Senior Director, Project Management & Operational Excellence

We are seeking a Senior Director, Project Management & Operational Excellence to lead the Project Management function and strengthen execution across development programs and other key strategic initiatives. You will establish a fit-for-purpose Project Management Office, integrate priorities, plans, risks, decisions and resources, and provide clear enterprise visibility that supports timely decision-making and reliable delivery.

We are seeking a Senior Director, Project Management & Operational Excellence to lead the Project Management function and strengthen execution across development programs and other key strategic initiatives. You will establish a fit-for-purpose Project Management Office, integrate priorities, plans, risks, decisions and resources, and provide clear enterprise visibility that supports timely decision-making and reliable delivery.
Reporting to the SVP, Clinical Development Operations, you will lead four experienced project managers. Each project manager will support a development program or other key strategic projects, working closely with functional leaders and cross-functional teams. To be successful in this role you must be a strategic leader who is comfortable with hands‑on program management, operational excellence, change leadership and pragmatic execution.

• Lead the Project Management and Operational Excellence function and define its vision, strategy, operating model and roadmap.
• Lead, coach and develop four project managers supporting development programs and other key strategic projects.
• Allocate project‑management resources based on portfolio priorities, project complexity, critical milestones and organisational needs.
• Establish clear objectives, responsibilities and performance expectations for the team.
• Build a strong project‑management community across company with consistent standards, tools and ways of working.
• Establish and continuously improve fit‑for‑purpose governance, planning, reporting, risk‑management and decision‑support practices.
• Ensure project managers develop and maintain integrated plans linking functional deliverables, milestones, dependencies, assumptions, resources and decision points.
• Provide oversight and guidance across programs and strategic projects while maintaining clear accountability for delivery within each cross‑functional team.
• Monitor critical‑path and near‑critical activities, cross‑functional dependencies, capacity constraints and emerging risks.
• Ensure material changes in assumptions, scope, timelines or resources are assessed promptly for downstream impact.
• Provide portfolio‑level visibility into priorities, commitments, trade‑offs, risks and resource requirements.
• Drive alignment across functions on deliverables, timelines, responsibilities and escalation needs.
• Ensure risks and issues are identified, assessed, owned, mitigated and escalated appropriately.
• Lead operational coordination and readiness planning for major development and regulatory milestones.
• Design and facilitate effective programme, project and governance forums with clear decision rights, accountabilities and outputs.
• Prepare concise executive updates, scenarios and recommendations to support timely, informed decisions.
• Maintain traceability of key decisions and actions and ensure timely follow‑through.
• Develop forward‑looking dashboards and performance indicators that provide actionable insights.
• Lead targeted operational‑excellence and process‑improvement initiatives across development and other functions.
• Drive adoption of new processes, systems, governance models and ways of working while avoiding unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Promote learning across programs and strategic projects by systematically capturing and applying lessons…