Director, Drug Development Project Management & Pipeline Strategy

Position Summary

This role will partner closely with Quotient's drug development project leaders and matrix teams to translate their scientific strategy into robust, integrated drug development project plans, and drive flawless execution of Quotient's early drug pipeline.

This role is accountable for planning, execution, and coordination across functional teams (e.g., drug discovery, translational medicine, biology, drug development strategy, and finance) as well as external CROs and collaborators.

The successful candidate will coordinate and run drug development matrix project meetings, maintain governance-ready dashboards and decision logs, oversee budgets, contracts, and resource needs, and readiness for key drug development review milestones.

By leveraging subject matter experts across key Research and Development functions to develop end-to-end drug development plans and execution strategies, this role will provide operational and planning leadership to drug development matrix teams, manage risks and interdependencies, consider regulatory and compliance requirements, and support reviews for Quotient's Executive team and Board of Directors.

This role will also support the development of Quotient's drug discovery pipeline strategy with scenario-based analyses based on landscape and competitive intelligence data. Given the close integration of Quotient's proprietary genetics platform into the drug discovery process, this role will interface with research operations and strategy to build a seamless, end-to-end view of Quotient's R&D pipeline.

This role will report to the Chief Development Officer (CDO). The role could be based at Quotient's UK or US site.

Responsibilities

• With drug development matrix teams, support the translation of overarching drug development strategy and vision into integrated, detailed project plans (scope, milestones, critical paths, dependencies, risks) across functions.
• Monitor progress versus plan; proactively identify issues and interdependencies, escalate to project leads as needed, and coordinate cross-functional mitigation plans
• Schedule, structure, and run project team meetings (set agendas, pre-reads, minutes, action logs), track and drive closure of decisions and actions.
• Build and maintain governance-ready views (dashboards, status summaries, decision logs) to enable Quotient's Executive team and Board of Directors reviews
• Support SMEs in operational execution with external partners (e.g., CROs), ensuring deliverables, timelines, and obligations are clearly understood and met.
• Support functional heads in forecasting and tracking resource needs (FTE, external partners) across projects and the pipeline, flag constraints and propose options.
• Coordinate budgets closely with the VP of Finance and track spend vs. plan and contracted scopes.
• Establish and maintain a structured risk and issue management process (identification, impact assessment, mitigation/contingency, owners, timelines).
• Support compliance with regulatory and quality expectations by organizing documentation and tracking contributions to regulatory submissions etc.
• Maintain shared repositories (SharePoint, dashboards, trackers) for plans, data summaries, and decision histories to improve transparency and continuity.
• Identify and implement continuous operational improvements to increase DD matrix team efficiency and focus on high-value scientific work.
• Support the development of Quotient's drug discovery pipeline strategy and, with members of Research Operations and Strategy, develop a holistic and end-to-end view of Quotient's Research and Development pipeline.

Qualifications

Essential

• Bachelor's degree in biological sciences or related discipline
• Proven track record of applying project management methodologies in complex, matrixed environments; significant experience (typically 5-10 years) in drug development within pharmaceutical, or biotech industry settings
• Knowledge and experience in drug discovery and an understanding of the principles of clinical development, drug discovery, regulatory strategy
• Established expertise and hands-on experience with project management tools (e.g. Microsoft Project, Smartsheet, or equivalent), Microsoft Office applications, and a working understanding of innovative AI and knowledge management technologies (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, CoPilot, Notion etc)

Desirable

• Formal Project Management Qualifications (e.g. PMP or PRINCE2 certification)
• Advanced scientific degree
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically and execute multiple projects simultaneously
• Experience with data, AI, or real-world evidence initiatives
• Highly effective communication skills (verbal, written, and presentation) for a wide variety of audiences/stakeholders, including technical and business
• An appreciation of drug target research and/or genetic research workflows and how these interface with drug discovery workflows

Values and Behaviors

• Encourage respectful disagreement and cultivate open-minded, ego-free interactions to continuously push each other towards excellence
• Seek out diverse perspectives; practice active listening and genuine curiosity to ensure all contributions are valued, regardless of source
• Recognize the impact of your behavior, language and attitudes, and strive for balanced, meaningful exchanges that enhance mutual growth and understanding in all interactions
• Use a company-first mindset to guide decision-making; prioritize team over individual success
• Take calculated risks and challenge convention in the quest for exceptional outcomes