The Director, Business Operations, is responsible for advancing and operationalizing Tyra’s clinical outsourcing and governance model across the multi-indication portfolio. While this role sits within Clinical Operations, it will work in close partnership across functions and drives portfolio level CRO/ clinical vendor performance management across all studies, operating model refinement, and process innovation initiatives that enhance scalability, predictability, and quality of trial delivery. This is a high-impact, highly visible role that sits at the intersection of clinical execution, strategic vendor management, and ensuring financial stewardship. Director, Business Operations owns the full lifecycle of clinical contracting and outsourcing, ensuring governance of our CRO and vendors, and leads the relationships that ensure our studies are delivered with high quality, on time and budget.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

Clinical Contracting & Outsourcing

• Lead end-to-end contracting for clinical vendors including CROs, central labs, imaging vendors, eClinical technology providers, and specialty service organizations
• Drive develop and maintain master service agreements (MSAs), work orders, change orders, and amendments in partnership with Legal and Finance
• Build and manage outsourcing frameworks and playbooks to standardize how we engage and contract with external partners across programs
• Ensure contracts are aligned with study timelines, budget parameters, and regulatory requirements
• Partner with QA to support vendor qualification, inspection readiness, and audit support as well as audit finding remediation with applicable functional leaders

Vendor Governance & Performance

• Own the vendor governance program across the clinical portfolio — including onboarding, performance scorecards, Quarterly Business Reviews, issue escalation, and relationship health tracking
• Establish and maintain KPIs and SLAs for all strategic vendors; drive accountability for delivery against commitments
• Lead cross-functional vendor reviews with Clinical, Finance, Quality, and Legal stakeholders
• Partner with Clinical Operations study leads to proactively identifying and resolving vendor performance gaps before they impact factors that are Critical to Quality

Negotiation & Rate Management

• Lead commercial negotiations with CROs and clinical vendors, including rate cards, unit pricing, FTE models, and pass-through structures
• Develop internal rate benchmarks and market intelligence to inform negotiation strategies
• Identify and capture cost efficiencies across the vendor portfolio without compromising quality or speed
• Drive renegotiations at contract renewal and change-order milestones to ensure terms remain competitive

Strategic Vendor Relationships

• Serve as the primary executive contact for preferred and strategic vendor partners
• Build and maintain a tiered vendor strategy that aligns vendor capabilities with our evolving pipeline needs
• Evaluate new vendors and manage Request for Proposal/Request for Information processes in collaboration with Clinical Operations and Finance
• Identify strategic partnership opportunities that can accelerate our programs or reduce operational risk

Business Operations Leadership

• Partner with the VPs, Clinical Operations on budget planning, forecasting, and resource allocation across the clinical portfolios
• Develop operational dashboards and reporting tools to provide leadership with real-time visibility into outsourcing spend, contract status, and vendor performance
• Contribute to continuous improvement of clinical operations processes, tools, and infrastructure
• Mentor and develop junior members of the operations team

Required Education & Experience

• BA/BS degree with 10+ years of experience in clinical operations, business operations, or a related function within biotech, pharma, or a clinical CRO
• Experience at a small or mid-size biotech with lean teams and high ownership expectations highly preferred
• Background in both oncology and rare disease therapeutic areas highly preferred
• Deep expertise in clinical contracting, CRO/vendor management, and commercial negotiations
• Demonstrated experience managing complex vendor relationships across Phase 2 and/or Phase 3 clinical trials
• Strong understanding of clinical development processes, ICH/GCP guidelines, and the regulatory landscape for oncology and/or rare disease
• Proven ability to negotiate large, complex contracts and rate structures with external vendors
• Experience with Regulatory inspections and GCP audits, ensuring site readiness and organization
• Exceptional organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously in a fast-paced environment
• Strong executive presence and communication skills; comfortable presenting to senior leadership and external partners
• Experience building or formalizing vendor governance programs from the ground up
• Familiarity with clinical financial systems, budgeting tools, and contract management platforms

Pay Range and Benefits

Base Salary Range: $225,236 - $240,000

Individual compensation will be determined based on factors such as work location, skills, education, training, and experience.

What we offer US-based Employees:

• Competitive base, bonus, new hire and ongoing equity packages
• The starting compensation range(s) for this role is for a full-time employee (FTE) basis
• Benefit offerings are subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable plans in effect at the time and may require enrollment
• Employer-paid Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Employer-paid life insurance, AD&D, short-term disability, long-term disability, and EAP coverage
• 401(k) Plan with a fully vested company match 1:1 up to 4% of contributions
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• 14 -18 paid holidays, including office closure between December 25th and January 1st
• Flexible vacation
• Sick time
• Fitness Program
• Get Outdoors Program
• Paid parental leave benefit
• Tuition assistance

Job Type: Full-Time

Work authorization: United States (Required)

Work Location: Remote

Equal Opportunity Employer: Tyra Biosciences, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to providing a work environment free of harassment and discrimination based upon a protected category, as well as an environment free from retaliation for protected activity.

Notice to Recruiters and Third-Party Agencies: The Talent Acquisition team manages the recruitment and employment process for Tyra. To protect the interests of all parties involved, Tyra will only accept resumes from a recruiter once a fully-executed search agreement is in place. Agencies are hereby specifically directed not to contact Tyra employees directly in an attempt to present candidates. Tyra will consider any candidate for whom an Agency and/or Recruiter has submitted an unsolicited resume to have been referred, free of any charges or fees.