Associate Director, Project & Portfolio Management

Kite Pharma•El Segundo, CA

About The Position

The Associate Director, Project & Portfolio Management will provide strategic leadership for project and portfolio management capabilities across Tech Ops. This role will focus on building, reshaping, and advancing a PPM Center of Excellence by defining fit-for-purpose methodology, standards, tools, templates, training, and adoption strategies that enable consistent and practical ways of working across cross-functional teams. This individual will not simply manage project reporting or timelines. They will be expected to design future-state PPM practices, improve portfolio visibility, and influence a dotted-line network of PPM representatives across the organization. Success in this role will require strong change leadership, practical process design, and the ability to build buy-in with stakeholders before implementing new standards or ways of working.

Requirements

PhD / Doctorate with 2+ years of relevant experience OR Master's Degree with 8+ years of relevant experience OR Bachelor's Degree with 10+ years of relevant experience OR High School Diploma/GED with 14+ years of relevant experience.

Nice To Haves

10+ years of relevant experience preferred, with a strong background in project management, portfolio management, PMO, PPM Center of Excellence, or operating model design.
Biotech or pharma experience preferred, but not if the candidate has strong PPM capability-building experience.
Experience building, improving, or maturing PPM capabilities, not only managing project execution, timelines, or reporting.
Demonstrated experience creating methodology, governance models, standards, frameworks, tools, templates, playbooks, training, and adoption plans.
Strong ability to assess PPM maturity and identify practical, high-value improvements across teams or functions.
Experience leading change in a matrixed environment, including driving adoption, managing stakeholder impact, and helping teams adjust to new ways of working.
Strong influence without authority, with the ability to align cross-functional stakeholders and dotted-line partners around shared PPM practices.
Ability to translate complex frameworks, processes, and portfolio insights into clear, practical guidance for leaders and teams.
Experience defining portfolio visibility, metrics, and reporting that show process effectiveness, risks, trends, and improvement opportunities.

Responsibilities

Lead the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of project and portfolio management methodology, standards, and operating practices across Tech Ops.
Build and scale a PPM Center of Excellence by creating practical tools, templates, playbooks, training, and guidance that teams can adopt and use effectively.
Assess current PPM maturity across functions and identify the highest-value improvements to strengthen planning quality, execution discipline, portfolio visibility, and decision-making.
Design future-state ways of working that create consistency while allowing flexibility for different initiative types, team needs, and business priorities.
Drive adoption of new PPM practices through stakeholder engagement, change management, training, coaching, and practical implementation support.
Influence and align a dotted-line network of PPM representatives and cross-functional partners in a matrixed environment, without direct people management authority.
Partner with leaders and teams to translate complex PPM frameworks into clear, actionable guidance that supports business-relevant execution.
Define and monitor portfolio metrics that measure process effectiveness, identify risks and trends, and highlight opportunities for continuous improvement.
Foster a collaborative culture of accountability, learning, continuous improvement, and capability-building across Tech Ops.