provides guidance for clinical scientists on strategic elements of evidence generation strategy development and clinical trial design (protocol and CRF development), execution (data collection, analysis, and interpretation), and closeout (final reporting).
• Develops, implements, and continuously refines processes and tools for developing/managing evidence generation strategies and externally sponsored research.
• Oversees process for review and approval of external research proposals, including intake, scientific and operational review, contracting, tracking, and deliverables.
• Partners with cross‑functional teams including Clinical Research leadership, legal, compliance, medical, and finance to facilitate seamless study start‑up, execution, and closure.
• Monitors portfolio‑level metrics and provides reporting to leadership on program status, bottlenecks, and continuous improvement opportunities.
• Participates in strategic and operating planning activities in partnership with the Global Clinical Leads, in translating corporate and divisional initiatives into operational plans.
• Presents updates on the external research program to internal and external stakeholders; supports publication strategies.
• Ensures studies conducted under the external research program framework are conducted in compliance with relevant Olympus policies, procedures, regional and local regulatory requirements, and global guidelines and standards.
• Other duties as assigned.

• BA/BS degree in life sciences or related field.
• Minimum of 10 years medical device industry experience post‑degree preferably in Clinical Research, Clinical Development or Medical Affairs within the medical device industry.
• Minimum of 5 years of direct people‑management experience.
• Experience leading externally sponsored research programs and developing evidence generation strategies that include investigator‑initiated trials, collaborative research and real‑world evidence.
• Demonstrated track…