Clinical-Trial Accrual Recovery Authority — Global Biopharma

The mandate

Patient visits, site activation, enrolment, laboratory work and vendor milestones arrive through different operational systems and invoicing lags. Study teams apply local accrual conventions, contract amendments are not reflected promptly and portfolio forecasts mix probability, timing and realised activity. A large close adjustment and the controller’s departure have weakened investor guidance and trial-funding decisions before three pivotal readouts.

The eleven-month assignment begins within two weeks and covers study budget baselines, site and patient activity, investigator and vendor obligations, amendments, accruals, prepaid balances, foreign exchange, close, portfolio forecast and decision support. The leader must correct current exposure without disturbing blinded data or medical judgement, and must distinguish accounting evidence from probability-adjusted investment choices.

Handover requires four controlled closes, study-level source-to-accrual bridges, amendment and invoice ageing, portfolio cash scenarios, documented estimates and a permanent leader appointed by month seven. During a six-week overlap, the successor must resolve an unseen enrolment acceleration plus laboratory delay and present the accounting, liquidity and portfolio consequences without the interim’s private model.

The role may require operational attestations, reject unsupported accruals, set estimate thresholds, approve delegated corrections, redirect the authorised USD 48 million recovery budget and replace temporary finance leads. It cannot change protocol, enrolment target, medical decision, clinical vendor contract, trial continuation, public guidance, accounting policy, patient payment or workforce terms beyond delegated finance authority.

Clinical conduct, safety, regulatory submissions, protocol design, vendor selection and scientific portfolio prioritisation remain outside scope. The leader may quantify their consequences but cannot access blinded outcomes beyond role need or convert uncertain milestones into accounting facts. Extension, if used, is limited to one named readout-driven close and cannot substitute for permanent succession.

Why this seat is open

Clinical Operations sees activity, Procurement sees contractual commitment and Accounting sees invoices after the event; the departing controller had been reconciling them manually. The close adjustment exposed that no durable ownership or method survived. Temporary finance authority is required across pivotal readouts while permanent capability and reproducible trial evidence are established.

What you will own

• Reconcile protocol schedules, site activation, patient visits, laboratory activity, vendor milestones, contracts, invoices and trial ledgers.
• Establish study baselines and estimate methods for investigator cost, pass-through spend, central services, amendments and foreign exchange.
• Separate recognised obligation, prepaid service, committed cash, forecast activity and probability-weighted portfolio decision value.
• Govern operational attestations, late evidence, estimate change, true-up, close review and recurring vendor-data exceptions.
• Lead scenarios for enrolment acceleration, country delay, laboratory backlog, amendment, currency shock and trial discontinuation.
• Protect role-based access to blinded or sensitive information while giving Finance sufficient evidence for recorded estimates.
• Transfer four controlled closes, study bridges, decision logs and the unseen activity scenario to the permanent leader.

Candidate qualifications

• Held senior R&D or clinical finance authority across multi-country late-stage biopharmaceutical trials.
• Reconciled site, patient, laboratory and vendor activity to contracts, accruals, cash and portfolio forecasts.
• Distinguished accounting obligations from scientific probability and investment scenarios during pivotal programme decisions.
• Controlled amendments, pass-throughs, invoice lag, foreign exchange and estimate true-ups across clinical research partners.
• Worked through material readouts without compromising blinded data, medical authority or disclosure controls.
• Completed succession and tested a permanent leader on an unfamiliar operational-versus-financial trial event.

Non-negotiables

• Can start within two weeks and complete four study residencies subject to clinical-data access controls.
• Will disclose biopharma, research-organisation, investigator-network, laboratory, audit and investor relationships before appointment.
• Brings late-stage clinical accrual recovery across multiple countries; commercial pharma finance alone is insufficient.
• Will not alter protocols, medical decisions, enrolment, vendor selection, trial continuation or public guidance.

1. 49 words maximum. Describe a clinical accrual that changed after patient or vendor evidence was reconciled.
2. 49 words maximum. How would you separate trial accounting from probability-weighted portfolio judgement?
3. 49 words maximum. What unseen activity-and-delay case must the permanent leader resolve before handover?