Group Lead, Director of Program Management

Group Lead, Director of Program Management

Location: Portsmouth, NH, USA. (Relocation assistance is available for eligible candidates and their families, if needed.)

Schedule: Monday – Friday (Standard Business Hours).

We are seeking an executive leader to join us as the Group Lead, Director of Program Management in Portsmouth, NH. In this role, you will manage a direct team of PMs, driving a culture of accountability, teamwork, and program ownership. Operating with strategic autonomy, you will oversee risk profiles across our portfolios and champion effective mitigation plans. Serving as a vital cross-functional anchor, you will act as a primary interface between clients and Lonza to ensure project delivery matches expectations while upholding Global Program and Project Center of Excellence (PPM CoE) standards.

What will you get?

• An agile career and dynamic working culture

• An inclusive and ethical workplace

• Strategic Leadership Footprint: Directly shape and elevate a high-performing team of PM professionals while influencing portfolio execution site-wide.

• Client Advocacy Ownership: Act as a primary on-site champion for key pharmaceutical and biotech partners, translating their project visions into operational successes.

• Compensation programs that recognize high performance

• Medical, dental and vision insurance, as well as PTO and more

• Our full list of global benefits can be found here: https://www.lonza.com/careers/benefits.

What you’ll do:

• People Leadership & Talent Development: Lead, motivate, and develop a direct team of Project Managers; establish clear performance expectations, champion career development initiatives, and cultivate a healthy life-work balance.

• Portfolio & Risk Oversight: Maintain a comprehensive, holistic view of the direct team's program portfolio, guiding PMs through risk assessments, issue profiles, tactical mitigation plans, and financial success.

• Customer Interface & Advocacy: Serve as a core link between the customer and Lonza to drive execution; deeply understand customer requirements and represent their interests as an authoritative on-site advocate.

• Cross-Functional Project Accountability: Oversee the operational execution of multi-disciplinary, cross-functional project teams to deliver complex scopes with the highest level of quality.

• PPM CoE Standards Governance: Enforce strict adherence to Global Program and Project Center of Excellence (PPM CoE) standards, ensuring data integrity excellence and rigorous project tracking inside Planview.

• Best Practice Deployment: Champion the implementation of standardized PM tools, workflows, and best practices across the team to optimize delivery timelines.

• Cross-Functional Mentorship: Act as a strategic mentor for individuals across other site functions and coordinate with Account Management/Sales to maximize client satisfaction throughout the program lifecycle.

What we’re looking for:

• Industry Experience: 10+ years of professional experience within the Life Sciences, Pharmaceuticals, Biotech, or Medical Device industries is highly preferred.

• Influence & Consensus Building: Demonstrated ability to build consensus between external clients and internal teams; exceptional capacity to "influence without authority" across a matrixed environment to achieve organizational goals.

• CDMO Background: Prior experience working within a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) or a fast-paced contract manufacturing environment is highly preferred.

• Project Management Expertise: Deep operational experience in Project or Program Management, utilizing structured PM Standard Work processes to lead complex project lifecycles.

• Supervisory Capabilities: Proven experience supervising direct reports, managing performance metrics, and building team capabilities is preferred.

• Technical Asset Familiarity: A technical understanding of mammalian cell culture manufacturing is ideal, though not explicitly required.

• Education: Bachelor’s Degree is required, preferably in a related Life Sciences or technical discipline.

• Certifications: Project Management Professional (PMP) or a relevant, verified PM certification is highly preferred.

About Lonza

At Lonza, our people are our gre