Executive Director, Development Asset Leadership

Supernus Pharmaceuticals is an award-winning biopharmaceutical company with more than 30 years of experience in developing and commercializing products that treat central nervous system (CNS) diseases. At Supernus, we develop innovative products that help treat neurological and psychiatric conditions. We currently have 9 products in the market that are making a real impact on patient outcomes.

Job Summary:  

The Executive Director, Development Asset Leadership, is responsible for leading the oversight and execution of Supernus’s pharmaceutical development programs from early discoveries through commercialization. This executive role is responsible for defining, prioritizing, managing, and driving cross functional execution of the company’s asset development program(s) to ensure alignment with corporate strategy, scientific excellence, and financial objectives. The Executive Director will provide leadership across cross-functional program teams, portfolio management and program management, ensuring successful execution of drug development milestones, risk mitigation, resource optimization, and stakeholder communication.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

• Lead the development, implementation, and continuous refinement of asset development strategies aligned with Target Product Profiles (TPP).
• Define and own the overall clinical strategy, clinical development plans, and Integrated Development Plans.
• Holds cross functional team members accountable for establishing and achieving ambitious yet attainable annual objectives.
• Work with Portfolio and Program Management to establish KPIs for each development program.
• Drive, facilitate, and oversee the development and execution of clinical development plans, protocol generation, study design, and endpoints to ensure that programs meet their intended value in alignment with TPP.
• Partner with portfolio and program management to lead and inspire cross functional teams of preclinical, CMC, medical writers, clinical development, clinical operations, biostatistics, and regulatory to execute on the development strategy across programs.
• Partner with Executive Leadership to align portfolio decisions with company strategy, scientific priorities, and market needs.
• Oversee portfolio governance processes, including prioritization frameworks, resource allocation, and scenario planning.
• Develop and utilize KPIs, dashboards, and performance metrics to track portfolio progress, risk, and decision making across programs.
• Provide executive leadership for all cross-functional development programs (preclinical, clinical, regulatory, CMC, commercial).
• Ensure programs are delivered on time, within scope and budget, and in alignment with quality and compliance standards.
• Build, lead, and mentor high-performing Portfolio & Program Management teams and hold teams accountable for deliverables.
• Foster strong working relationships across R&D, Regulatory, Commercial, Finance, and other departments.
• Serves as the key liaison to the Executive Committee for program/portfolio status updates, investment cases, and critical risks.
• Lead program review committees and other governance bodies to support decision making.
• Support business development, partnership evaluations, and due diligence processes from a portfolio perspective.
• Oversees the Internal Controls in Areas of Responsibilities.
• Other responsibilities and projects assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

• Provides leadership and management in an effective manner consistent with Company Values towards defined Corporate Objectives.
• Understands Company Policy and procedure to be able to guide direct reports appropriately.

Knowledge & Other Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree required and a minimum of 14 years of relevant experience in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry, including at least 10 years in R&D program/portfolio management leadership roles.
• Advanced degree in life sciences (PhD, PharmD, MD) strongly preferred, master’s degree is a plus.
• Demonstrated success leading complex, cross-functional drug development programs across multiple phases (e.g., IND through NDA/BLA submission and approval).
• Experience in CNS (Psych and Neuro), and/or Orphan/Rare Diseases preferred.
• Experience in both pharma and high-growth biotech environments preferred.
• Ability to understand large, complex budgets and accurately track expenditures against them.
• Strong presentation skills with the ability to influence at all levels of the organization.

Other Characteristics:

• Ability to work independently and as part of a tea