Portfolio & Program Management Associate Director
About The Position
The Associate Director of Portfolio and Program Management (PPM) sits within Vertex’s COO organization and leads programs from Research through early Development. The role supports program teams from early research through candidate preclinical development, partnering with program leads and cross-functional teams to establish strategies and plans that enable execution against program goals. The Associate Director supports disease strategy development, cross-functional decision-making, resource planning, integrated program planning, risk management, and team performance. The role also works with Portfolio and Program leadership to build, manage, coach, and retain PM staff. Vertex seeks someone who brings curiosity, sound judgment, and an external perspective, and who thoughtfully adopts advances in AI, technology, automation, and industry trends to improve decision-making, drive innovation, increase efficiency, and help deliver better outcomes for patients. The position is hybrid-eligible or on-site eligible: employees may work remotely up to two days per week in a hybrid designation or work on-site five days per week with ad hoc flexibility. Flex status is subject to company policy and may change.
Requirements
- Typically requires an advanced degree in Life Sciences or a relevant field, or an equivalent combination of relevant education and professional training.
- 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.
- 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 organizational levels.
- Ability to work in a fast-paced, collaborative environment and independently manage multiple concurrent projects.
- Experience carrying out risk analysis, decision analysis, and contingency planning.
- Ability to embody Vertex Core Values: Uncompromising Commitment to Patients, Fearless Pursuit of Excellence, Innovation is Our Lifeblood, and “We” Wins.
- Desire to contribute to an innovative company focused on transforming the lives of people with serious diseases, their families, and society.
Nice To Haves
- A PhD degree is preferred.
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 the program leader to guide R&D efforts and establish a high-performing, data-driven team that delivers on corporate objectives and priorities.
- Support defining approaches and identifying key stakeholders for cross-functional decision-making and issue resolution.
- Collaborate and communicate cross-functionally 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, communications, and follow-through on action items and decisions.
- Communicate complex topics to stakeholders through 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 PM staff.
Benefits
- Annual bonus eligibility.
- Annual equity awards.
- Medical insurance.
- Dental insurance.
- Vision insurance.
- Generous paid time off, including a week-long company shutdown in the summer and winter.
- Educational assistance programs, including student loan repayment.
- Commuting subsidy.
- Matching charitable donations.
- 401(k).
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Director
