Assoc. Dir., Discovery and Translational Portfolio Management (Hybrid)

MSD•Rahway, NJ

12d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Associate Director, Discovery & Translational Portfolio Management, is a core functional area member of Project and Leadership teams in Discovery and Early Development. Partnering with therapeutic area and functional area leadership, the Associate Director, Discovery & Translational Portfolio Management will help plan and execute our company's discovery, translational biomarker, early development, and in-line portfolio efforts. Portfolio managers are seen as strategic partners to the Functional Leads and/or Therapeutic Area (TA) Leads and Governance Committee Chairs and may manage multiple cross-functional and/or cross-divisional committees. They are also expected to contribute to ongoing business process improvement and talent development in GPAM.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required; concentration in a scientific or applied discipline strongly preferred
Minimum of five (5) years of experience in project or portfolio management or a related role required.
Demonstrated leadership and ethics; demonstrated ability to hold others accountable for delivery
Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a team setting, including demonstrated experience building and leading teams, committees, task forces, etc.
Strong collaboration and problem-solving skills; able to establish effective working relationships with employees at all levels, resolve conflict and provide feedback, and to devise and implement creative solutions to problems
Strong communication skills, both oral and written; demonstrated ability to speak up appropriately and to raise issues to teams and management
Adaptability
Change Management
Clinical Research
Cross-Functional Team Leadership
Data Analysis
Drug Development
Leadership
Multiple Therapeutic Areas
Portfolio Management
Process Optimization
Project Portfolio Management (PPM)
Publications Management
Regulatory Compliance
Risk Management
Sourcing and Procurement
Strategic Planning
Strategic Thinking
Terminology Management

Nice To Haves

Advanced degree preferred (MS, PhD, MBA)
Experience in the pharmaceutical/biotechnology industry strongly preferred, specifically in the phases of discovery, preclinical and/or early development.
Project management certification (PMP), Portfolio management certification (PMP) and/or formal coursework/training in project or portfolio management

Responsibilities

Understands, synthesizes, and aligns biomarker and translational needs across Discovery and Development portfolios, including anticipated timing, in partnership with the Translational biomarker leads and cross-functional stakeholders
Works with Translational, Biomarker, and cross-functional partners within a matrixed environment to ensure strategy is supported by executable plans, appropriate timelines, and realistic assumptions.
Maintains accurate portfolio data in enterprise databases.
Summarizes portfolio metrics, issues and documents/presentations for senior management/governance committees to inform decision-making, with a focus on strategy and execution of Translational work.
Provides our company's organizational and process expertise to teams to enable navigation of discovery, development, and corporate governance and business requirements.
Collaborates effectively with functional areas, support functions, and alliance partner functions (if applicable) to facilitate project/portfolio delivery.
Manages strategic, cross-functional or cross-divisional management, governance, or alliance committees
Prepares for, facilitates, and documents outcomes of leadership team meetings, ensuring meetings have clear purpose and objectives and that conflict is surfaced and resolved.
Proactively identifies and helps address opportunities for process improvement in translational biomarker workflows, tools, and systems
Provides mentoring, coaching, and oversight to Specialist/Senior Specialist project/Portfolio Managers working on common projects
Actively participates and completes ongoing training and personal development activities to increase leadership competency and to gain knowledge and skill in the discipline of project/portfolio management and the business and science of pharmaceutical product discovery and development and associated translational activities.
Partners with Finance to ensure resource/budget planning and management.