Senior Budget Specialist, Clinical Research

Based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Probity Medical Research (PMR) is an administrative support company that partners with clinical research sites and pharmaceutical companies to provide essential administrative services for clinical research trials. As a rapidly growing company, we are committed to advancing clinical research through exceptional service. PMR is an equal-opportunity employer, offering competitive wages, healthcare benefits, and an inclusive work environment.

The Senior Budget Specialist plays a critical role in supporting the financial and operational success of clinical research activities by leading the review, negotiation, and finalization of complex clinical trial budgets and amendments. This role is responsible for assessing financial feasibility, identifying potential budget risks, ensuring alignment with organizational standards and sponsor requirements, and supporting effective budget strategies that protect the organization’s interests while enabling successful study execution.

Working closely with internal teams, sponsors, CROs, and external research sites, the Senior Budget Specialist serves as a key point of contact for complex budget-related inquiries and provides expert guidance throughout the budget development and negotiation lifecycle. Additionally, this role contributes to the refinement of budget processes, supports the development of standardized tools and practices, and assists in enhancing operational efficiency as study volumes continue to grow.

With a strong focus on accuracy, financial analysis, negotiation, and problem-solving, the Senior Budget Specialist independently manages multiple complex studies, adapts to evolving priorities, and ensures timely delivery against critical study activation timelines. This position requires a high level of judgment, discretion, and attention to detail, while also providing mentorship to team members and contributing collaboratively to continuous improvements in budget management operations.

While the position offers flexibility for remote work, applicants must be available and willing to work on-site when required. On-site attendance may be infrequent but is necessary for select meetings, training, or operational needs. We thank all applicants for their interest; however, only those selected for further consideration will be contacted.

Job Responsibilities 

Budget Management 
• Lead, review, negotiate, and finalize complex study budgets and amendments to ensure financial feasibility, compliance, and adherence to timelines.
• Independently manage high-priority, high-value, or complex budget negotiations with sponsors, external budget contacts, and research sites.
• Maintain a high degree of organizational skills to ensure smooth and efficient daily budget operations.
• Apply strong negotiating skills to secure favorable study budget allocations.
• Provide expert interpretation of sponsor budget templates, payment schedules, and financial terms to ensure alignment with internal costing standards and operational requirements. Ensure all applicable study-related costs are accurately captured during the budget negotiation process.
• Identify financial risks, inconsistencies, or contractual impacts during budget development and recommend appropriate solutions.
• Coordinate with Contracts team to ensure budgets alignment where applicable.
• Prioritize workload based on site activation timelines and project volume; collaborate with internal teams to ensure timely budget delivery and study startup.

 Operational Efficiency & Stakeholder Support
• Serve as a key point of contact for internal and external inquiries related to assigned study budgets.
• Manage and respond to email communications promptly to support ongoing study operations and budget accuracy.
• Build and maintain effective working relationships with sponsors, CROs, investigators, and internal stakeholders to facilitate efficient study start-up.
• Reassess priorities regularly to meet the evolving demands of budget negotiations and site activations.
• Assist the Budgets Team Lead in identifying and implementing process improvements to enhance efficiency and consistency.
• Support onboarding and training of new team members to ensure understanding of budget processes and tools.
• Review work completed by junior team members for quality, consistency, and adherence to department standards, where assigned.

 Additional Responsibilities
• Identify opportunities to improve budget workflows, standardization, documentation, and operational efficiency.
• Participate in the development, implementation, and maintenance of departmental policies, procedures, templates, and best practices.
• Analyze trends in budget negotiations, sponsor requirements, and operational performance to recommend process enhancements.
• Perform other duties as assigned to contribute to the overall success of the organization’s payment and budget processes.

Skills
• Advanced Budget Negotiation and Conflict Resolution
• Financial Analysis and Critical Thinking
• Attention to Detail
• Excellent Written and Verbal Communication Skills
• Advanced Organizational and Time Management Skills
• Process Improvement and Process Analysis
• Creative and Innovative Thinking
• Ability to work independently and be a team player
• Stakeholder Relationship Management
• Task Delegation
• Adaptability and Flexibility
• Collaboration and Teamwork
• Advanced Problem-Solving and Decision Making
• Creative and Innovative Thinking
• High level of professionalism and discretion

Qualifications and Requirements
• A bachelor’s degree or college diploma in Finance, Business Administration, Accounting, Economics, Life Sciences, or a related field.
• A minimum of 5 years’ work experience in clinical research budgets, negotiating and developing clinical trial budgets.
• Strong understanding of clinical trial budget development, cost analysis, and financial feasibility.
• Experience mentoring, training, or providing technical guidance to colleagues is considered a strong asset.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite Knowledge (particularly Word and Excel).
• Experience using DocuSign and PDF editing software.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality while handling sensitive financial and contractual information. 
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple competing priorities and consistently meet deadlines. High level of analytical reasoning, financial judgment, and attention to detail.

Working Conditions
• High-volume office environment working consistently at a desk using a computer to work with multiple documentation to complete tasks.
• Manual dexterity required to use desktop computer and peripherals. 
• Performing extensive and repetitive data entry task.