Manager Study Start Up

Princeton, NJ$139k–$163kPosted Aug 3, 2026

About Summit:

Summit Therapeutics Inc. is a biopharmaceutical oncology company with a mission focused on improving quality of life, increasing potential duration of life, and resolving serious unmet medical needs. At Summit, we believe in building a team of world class professionals who are passionate about this mission, and it is our people who drive this mission to reality. Summit’s core values include integrity, passion for excellence, purposeful urgency, collaboration, and our commitment to people. Our employees are truly the heart and soul of our culture, and they are invaluable in shaping our journey toward excellence.

Summit’s team is inspired to touch and help change lives through Summit’s clinical studies in the field of oncology. Summit has multiple global Phase 3 clinical studies, including:

Non-small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)

HARMONi: Phase 3 clinical study which was intended to evaluate ivonescimab combined with chemotherapy compared to placebo plus chemotherapy in patients with EGFR-mutated, locally advanced or metastatic non-squamous NSCLC who were previously treated with a 3rd generation EGFR TKI.

HARMONi-3: Phase 3 clinical study which is intended to evaluate ivonescimab combined with chemotherapy compared to pembrolizumab combined with chemotherapy in patients with first-line metastatic NSCLC.

HARMONi-7: Phase 3 clinical study which is intended to evaluate ivonescimab monotherapy compared to pembrolizumab monotherapy in patients with first-line metastatic NSCLC.

Colorectal Cancer (CRC)

HARMONi-GI3: Phase 3 clinical study intended to evaluate ivonescimab in combination with chemotherapy compared with bevacizumab plus chemotherapy.

Ivonescimab is an investigational therapy not presently approved by any regulatory authority other than China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA). Summit is headquartered in Miami, Florida, and has additional offices in California, New Jersey, the UK, and Ireland.

Overview of Role:

We are seeking an experienced and highly motivated Manager to join our team. This role is crucial in managing feasibility and site agreements to support our clinical programs. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in feasibility, study start-up, site contact and budget negotiation, and managing relationships with clinical research sites. You will support clinical benchmarking and site budget development, escalation, and payment activities for the Clinical Operations department. You will partner with functional leads of departments to establish strategic approaches to fair market value negotiations and enable site activations.

Role and Responsibilities:

Manage and may lead the day-to-day operations within Study Start Up to ensure completion of established goals and objectives in compliance with applicable GCP/ICH guidelines and other regulatory requirements. This includes effective communication and coordination with key business stakeholders (e.g. study teams) to support timely completion of both drug and non-drug program goals and objectives.

Negotiate and finalize site agreements, including budgets, contacts, and other necessary documentation.
Provide accurate and up-to-date project status and financial information within relevant tracking systems/tools.
Confidently present the budget to the Head of Clinical Operations and Chief Accounting Officer for approval, ensuring full knowledge of all details
Partner with Clinical and Finance team to provide study-wide site payment estimates and forecasts.
Work with legal counsel to ensure appropriate indemnification, liability, and confidentiality provisions are included in contacts
Provide regular updates to management on progress and key performance indicators related to trial agreements
Work with Finance and Clinical Leadership as needed to address budget, invoice, payment, and PO concerns.
Proactively identify and escalate issues that arise related to support functional deliverables.
Provide oversight and direction to team members for functional and study-related deliverables.
Facilitating the development of the SSU Strategy and ensuring management of the strategy during the study start up period.

Build relationships with key study team counterparts to support successful site activation strategies and ensure appropriate delegation of tasks during SSU.

Contribute to process and tool development to the support of the SSU team with day-to-day activities
Under minimal guidance, develop pricing strategies for site budgets to enable contract execution and site activation
Collaborate with legal, finance, CRO and clinical teams to ensure site agreements comply with regulatory and company standards
Build and maintain strong relationships with CROs, FSP providers, and clinical sites
Monitor FSP providers and ensure adherence to project timelines, quality standards, and contractual obligations
Ensure timely and cost-effective solutions that meet project timelines and budgets
Address and resolve any issues or disputes related to site agreements
Collaborate with internal stakeholders, such as Legal, Clinical Operations and Clinical Development
Develop and implement innovative ideas and solutions to increase the efficiency of the department
Actively participate in Study Team Meetings and work cross functionally with Clinical Operations, Legal, and Finance Provide metrics on study site progress towards activation within local Study Delivery Team and US SM&M leadership as required.
All other duties as assigned

Required Experience, Education and Specialized Knowledge and Skills:

Degree in Life Sciences, Business Administration or related field highly preferred; equivalent years of clinical and industry experience will be considered

A minimum of 5-7 years experience for manager level, or 10+ years’ experience for Sr. Manager, with feasibility, study start-up, clinical trial site agreements and eTMF in biotech or pharmaceutical setting.
Must have knowledge of clinical trial conduct, including multi-center, global trials.
Must have strong knowledge of ICH/GCP guidelines and regulatory requirements.
Must have excellent interpersonal, written and verbal communication skills, administrative skills and computer ability.

Experience in working cross functionally and with external providers
Experience with development & implementation of process improvement related initiatives
Proficient user of standard MS Office suite (e.g., Word, Excel), experience using electronic document management systems, and document review tools desirable

Strong computer and database skills
Must be able to effectively multi-task and manage time-sensitive and highly confidential documents
Work in a fast-paced, demanding, and collaborative environment
Knowledge of GCP guidelines and relevant regulatory requirements

Strong knowledge of using grant plan or similar benchmarking tool
Direct negotiating with sites and vendors is a must
Good understanding of the clinical operations process
Highly Preferred Skills and Experience:
Global Experience with site activation activities including submission requirements.

Efficiently manage successful execution of feasibility and study start-up for Global Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials.

Strong global negotiation and contract management skills
Strong financial acumen and ability to understand and create budgets
Experience working with site budgets on a global scale, and potential internal escalation pathway
Expertise in large, multi-site, clinical trials with multiple vendor types is preferred

This is the pay for this position

Pay Transparency$139,000—$163,000 USD

Actual compensation packages are based on several factors that are unique to each candidate, including but not limited to skill set, depth of experience, certifications, and specific work location. This may be different in other locations due to differences in the cost of labor. The total compensation package for this position may also include bonus, stock, benefits and/or other applicable variable compensation.

Summit does not accept referrals from employment businesses and/or employment agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site. All employment businesses/agencies are required to contact Summit’s Talent Acquisition team at recruiting@smmttx.com to obtain prior written authorization before referring any candidates to Summit.

Summit Therapeutics Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer and takes pride in creating and maintaining diverse environment. We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training or promotion or any other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age, sexual orientation, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.