Chief of Staff to the CEO

Certara

19d

About The Position

Certara accelerates the potential of bringing medicines to market and to patients using biosimulation software, technology, and services to transform traditional drug discovery and development. Our clients include more than 2,400 biopharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, and regulatory agencies across 70 countries. Our goal is to enable the life sciences industry’s use of data, modeling, and analytics to make better decisions across the various phases of discovery and drug development. Our software and scientists incorporate modern advances in scientific understanding, drug development experience, data analysis, and AI resulting in significant opportunities to decrease the cost and increase the probability of success for new drug approval and commercialization. The Chief of Staff is a senior execution leader who partners closely with the CEO to ensure enterprise priorities move forward with clarity, discipline, and momentum. The role blends strong execution capability with strategic judgment and financial acumen, supporting effective decision-making and reliable follow-through in a complex, regulated healthcare environment. Working across senior leaders and functions, the Chief of Staff helps translate direction into action, coordinates cross-functional efforts, and proactively identifies and resolves issues that could slow progress or impact outcomes.

Requirements

10+ years of experience in operations, strategy, consulting, finance, or general management
Experience operating at a Senior Director/VP level in a global, matrixed organization
Demonstrated ability to drive execution across senior stakeholders without formal authority
Strong strategic thinking and financial acumen, with comfort evaluating trade-offs
Deep understanding of the market in which Certara operates and the healthcare landscape and environment in general
Previous experience working in the healthcare and/or life sciences space
Strong problem-solving skills – be able to respond quickly and creatively to address issues
Works independently and collaboratively
Thrives in a fast-paced, global environment
Successfully navigates the organization and “connects the dots”
Influences others without direct authority to drive decision making
Able to represent the CEO and provide guidance on their behalf
Strong attention to detail
Comfortable with ambiguity; is a self-starter and problem solves / drafts deliverables without significant guidance, but also knows when to ask questions / seek clarity from CEO
Effective at time management with strong project management skills
Diplomatic but direct with communication
High EQ with humility, maturity & situational sensitivity
Demonstrated business acumen – understands the marketplace, competitors, technology and what is needed for sustained operating results
Communicates effectively with strong executive presence

Nice To Haves

MBA or other advanced degree preferred

Responsibilities

Drive execution and follow-through on CEO-level priorities, decisions, and commitments
Translate direction into clear actions, owners, timelines, and success measures
Build and run a consistent operating cadence for executive-level work
Ensure meetings are well-prepared and result in clear decisions and documentation of actions and next steps
Track progress and hold owners accountable for delivery
Enable efficient decision-making, and reliable documentation of actions and next steps
Coordinate complex initiatives across business units, R&D, commercial, finance, and operations
Drive alignment and momentum across complex, multi-functional activities
Manage interdependencies and alignment across leadership and senior stakeholders
Reinforce clarity of ownership without formal authority
Act as a connective leader across functions
Apply strategic thinking to frame problems and assess implications
Evaluate trade-offs using financial, operational, and organizational considerations
Partner with Finance, BU Presidents and Commercial to track performance against goals and budgets
Work across functions to develop frameworks for consistent reporting of KPI’s and other key metrics and data to drive decisions
Proactively identify risks, bottlenecks, misalignments and opportunities
Resolve issues where possible and selectively escalating with clear context and recommended options as needed
Coordinate inputs for key activities including Board of Director and Committee meetings, investor meetings, industry conferences and miscellaneous customer interactions
Develop/update annual communications plans for the organization
Support multiple enterprise-wide internal communications activities including Town Halls, CEO Communications, internal and external presentations and speeches
Enable and orchestrate cascade and reinforcement of messages via the ELT, Extended LT, and other stakeholders