VP of Clinical Operations

About the role

Clinical trials still run on five disconnected systems, a spreadsheet, and hope. Sponsors lose visibility the moment data enters the site. By the time a risk surfaces, it's already a problem. We built R1 to change that — an agentic AI platform that unifies EDC, IRT, eCOA, CTMS, and study timelines into real-time operational intelligence. We're hiring the first VP of Clinical Operations at Espresso. This is a player-coach position — hands-on customer deployments, sponsor-facing credibility, and building the ClinOps function from scratch.

Responsibilities

• Own the clinical success of our active pilots with pharma sponsors — ensure they succeed, extract the learnings, translate them into product improvements.
• Be our clinical voice in every sales conversation. You'll sit across from VP-level sponsors and make R1 credible.
• Define what good looks like for AI-assisted risk-based monitoring, shaping our RBQM methodology and how R1 operationalizes it.
• Make your first hire — and lay the groundwork for the team we need in year two.

Requirements

• 10+ years in clinical trial operations with real sponsor-side accountability
• Direct experience managing CRAs, Study Managers, or ClinOps teams
• Working knowledge of EDC, IRT, eCOA, and CTMS — operational, not theoretical
• Genuine fluency in risk-based monitoring — you've run it, not just read about it
• Startup or growth-stage experience: you know what it means to build without a playbook
• East Coast based (Boston strongly preferred)

Benefits

• Meaningful equity at an early stage — you'll own a real piece of what you build
• A direct line to the CEO — no middle layers, no bureaucracy
• The chance to shape both a company and a category
• A product that already works, and customers who already see the value