Resource Lead
Overall remit
The newly established Resource Lead role is essential to Aspire’s operational effectiveness. This position requires significant medical communications (MedComms) agency experience, strong business sense, and excellent interpersonal skills to support our talented team. In collaboration with account leads, the Resource Lead will anticipate, understand, and meet in-house and freelance resource needs week by week, and respond quickly to unexpected demands for immediate capacity. Through regular and open communication with account leads, business unit and cross-unit team leads, and senior management – supported by financial forecasting insights – you will help promote medium- and long-term resourcing strategies, including identifying recruitment needs. The role covers all areas of client-related operations, such as writing, account and project management, editorial, database management, and creative teams.
Key roles and responsibilities
Resource Planning
- Develop and maintain systems to track current resource plans, providing clear visibility of capacity across all delivery teams, helping to fill gaps and ensure a smooth workflow
- Use insights from revenue recognition and anticipated delivery needs to implement appropriate resourcing solutions for each client account, which may include ad hoc freelance use, temporary secondments, or longer-term contractors
- Consider and manage long-term resource planning by balancing expected team capacity, individual strengths, and opportunities for professional growth or business development
- Look out for individual workload issues; work with account leads, line managers and others to identify and resolve challenges to individual’s work-life balance and support team well-being
- Collaborate with company leaders (and HR when necessary) to plan for future staffing and recruitment needs
- Alongside company leaders and our Innovations Workstream, consider and plan for technology-driven changes in future resourcing and recruitment needs
Resource Coordination
- Oversee the weekly resource cycle and respond to daily ad hoc requests to ensure resources are allocated and used efficiently; when freelance solutions are needed, match skills/experience with team requirements
- Review existing processes and actively suggest appropriate improvements
- Act as the main contact for resource-related queries and disputes, resolving issues with diplomacy
- Identify and address bottlenecks or inefficiencies; communicate and implement best practice and training in resource management across account teams
- Hold regular meetings with account leads to discuss resource allocation, and both immediate and future project requirements
- Provide updates and recommendations to senior management, and attend Management Team meetings when requested
Freelance and External Resource Management
- Monitor freelancer performance regarding work quality, adherence to allocated hours and deadlines, and communication; encourage teams to rate freelancers and regularly review this feedback to inform future engagement
- Identify when freelance or contractor support is needed, obtain necessary approvals, and manage their recruitment and onboarding
- Provide monthly updates on anticipated freelancer usage over a given timeframe to help with financial tracking
- Check contractor freelancer timesheets in partnership with a project team member
- Build and maintain strong relationships with freelancers, including regular check-ins to ensure productive collaboration
Key Attributes
- Proven experience in resource management or a similar role in a fast-paced MedComms environment handling large volumes of projects and people simultaneously
- Collaborative and problem-solving mindset, with the ability to build trusted relationships with diverse team members, stakeholders and business leaders
- Deep understanding of delivering high-quality, compliant and impactful MedComms projects for clients in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries
- Strategic thinking paired with strong execution skills, and adaptability to ever-changing resourcing needs
- Objective decision-making based on listening to team needs and aligning with business priorities
- Exceptional organisational, prioritisation and time management skills, and attention to detail
- Outstanding negotiation and communication abilities, emphasising transparency, fairness and diplomacy in balancing competing priorities
- Commitment to our people-first culture and dedication to fostering a positive, productive and collaborative work environment that prioritises team well-being and provides all team members with opportunities for development.
Aspire Scientific: Vision and Values
Culture
- We care for our team by fostering a people-first culture of trust, transparency, and flexibility that actively encourages a healthy and sustainable work–life balance.
Talent
- We recruit, invest in, and retain outstanding people. We provide the resources and ongoing training and development opportunities to nurture talented, stable teams who excel at what they do.
Excellence
- We develop successful client partnerships through excellence in medical writing and communication, underpinned by therapy area knowledge, industry expertise and a commitment to best practices.