Manager, Clinical Site Budgets

Fate Therapeutics is seeking an experienced Manager of Clinical Site Budgets to independently manage the full lifecycle of clinical contracting and site budgeting. This role requires strong financial acumen and hands-on expertise with Master Service Agreements (MSAs), Clinical Trial Agreements (CTAs) Statements of Work (SOWs), and related clinical agreements. Working in close partnership with Clinical Operations, Clinical Development, Legal, Procurement, and Finance, this role ensures that budgets and contracts are aligned with protocol requirements, study timelines, and financial objectives.

The ideal candidate is a detail-oriented, analytically driven professional who brings sound commercial judgment, proactively assesses risk, challenges assumptions, and ensures agreements are commercially viable, legally compliant, and operationally executable. This is a full-time, exempt position located at our corporate headquarters in San Diego, CA.

• Partner with Clinical Operations, Clinical Development, Finance and external parties to develop study-specific site budget templates and negotiation parameters.
• Develop, review, and negotiate clinical trial site budgets in alignment with fair market value (FMV) guidelines and study specific parameters.
• Lead or support contract negotiations within approved financial and legal parameters.
• Manage the end-to-end contract lifecycle, including Clinical Trial Agreements (CTA), Master Services Agreements (MSA), Statements of Work (SOW), amendments, and change orders.
• Partner with Clinical Operations and Legal to develop site contracting timelines, documents, track progress and provide regular updates to study teams and internal stakeholders.
• Manage the site clinical trial agreement (CTA) development timeline.
• Partner closely with Legal on contract review, redlines, risk assessment, and resolution of contractual issues.
• Review and analyze budgets, payment terms, milestones, and pass-through costs to ensure accuracy and alignment between executed contracts, approved budgets, and forecasts.
• Monitor and track contract and budget changes that impact scope, cost, or timelines; escalate risks and issues as appropriate.
• Utilize internal and external benchmarking data to perform site budget analyses and support negotiation recommendations.
• Support study-level budgeting, forecasting, and variance management activities as needed.

• BS/BA degree and a minimum of 6 years of relevant and progressive experience.
• 4+ years of direct clinical site budget negotiation experience.
• Deep understanding of the drug development process and cross-functional responsibilities.
• Knowledgeable in the use of industry benchmarking data sets (e.g., Grantplan, Medicare, etc.).
• Proven track record of supporting financial processes, including budgeting/forecasting and variance management.
• Effective and collaborative problem-solving skills.
• Ability to multi-task within and across projects and prioritize and manage timelines effectively.
• Strong analytical and modeling skills and able to make data-driven recommendations.
• Strong interpersonal, communication and presentation skills to be able to engage with all levels both internally and externally.
• Able to apply good judgement and professional expertise in new situations.
• Experience in pharmaceutical/biotech industry required.
• Experience with oncology, auto-immune, or cell-therapy preferred.
• Experience with US and global site budgets preferred.
• Experience with complex trial designs preferred.

• This is an onsite position at company headquarters with the expectation to work onsite during business hours, a minimum of 4 days per week.
• Travel may be required (up to 20%).
• Subject to extended periods of sitting and standing, vision to monitor, and moderate noise levels.

• The salary offer will be based on a variety of factors, including level, experience, qualifications, internal equity, and location.
• Fate offers a competitive employment package that includes an annual bonus, equity, and a generous benefits package.
• The anticipated salary range for this role is $140,000 - $160,000

The preceding job description indicates the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. Additional and incidental duties related to the primary duties may be required from time to time.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Fate Therapeutics, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.