Senior Director, Project Management & Operational Excellence

Summary

We are seeking a Senior Director, Project Management & Operational Excellence to lead the Project Management function and strengthen execution across development programs and other key strategic initiatives. You will establish a fit-for-purpose Project Management Office, integrate priorities, plans, risks, decisions and resources, and provide clear enterprise visibility that supports timely decision-making and reliable delivery.

Reporting to the SVP, Clinical Development Operations, you will lead four experienced project managers. Each project manager will support a development program or other key strategic projects, working closely with functional leaders and cross-functional teams. To be successful in this role you must be a strategic leader who is comfortable with hands-on program management, operational excellence, change leadership and pragmatic execution.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Project Management and Operational Excellence function and define its vision, strategy, operating model and roadmap.
• Lead, coach and develop four project managers supporting development programs and other key strategic projects.
• Allocate project-management resources based on portfolio priorities, project complexity, critical milestones and organisational needs.
• Establish clear objectives, responsibilities and performance expectations for the team.
• Build a strong project-management community across company with consistent standards, tools and ways of working.
• Establish and continuously improve fit-for-purpose governance, planning, reporting, risk-management and decision-support practices.
• Ensure project managers develop and maintain integrated plans linking functional deliverables, milestones, dependencies, assumptions, resources and decision points.
• Provide oversight and guidance across programs and strategic projects while maintaining clear accountability for delivery within each cross-functional team.
• Monitor critical-path and near-critical activities, cross-functional dependencies, capacity constraints and emerging risks.
• Ensure material changes in assumptions, scope, timelines or resources are assessed promptly for downstream impact.
• Provide portfolio-level visibility into priorities, commitments, trade-offs, risks and resource requirements.
• Drive alignment across functions on deliverables, timelines, responsibilities and escalation needs.
• Ensure risks and issues are identified, assessed, owned, mitigated and escalated appropriately.
• Lead operational coordination and readiness planning for major development and regulatory milestones.
• Design and facilitate effective programme, project and governance forums with clear decision rights, accountabilities and outputs.
• Prepare concise executive updates, scenarios and recommendations to support timely, informed decisions.
• Maintain traceability of key decisions and actions and ensure timely follow-through.
• Develop forward-looking dashboards and performance indicators that provide actionable insights.
• Lead targeted operational-excellence and process-improvement initiatives across development and other functions.
• Drive adoption of new processes, systems, governance models and ways of working while avoiding unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Promote learning across programs and strategic projects by systematically capturing and applying lessons learned.
• Contribute as a senior member of the Development leadership team and foster accountability, collaboration, constructive challenge and execution excellence.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in life sciences, business or a related discipline. PMP or comparable qualification preferred.
• Typically 12+ years of pharmaceutical or biotechnology experience, including substantial leadership in development program management, portfolio management, PMO or development operations.
• Demonstrated experience leading a project-management function and managing experienced project-management professionals.
• Proven ability to oversee multiple complex, global and cross-functional development programs or strategic projects.
• Experience supporting major regulatory submissions, late-stage development activities or other critical organisational milestones.
• Strong capabilities in integrated planning, governance, critical-path management, risk management, scenario planning and resource prioritisation.
• Excellent executive communication, facilitation, influencing and decision-support skills.
• Ability to operate effectively at both strategic and hands-on levels in a dynamic matrix organisation.
• Experience establishing or advancing a Development PMO or operational-excellence capability preferred.
• Experience in a biotechnology company undergoing development, regulatory or organisational growth preferred.

Additional information

Please note, Immunic does not accept unsolicited resumes from external agencies or recruiters. Submission of a resume without a prior written agreement does not create any express or implied contract between Immunic and the agency. Immunic will not pay any fees related to unsolicited resumes.