Associate Director, Project & Portfolio Leader

At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity. Learn more at jnj.com.

As guided by Our Credo, Johnson & Johnson is responsible to our employees who work with us throughout the world. We provide an inclusive work environment where each person is considered as an individual. At Johnson & Johnson, we respect the diversity and dignity of our employees and recognize their merit.

Please note that this role is available across multiple countries and may be posted under different requisition numbers to comply with local requirements. While you are welcome to apply to any or all of the postings, we recommend focusing on the specific country(s) that align with your preferred location(s):

Remember, whether you apply to one or all of these requisition numbers, your applications will be considered as a single submission.

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About Innovative Medicine

Our expertise in Innovative Medicine is informed and inspired by patients, whose insights fuel our science-based advancements. Visionaries like you work on teams that save lives by developing the medicines of tomorrow.

Join us in developing treatments, finding cures, and pioneering the path from lab to life while championing patients every step of the way.

Learn more at https://www.jnj.com/innovative-medicine

We are searching for the best talent for Associate Director, Project & Portfolio Leader.

Candidates must already have authorization to work in the country of employment. Immigration sponsorship and relocation support are not available for this position. Candidates authorized to work pursuant to a short-term status (e.g., F-1) who require future immigration sponsorship are not eligible.

Purpose: The Project & Portfolio Leader is responsible for establishing and leading the portfolio governance framework, driving strategic portfolio planning and execution, ensuring alignment of investments to CSC priorities, and providing comprehensive oversight of project performance, financial management, resource utilization, and benefits realization. This role partners across the organization to enable effective decision-making, governance excellence, and successful delivery of initiatives while building project management capabilities and leading a global team.

You will be responsible for:

• Establish, lead, and continuously enhance the project and portfolio governance framework to enable effective decision making, prioritization, resource allocation, and strategic execution across the function.
• Own the end-to-end Project Governance Process, ensuring consistent deployment, adoption, and compliance across all functions, while driving transparency, accountability, and execution excellence.
• Lead project portfolio planning, review, and reporting activities throughout key business cycles, including Business Plan (BP), June Update (JU), November Update (NU), Long-Range Financial Plan (LRFP), and other strategic planning processes.
• Partner with functional leaders to ensure the project portfolio remains aligned with CSC strategic priorities, organizational objectives, investment strategies, and evolving business needs.
• Provide comprehensive portfolio oversight through the measurement, monitoring, and reporting of portfolio health, including capital and operating expenditures, resource capacity, risks, dependencies, milestone achievement, benefits realization, and overall project performance.
• Develop and deliver executive-level portfolio analytics, dashboards, and insights that enable data-driven decision making and proactive portfolio management.
• Drive continuous evaluation of the project pipeline, ensuring visibility to emerging opportunities, resource demands, project interdependencies, execution risks, and mitigation strategies.
• Facilitate governance forums, portfolio reviews, and leadership discussions to support prioritization decisions, investment approvals, risk management, and strategic trade-off assessments.
• Establish and harmonize project management standards, methodologies, tools, templates, and best practices to create a scalable and consistent project management capability across the organization.
• Build organizational project and portfolio management capabilities through training, coaching, and the implementation of standardized ways of working that improve project delivery, governance maturity, and business outcomes.
• Ensure successful execution of approved projects by driving adherence to project objectives, timelines, budgets, scope, quality requirements, and defined success metrics.
• Oversee capital appropriation and investment governance processes, ensuring projects meet financial, operational, and compliance requirements throughout the project lifecycle.
• Lead issue resolution and escalation management processes, facilitating cross-functional collaboration to remove barriers, address risks, and maintain project momentum.
• Collaborate closely with Finance, Strategy, Operations, and Functional Leadership teams to ensure alignment between portfolio investments, resource plans, financial commitments, and business objectives.
• Lead and manage a global team of contractors and project professionals by providing coaching, mentoring, and fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications/Requirements:

• Minimum of a Bachelor’s degree is required in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering, Sciences, Operations, Finance, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
• Minimum of 8 years of progressive experience in portfolio management, project management, operations, supply chain, finance, or related business functions.
• Demonstrated experience leading large-scale, cross-functional programs and portfolios in complex global organizations.
• Proven leadership experience managing global teams, including direct management and development of employees and/or contractors across multiple geographies.
• Strong business acumen with a deep understanding of financial planning, budgeting, investment governance, and portfolio prioritization.
• Demonstrated ability to operationalize strategy, drive execution, and deliver measurable business outcomes.
• Proven ability to influence, negotiate, and drive alignment across organizational boundaries without direct authority.
• Strong understanding of project portfolio management principles, governance frameworks, risk management, and benefits realization.
• Excellent analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving capabilities with the ability to make informed decisions amid ambiguity.
• Strong verbal, written, and executive communication skills with experience presenting to and influencing senior leadership.
• Self-directed leader with the ability to manage complexity, challenge the status quo, and drive accountability across all organizational levels.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and data analysis, including financial modeling, reporting, dashboard development, and decision-support analytics.
• Experience leveraging portfolio, reporting, and analytics tools to drive portfolio visibility and performance management.

Other requirements

• Advanced degree (MBA, MS, or equivalent) in Business, Supply Chain, Engineering, Finance, or a related field.Project Management certification (PMP, PgMP, Prince2, or equivalent).
• Experience within the pharmaceutical, life sciences, healthcare, or similarly regulated industry.
• Experience with Planisware, Power BI, Tableau, SAP, or equivalent portfolio and reporting platforms.Demonstrated success scaling capabilities, processes, and governance models across global organizations.                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Required Skills:

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The anticipated base pay range for this position is:

Benefits:

In addition to base pay, we offer the following benefits*: an annual bonus with set target (% of pay) depending on pay grade / location, where the actual amount is based on the employees’ and companies’ performance of the previous calendar year, or sales commissions. Moreover, we offer vacation days, parental leave for a minimum of 12 weeks, bereavement leave, caregiver leave, volunteer leave, well-being reimbursement, programs for financial, physical and mental health. We also offer service anniversary and recognition awards, and subject to the terms of their respective plans, employees - and in some location’s eligible dependents - can participate in several insurance plans. For more information, visit Employee benefits | Supporting well-being & career growth | Johnson & Johnson Careers.

*This is for informative purposes only. Amounts and actual benefits may vary by location and are subject to change.