Overview
Department: Human Strategy
Reports To: Chief Human Strategy Officer
Location: Leeds, UK On-site / Multi-site
Travel: Up to 30% (site visits across the network)
Our Purpose: At Civia Health, we’re building a patient-centric clinical trial site network designed to transform lives and advance science — with empathy, integrity, and trust at the center of everything we do. We believe access to clinical research is access to care, and we exist to make that care human.
Role Summary: The Senior/Director of Human Strategy serves as a hands-on leader responsible for scaling and operationalizing all core HR functions across a growing clinical trial site network. This role partners closely with site leadership, site leads, and functional heads to ensure the organization attracts, develops, and retains talent while operating with the highest standards of compliance, patient-centricity, and cultural integrity. This leader balances strategy and execution, building scalable people systems while remaining deeply connected to the realities of multi-site clinical operations.
Responsibilities
* Culture, Engagement & Leadership Development: Human Strategy & Leadership Partnership
* Serve as a trusted advisor to site leadership teams
* Translate business strategy, growth plans, and regulatory requirements into scalable people strategies
* Lead HR decision-making with a balance of empathy, integrity, and operational rigor
* Act as a visible leader across sites, reinforcing culture, values, and accountability
* Employee Lifecycle & HR Operations (Multi-Site): Own the full employee lifecycle across the site network—workforce planning, hiring, onboarding, development, performance, and exits
* Ensure consistent HR practices across all sites while allowing for local regulatory nuances
* Oversee personnel files, documentation, and data integrity
* Build repeatable, audit-ready HR processes suitable for a regulated clinical environment
* Employee Relations & Performance Management: Lead and oversee employee relations matters, investigations, and corrective actions
* Coach leaders on performance management, difficult conversations, and people decisions
* Manage performance management frameworks aligned with clinical quality, patient experience, and business outcomes
* Ensure fair, consistent, and legally compliant application of policies across sites
* Compliance, Risk & Regulatory Alignment: Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws across all operating geographies
* Partner with Legal, Compliance, and Clinical Operations to align HR practices with GCP, FDA expectations, and site audits
* Lead HR readiness for inspections, audits, and due diligence activities
* Maintain and evolve HR policies, and training programs
* Talent Acquisition & Workforce Planning: Partner with Talent Acquisition to support hiring for critical site roles (PI support, CRCs, RNs, Site Directors, corporate roles)
* Ensure hiring practices meet both speed-to-hire and quality/compliance standards
* Support workforce planning tied to site launches, trial starts, and enrollment ramp-up
* Build strong onboarding experiences that reinforce patient-first and quality-first expectations
* Champion a patient-first, human-centered culture across all sites and corporate teams
* Works with Human Strategy team to deploy engagement surveys, feedback mechanisms, and action planning
* Helps support leadership development, manager training, and succession planning
* Embed company values into performance reviews, recognition, and daily operations
Qualifications
Required
* Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, or related field
* 10+ years of progressive HR experience, including senior leadership responsibility
* Demonstrated experience supporting multi-site, regulated environments
* Strong knowledge of UK employment law and HR compliance
* Proven ability to operate at both strategic and tactical levels
Strongly Preferred
* Experience in clinical research, healthcare delivery, life sciences, or clinical trial site networks
* Experience scaling HR in a high-growth or private equity / venture-backed environment
* Experience partnering with Compliance, Legal, and Clinical Operations teams
Core Competencies
* Executive presence and sound judgment
* High integrity and discretion
* Ability to lead through complexity and ambiguity
* Strong coaching and influencing skills
* Deep commitment to patient-centric and employee-centric practices
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