Sr. Director, Global Pharmaceutical Program Manager - Late Stage Development

At Alcon, we are driven by the meaningful work we do to help people see brilliantly. We innovate boldly, champion progress, and act with speed as the global leader in eye care. Here, you’ll be recognized for your commitment and contributions and see your career like never before. Together, we go above and beyond to make an impact in the lives of our patients and customers.

Role Summary: The Senior Director, Pharma Program Management is responsible for leading and driving the execution of Alcon’s most critical development projects (Alcon Top Projects, ATPs), taking full ownership and accountability for technical, commercial, and strategic deliverables. This role reports directly to the Global Franchise Head and serves as the central Project and Core Team leader. It emphasizes fostering collaboration, ownership, and accountability to ensure the successful, cost-effective completion of project deliverables at the late stages of development. Drives delivery of quality project milestones while seeking opportunities to accelerate delivery and navigate challenges with urgency and complete accountability. Responsible for content reporting to Alcon’s Innovation Board for new product development.

Key Responsibilities:

• Define and manage the project’s execution path in alignment with governance requirements.

• Collaborate with functional stakeholders and senior management to design, develop, and launch products that meet customer needs and business objectives, with a focus on commercialization.

• Ensure Core Team members and relevant stakeholders are aligned to project strategies; constructively challenge team members and other stakeholders where relevant Resolve conflicts within the team and with stakeholders to ensure smooth project execution.

• Drive team accountability for deliverables, managing cross-functional dependencies.

• Lead project reviews and discussions with senior management, governance bodies, and Innovation Boards.

• Oversee project budgets, risk management, and issue escalation with proactive problem-solving.

• Prioritize business-critical activities that drive value, balancing time, quality, and risk factors.

• Participate in selecting Core Team members and managing their performance.

Key Skills & Essential Requirements:

Domain:

• Deep expertise in marketing, commercial, regulatory, and manufacturing processes, with an advanced degree in science preferred.

• Proven experience leading global product launches or comparable projects.

• Strong understanding of product development processes, tradeoffs, and technical/scientific knowledge.

• Strategic project management skills, including budgeting, timeline management, and resource allocation.

• Proven problem-solving abilities with a history of innovation in technical environments.

Leadership:

• Demonstrated experience as a leader in matrix environments, driving cross-functional teams to success.

• Excellent communication skills and executive presence with the ability to motivate teams and manage key stakeholders.

• Ability to build strong networks across the organization and influence senior leadership.

• Expertise in managing complex project risks and resolving issues.

• Ability to project confidence and decisiveness in high-pressure situations.

Behavioral:

• Drives efficient task execution, demonstrating ownership and personal accountability for project success.

• Provides direction and leadership to the team, focusing on execution rather than mediating consensus.

• Quickly responds to new information, realigning projects with the broader business strategy as needed.

• Facilitates expeditious decision-making by considering enterprise-wide impacts.

• Challenges conventional thinking and promotes innovation while ensuring focus remains on value-driven activities.

• Fosters a culture of collaboration, transparency, and trust within the team.

Preferred Requirements:

• 5+ years of experience successfully leading multiple, complex, high visibility and strategically important medical device projects and product launches, with an annual spend greater than $10m per project.

• Advanced understanding of, and project leadership experience across, the full medical device new product development lifecycle, from initiation to launch. 

• Significant experience leading broad cross-functional teams with heavy and diverse engineering and scientific membership. 

• Advanced degree in releva