Clinical Research Payments Specialist

**Clinical Research Payments Specialist**

The Clinical Research Payments Specialist independently manages end-to-end clinical research payment operations for assigned studies and sites, from study start-up through financial closeout. This role administers investigator and site payments, participant reimbursements, and related clinical research financial activities in alignment with clinical trial agreements, approved budgets, payment schedules, company policies, and financial controls. The specialist serves as a primary operational point of contact for payment-related matters, ensures accurate and timely execution of payments, and contributes to financial transparency, forecasting accuracy, and positive research-site relationships. Responsibilities

- Independently manage clinical research payment operations for assigned studies, sites, and programs from study start-up through financial closeout.
- Administer and execute investigator and clinical research site payments in accordance with clinical trial agreements, approved study budgets, payment schedules, study activity, company policies, and applicable financial controls.
- Review and interpret clinical trial agreements, site budgets, payment schedules, amendments, and related financial terms to determine payment requirements and ensure accurate execution of payments in line with contractual obligations.
- Independently resolve routine and moderately complex payment discrepancies, invoice issues, milestone discrepancies, and reconciliation differences, escalating significant contractual, financial, compliance, or business issues as appropriate.
- Serve as the primary operational point of contact for assigned studies regarding investigator payments, site payments, participant reimbursements, invoices, and clinical research financial administration.
- Partner with Clinical Contracts during study start-up and contract amendments to evaluate the operational feasibility of proposed payment terms, schedules, milestones, and payment structures.
- Manage payment activities associated with participant visits, study milestones, enrollment activities, screen failures, start-up fees, closeout fees, pass-through expenses, and other approved study costs.
- Oversee and support participant reimbursement and stipend processes, where applicable, to facilitate timely reimbursement of approved study-related participant expenses.
- Develop and maintain study-level and site-level payment forecasts, trackers, and financial reconciliation records to provide visibility into completed payments, outstanding liabilities, upcoming obligations, and financial closeout status.
- Reconcile clinical research payment data across systems and source documentation, including clinical trial management systems (CTMS), electronic data capture systems, financial systems, payment platforms, executed agreements, approved budgets, invoices, and study activity records.
- Identify discrepancies between contractual obligations, study activity, invoices, accruals, forecasts, and actual payments, and drive resolution with appropriate internal and external stakeholders.
- Perform periodic payment reconciliation throughout the study lifecycle rather than relying solely on study closeout to identify outstanding financial obligations.
- Lead site-level financial reconciliation and payment closeout activities for assigned studies, ensuring outstanding payments, credits, invoices, and discrepancies are appropriately identified, resolved, and documented.
- Proactively identify aging payments, payment delays, financial discrepancies, and operational risks that could affect site relationships, study execution, participant experience, or financial accuracy, and recommend appropriate corrective actions.
- Coordinate with Clinical Affairs, Clinical Operations, Clinical Contracts, Finance, Accounts Payable, Procurement, CROs, research sites, and other stakeholders to resolve payment issues and maintain study timelines.

Essential Skills

- High school diploma or equivalent with 4+ years of relevant experience in clinical research, clinical research payments, financial operations, accounts payable, contracts administration, or equivalent experience, OR Associate's Degree with 2+ years of relevant experience, OR Baccalaureate Degree with 1+ year of relevant experience.
- For baccalaureate degrees earned outside of the United States, a degree that satisfies the requirements of 8 C.F.R. § 214.2(h)(4)(iii)(A).
- Working knowledge of clinical research operations, clinical trial agreements and budgets, investigator and site payment processes, financial reconciliation, and financial controls.
- Demonstrated experience independently managing or supporting clinical research site payments, investigator payments, participant reimbursements, clinical trial budgets, invoicing, forecasting, reconciliation, or study financial closeout.
- Proven ability to interpret contractual payment terms and independently resolve routine and moderately complex payment discrepancies.

Additional Skills & Qualifications

- Experience in clinical research payments and financial operations, including investigator payment processes and study financial closeout, is preferred.
- Experience with CTMS, ERP or financial systems, investigator payment platforms, and electronic payment systems in a clinical research environment is preferred.
- Ability to develop and analyze payment-related metrics, such as payment cycle time, aging, outstanding liabilities, forecast-to-actual variance, reconciliation status, and payment accuracy.
- Capability to identify recurring payment issues and recommend enhancements to payment schedules, workflows, controls, systems, automation, reporting, and reconciliation processes.

Work Environment This role operates in a 100% remote work environment, allowing the specialist to manage clinical research payment operations from a home or remote office setting. Work is primarily performed using clinical trial management systems, electronic data capture platforms, financial and ERP systems, investigator payment platforms, and standard office productivity tools. The position involves regular virtual collaboration with cross-functional teams and external research partners across multiple time zones, requiring reliable internet access and a professional remote work setup
Job Type & Location
This is a Contract position based out of Los Angeles, CA.
Pay and Benefits
The pay range for this position is $35.00 - $65.00/hr. Individual compensation offered for this position within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, geographic location, internal equity, and other pertinent job-related factors. Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job
classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be
subject to specific elections, plan, or program terms. If eligible, the benefits
available for this temporary role may include the following:

• Medical, dental & vision
• Critical Illness, Accident, and Hospital
• 401(k) Retirement Plan – Pre-tax and Roth post-tax contributions available
• Life Insurance (Voluntary Life & AD&D for the employee and dependents)
• Short and long-term disability
• Health Spending Account (HSA)
• Transportation benefits
• Employee Assistance Program
• Time Off/Leave (PTO, Vacation or Sick Leave)
Workplace Type
This is a fully remote position.
Application Deadline
This position is anticipated to close on Sep 25, 2026. About Actalent

Actalent is a global leader in engineering and sciences services and talent solutions. We help visionary companies advance their engineering and science initiatives through access to specialized experts who drive scale, innovation and speed to market. With a network of almost 20,000 consultants and 5,000 clients across the U.S., Canada, Asia and Europe, Actalent serves many of the Fortune 500. We are proud to be an Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 500 Design Firm for our engineering design services and a ClearlyRated Best of Staffing® winner for both client and talent service.

The company is an equal opportunity employer and will consider all applications without
regard to race, sex, age, color, religion, national origin, veteran status, disability,
sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information or any characteristic protected
by law.

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation, such as the modification or
adjustment of the job application process or interviewing process due to a disability,
please email [email protected] for other accommodation options.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance:
Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, for all positions located in the
city and county of San Francisco, we will consider for employment qualified applicants
with arrest and conviction records.

Massachusetts Lie Detector:
It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a
condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law
shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI):
We may use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to support parts of our hiring process,
including sourcing, screening, and evaluating candidates. AI helps assess applications
and qualifications, but final decisions are made by our hiring team. By applying, you
acknowledge and agree that your application may be reviewed using AI tools.