Portfolio & Program Management Associate Director

Vertex Pharmaceuticals • Boston, MA

2d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Associate Director of Portfolio and Program Management sits within Vertex’s COO organization and leads programs from Research through early Development, supporting teams from early research through candidate preclinical development. In partnership with program leads and cross-functional teams, the role establishes cross-functional strategies and plans to support execution against program goals.

The Associate Director supports disease strategy development, cross-functional decision-making, resource planning, and integrated program planning. The role works with program and portfolio leaders to resolve issues, manage risks and constraints, improve team performance, and communicate complex topics effectively. It also contributes to building, coaching, and retaining project management staff.

Vertex encourages continuous learning about advances in AI, technology, automation, and industry trends. The company seeks employees who bring an external perspective, curiosity, and sound judgment, and who thoughtfully adopt new capabilities to improve decision-making, innovation, efficiency, and patient outcomes.

Requirements

• Comprehensive knowledge of project and portfolio management principles, best practices, tools, technology, and methods.
• Leadership experience managing cross-functional teams.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including well-developed presentation skills.
• Comprehensive pharmaceutical drug discovery and development knowledge across multiple disciplines.
• Exceptional organizational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Strong collaboration skills to interact effectively with internal or external stakeholders at all levels of the organization.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, collaborative environment and manage multiple concurrent projects with a high degree of independence.
• Experience carrying out risk analysis, decision analysis, and contingency planning.
• Typically requires 8 years of experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience with drug development on cross-functional teams and/or in more than one function.
• Ability to embody Vertex’s Core Values: Uncompromising Commitment to Patients, Fearless Pursuit of Excellence, Innovation is Our Lifeblood, and “We” Wins.

Nice To Haves

• PhD degree preferred.
• Advanced degree in Life Sciences or a relevant field, or a strong demonstration of an equivalent combination of relevant educational and professional training.

Responsibilities

• Support disease strategy development within Research and drive cross-functional decision-making across the drug research and early development lifecycle, aligning scientific objectives, portfolio priorities, and organizational goals.
• Partner with program leaders to guide R&D efforts and establish high-performing, data-driven teams that deliver corporate objectives and priorities.
• Support definition of approaches and identification of key stakeholders for cross-functional decision-making and issue resolution.
• Collaborate and communicate across functions to measure and achieve program goals.
• Lead generation of program assumptions for annual resource allocation and budgeting across research and development functions.
• Manage meetings, including stakeholder management and preparation, communication, action items, decisions, and follow-through.
• Communicate complex topics to stakeholders through effective storytelling and content creation.
• Develop integrated program planning timelines and reporting; define critical path activities and interdependencies, and anticipate bottlenecks.
• Proactively manage project risks through identification, assessment, mitigation, and escalation of gaps, challenges, and potential roadblocks.
• Identify, communicate, and manage resource constraints, synergies, and redundancies.
• Establish team operating norms and identify opportunities to improve team performance.
• Work with the Portfolio and Program leadership team to build, manage, coach, and retain project management staff.

Benefits

• Annual bonus eligibility.
• Annual equity awards.
• Medical, dental, and vision benefits.
• Generous paid time off, including a week-long company shutdown in the Summer and the Winter.
• Educational assistance programs, including student loan repayment.
• Commuting subsidy.
• Matching charitable donations.
• 401(k).
• Other inclusive, market-leading benefits and resources supporting employees’ career, financial, family, and wellbeing needs.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director