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.

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 learned.

• Contribute as a senior member of the Development leadership team and foster accountability, collaboration, constructive challenge and execution excellence.

• Bachelor's degree in life sciences, business or a related discipline. PMP or comparable qualification preferred.

• Typically 12+ years of pharmaceutical or biotechnology experience, including substantial leadership in development program management,…