Associate Director- Strategic Operations

Project Role:

Associate Director- Strategic Operations Work Experience:

9 to 15 Years Work location:

Pan India Work Mode:

Home Based/Remote Must Have Skills:

Change management, Project management, PROSCI Certified, Clinical/Pharma/CRO experience Shift : Flexible (with overlap in US/UK time zones)

Job Overview: The Associate Director, Strategic Operations serves as a strategic change management advisor, with primary responsibility for supporting external partners through complex transformation initiatives. This role provides expert guidance on change strategy, adoption best practices, and cross-organizational alignment to enable effective collaboration, accelerate adoption, and drive measurable value realization across organizational boundaries. The Associate Director partners closely with internal and external stakeholders to align approaches, mitigate adoption risks, and ensure change strategies are scaled appropriately as strategic partnerships evolve. Reporting into the DSSM Change Management Office (CMO), this role also has secondary responsibilities supporting the DSSM AI Change Management program, including advising on AI-based tool adoption, user understanding, and readiness. As DSSM’s AI maturity and external partnerships continue to expand, the scope and depth of partner engagement and internal AI-focused responsibilities may evolve over time.

Key Responsibilities: Serve as a strategic change management advisor to external partners, guiding complex transformation initiatives across organizational boundaries. Design and deliver structured change management approaches supporting external partner transformations, including communications, training, engagement, and reinforcement. Lead and support internal change management initiatives across the organization Drive adoption of AI-led tools and solutions, including AI Copilot Support and enable new strategic partnerships Manage and oversee end-to-end project execution, ensuring timely delivery and business value Collaborate with global stakeholders across US and UK time zones Contribute to the development and execution of strategic operational initiatives Apply Lean Six Sigma principles to improve processes and drive efficiency Act as a key advisor on change readiness and transformation strategies. Establish clear governance, decision frameworks, and KPIs to drive accountability and momentum across multi‑workstream initiatives. Facilitate change management upskilling and coaching of senior leaders, frontline managers and business experts to champion the change and reinforce new behaviors Ensure projects are delivered on time, in scope, on budget, and aligned with strategic priorities Help maintain standards, templates, and best practices around project management and change delivery Communicate clearly with executive sponsors and senior leaders on project status, risks, tradeoffs, and outcomes.

Skills & Abilities: Bachelor’s degree (Master’s preferred) in Business, Operations, or related field PROSCI Change Management Certification (Mandatory) Domain/industry experience (Mandatory) Lean Six Sigma certification preferred Minimum 2+ years of hands-on experience in change management Proven experience in project management and strategic operations Experience working in a global or cross-regional role Extensive program / project planning and execution skills in handling large and complex change and transformation programs/projects Ability to empower others toward project goals Expert user of MS PowerPoint, Smartsheet Working knowledge or experience with AI technologies (especially AI Copilot tools) Exceptional communication skills, including facilitation and executive presentations. Strong program governance and delivery leadership with the ability to guide project teams through CM activities when working in Agile environments. Ability to operate in a fast-paced, dynamic environment Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities

Additional Requirements Availability to work with overlapping US/UK time zones Ability to work independently in a remote/home-based setup Experience in cross-functional and multicultural teams