Principal Project Governance Leader

Avantor•USA-MA Remote, MA

8d•$122,000 - $196,075•Remote

About The Position

The Principal Project Governance Leader is a global leadership role responsible for establishing, governing, and continuously improving Avantor’s Project Management Office (PMO) capability across regions, business units, and functions. The role provides enterprise-wide governance for Avantor’s $150 million annual capital expenditure portfolio, helping ensure investments are prioritized and delivered in alignment with enterprise strategy and capital allocation priorities. The position leads portfolio management, project governance, delivery oversight, project controls, and PMO systems. It establishes a standardized approach to Capex planning, execution, and performance tracking, and provides senior leaders and governance bodies with consolidated information about portfolio performance, financials, risks, dependencies, and outcomes. A key part of the role is ensuring projects achieve their intended business outcomes, including validating at Gate 5c closure that projects have delivered against original business-case KPIs, benefits, and strategic goals. The role drives global consistency, investment discipline, accountability, transparency, and value realization through consistent application of PMO standards, methodologies, and governance frameworks. This is a remote role with 20% travel.

Requirements

Degree in Business, Engineering, Project Management, or a related field.
At least 10 years of progressive PMO leadership experience, including experience in chemical, life sciences, pharmaceutical, or similarly regulated business environments.
Demonstrated experience leading global PMO organizations and PMO functions in global, multi-regional organizations.
Experience in complex global environments with significant capital investment responsibility.
Proven ability to govern enterprise Capex portfolios and prioritize strategic investments.
Strong expertise in benefits realization management and business-case validation.
Experience ensuring projects meet defined outcomes at closure, such as Gate 5c or an equivalent process.
Deep knowledge of project controls, governance, and portfolio management.
Ability to influence senior leaders on prioritization and investment decisions.

Nice To Haves

Professional certifications such as PMP, PgMP, PRINCE2, MSP, or Agile.

Responsibilities

Lead the global PMO Governance function and align it with enterprise strategy and Capex investment priorities.
Define and maintain a global PMO operating model for oversight of the annual $150 million Capex portfolio.
Establish standards and frameworks that focus investment on the highest-priority, highest-value initiatives.
Promote accountability, transparency, and outcome-based delivery; provide leadership, coaching, and capability development to global and regional teams.
Establish and govern a global portfolio management framework and lead demand management, prioritization, and Capex investment planning.
Support executive governance forums and investment committees with data-driven information and align capital allocation with strategic priorities.
Oversee global resource and capacity planning and maintain a consolidated view of portfolio performance, value delivery, and dependencies.
Define and enforce global project lifecycle frameworks, including Gate 5c closure requirements, and ensure consistent application of delivery methodologies.
Provide assurance oversight for strategic and high-value Capex programs; monitor performance against approved baselines and original business-case commitments.
Ensure projects deliver intended KPIs, benefits, and strategic outcomes, and validate business-case objectives at Gate 5c closure.
Facilitate cross-regional coordination and manage global dependencies.
Implement an integrated project controls framework and standardize performance measurement across cost, schedule, scope, risk, and benefits.
Track business-case KPIs from project initiation through Gate 5c closure; oversee Capex financial tracking, forecasting, and variance analysis.
Establish benefits-realization governance and provide executive reporting that links investment, delivery performance, and realized value.
Define global requirements for PMO and PPM tools; support project prioritization, governance, automated reporting, and visibility into strategically important projects.
Ensure data integrity and consistency across global systems and integrate project, financial, and operational systems for end-to-end governance.
Establish global project-documentation standards, maintain centralized PMO standards and performance repositories, and ensure audit-ready records of investment decisions and outcomes.
Promote continuous improvement through lessons learned and post-implementation reviews.
Build organizational capability in prioritization, delivery, and benefits realization; develop training frameworks, coach teams, and drive adoption of global PMO standards and governance practices.