Executive Director, Development Project Management

Job Description

Global Project and Alliance Management (GPAM) sits in the Research and Development organization. The Project Managers and Alliance Managers in GPAM are core members of development and alliance teams. Project Managers drive these cross-functional teams to deliver projects and products that improve human health and our company's business, and Alliance Managers ensure successful collaborations with our R&D alliance partners.

Position Description:

This position may be based in either Rahway, NJ, or Upper Gwynedd, PA. Under the broad guidance of the AVP/VP, Global Project and Alliance Management (GPAM), the incumbent will spend 50-70% of their time focused on one or more of the following: 

• Leading the project management efforts to support a set or series of therapeutically aligned development programs

• Acting as a PM and Drug Development Advisor to staff and project teams

• Leading and/or directing a critical change project relating to systems and operations or our company's strategic planning

• Governance processes or processes within the development sphere

• Identifying and evaluating PM best practices

• Representing our companyh through participation and/or leadership in external PM societies and organizations and overseeing implementation of identified best practices within our company. 

​In performing these responsibilities, the incumbent is expected to demonstrate enterprise leadership through strategic planning, execution excellence, and the cultivation of internal and external networks and partnerships to advance our company's long‑term development and business objectives. The remaining 30-50% of time will be devoted to developing talent in GPAM and in ensuring that the operations of the department are running smoothly.  Emphasis will be on development of PM talent through management of project managers and those who manage PMs, as well as effective communication and collaboration with all stakeholder groups.

Management of Development/ Change Projects:

• The Executive Director, Development PM (General and Specialty Medicine) will be expected to be expert in the principles of project management and must be able to apply these skills effectively, with relatively broad managerial direction and minimal oversight, to the management of development or change projects which are of significant impact to our company. 

• Assigned development projects and/or project portfolios would be those that require extensive experience with drug development across divisions and company processes and procedures related to drug/ vaccine/ biologics development due to their significant importance to the company or complexity. 

• The incumbent is expected to plan strategically by obtaining and integrating relevant information, identifying key issues, interdependencies, and risks, and evaluating alternative approaches before committing to a course of action that supports long‑range organizational goals, available resources, constraints, and company values.

• Change projects and/ or strategic planning efforts would be those that significantly impact the functioning of Development Teams, company processes relating to the progression of the development pipeline, or company operations overall.  This includes identifying, designing and implementing efficient and effective project and portfolio management systems and information sharing modalities.

• The incumbent will inspire excellence and drive execution by translating strategic priorities into compliant operational plans, establishing clear standards, roles, accountabilities, and governance, and ensuring that execution is supported by appropriate resources, internal processes, and performance measurement systems that yield measurable and sustainable results.

• The incumbent will be expected to represent our company and be active in external PM societies and organizations, actively identifying new trends and/ or best practices in project management and determining which should be evaluated and/ or implemented within our company.  This includes leveraging external insights and relationships to continuously strengthen our company's project management capabilities. A view towards improving PM skills and fostering a more widespread use of useful PM tools more fully within our company is expected.

• The incumbent will be expected to lead and/ or actively participate in change/ process improvement initiatives within our company that require extensive product development experience and understanding of our company's procedures and policies. The incumbent will be expected to b