Assoc Director Discovery & Translational Portfolio Management (Hybrid)

Merck•North Wales, PA

6d•$129,000 - $203,100•Hybrid

About The Position

Global Project and Alliance Management (GPAM) sits in the R&D organization at our Company's Research Laboratories. The Project Managers and Alliance Managers in GPAM are core members of discovery, development, and alliance teams at our Company. Project Managers drive these cross-functional teams to deliver projects and προϊόντα that improve human health and our Company's business, and Alliance Managers ensure successful collaborations with our R&D alliance partners. The GPAM Project Management Office (PMO) is responsible for the development, sustainment, and training of GPAM-owned systems, tools, and business processes as well as alignment with Finance, IT, and functional area operations groups within our Company. 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, preclinical, translational pharmacology, development, and in-line portfolio efforts for early-stage assets. This role is designed for a high-performing individual who thrives in complex, matrixed environments and is eager to take ownership of a Therapeutic Area (TA) portfolio. In close partnership with TA and functional leadership, the Associate Director will shape portfolio insights, drive cross-functional alignment, and enable high-quality decision-making across Discovery and Early Development. Operating at the intersection of strategy and execution, this role connects data, scientific context, and business priorities to support portfolio-level planning, prioritization, and execution. The position offers significant exposure to senior leadership and governance forums, and the opportunity to build enterprise portfolio perspective over time. Portfolio managers are strategic partners to the Project Leads, 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
Proven ability to lead and influence in highly matrixed environments without direct authority
Demonstrated ability to navigate ambiguity, create clarity, and drive alignment across complex stakeholder groups
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 good 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
Ability to connect strategy, data, and execution to generate actionable portfolio-level insights

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 (PfMP) and/or formal coursework/training in project or portfolio management

Responsibilities

Leading portfolio management activities for early-stage R&D programs (discovery through IND/Ph1) including owning the integrated view of the TA portfolio (timing, key milestones, risks, and dependencies), in partnership with the TA Lead and Discovery Core Team Leads
Translating portfolio strategy into actionable plans, including synthesizing, and articulating portfolio strategy and translating it into execution
Preparing regular reports and presentations for senior management/governance committees/leadership committees, with a focus on developing clear, data-driven insights and narratives to enable decision-making.
Capturing and communicating various metrics on the portfolio, including resources, project distribution across sites, phases of development, etc. and translating these into actionable portfolio insights
Providing our Company's organizational and process expertise to teams to enable navigation of discovery, development, and corporate governance and business requirements.
Collaborating effectively with functional areas, support functions, and alliance partner functions (if applicable) to facilitate project/portfolio delivery.
Managing or administrating strategic, cross-functional or cross-divisional management, governance, or alliance committees
Proactively surfacing key risks, trade-offs, and opportunities across the portfolio, and driving alignment across stakeholders in support of decision-making
Providing mentoring, coaching, and oversight to Specialist/Senior Specialist project/Portfolio Managers working on common projects
Actively participating and completing ongoing training and personal development activities to increase leadership competency and to gain knowledge and skill in the discipline of project management and the business and science of pharmaceutical product discovery and development.
Partnering with Finance to ensure resource/budget planning and management.
Collaborating with IT and PMO colleagues to maintain portfolio tools, dashboards, and reporting systems.
Identifying and implementing best practices in portfolio management and governance, to drive process improvements and operational efficiencies, including contributing to the continuous evolution of portfolio and governance processes within GPAM.