Senior Director, Program Management

About Generate:Biomedicines

Generate:Biomedicines is a new kind of therapeutics company – existing at the intersection of machine learning, biological engineering, and medicine – pioneering Generative Biology™ to create breakthrough medicines where novel therapeutics are computationally generated, instead of being discovered. The Company has built a machine learning-powered biomedicines platform with the potential to generate new drugs across a wide range of biologic modalities. This platform represents a potentially fundamental shift in what is possible in the field of biotherapeutic development.

We pursue this audacious vision because we believe in the unique and revolutionary power of generative biology to radically transform the lives of billions, with an outsized opportunity for patients in need. We are seeking collaborative, relentless problem solvers that share our passion for impact to join us!

Generate:Biomedicines was founded in 2018 by Flagship Pioneering and has received nearly $700 million in funding, providing the resources to rapidly scale the organization. The Company has offices in Somerville and Andover, Massachusetts with over 300 employees.

The Role:

Reporting to the Vice President of Portfolio and Program Management, Generate is seeking a motivated and energetic Senior Director to enable execution of the goals, objectives, and strategy of assigned early development clinical programs. The successful candidate will oversee a team of program managers and work in partnership with Program Leaders and cross-functional Program Teams to enable the translation of program strategy into tactical plans for execution. The successful candidate will have extensive program management, leadership, and drug development experience across the discovery, pre-clinical, and early clinical development space. Individuals will exhibit strong integration, change management, and creative problem-solving skills to contribute to a highly collaborative and integrated culture. The Senior Director must thrive in a fast-paced, ambiguous, highly interdisciplinary entrepreneurial environment and have the desire to tackle large challenges. This role presents a unique opportunity to have both a direct hand in driving first-of-its-kind AI-driven therapeutics to the clinic as well as contributing to the development of a first-in-class AI program management function. 

Here's how you will contribute:

Drive Portfolio and Program Management by: 

• Collaborating with senior leaders to set the strategy and oversee the execution of large-scale, highly complex pharmaceutical development programs to achieve program outcomes from initiation to close-out. 

• Identifying, driving the development, and guiding the broad application of digital solutions to support data-driven decisions. 

• Leveraging advanced expertise to review program plans and determining program demands for the most complex program initiatives including scope, time, cost, budget, resources, and risk of project. 

• Setting budget allocations and ensuring alignment across several large-scale complex programs. 

• Reviewing performance across a diverse portfolio to ensure programs deliver maximum long-term value to the organization. 

• Collaborating with senior leaders to define strategy, processes, and procedures for the development and execution of organizational change management. 

Drive Team and Resource Management by: 

• Forecasting the needs of internal and external resource based on team member skills and program demands. 

• Setting and driving expectations to across the organization to align resources with program objectives, timelines, and budgets and expectations. 

• Leveraging highly advanced expertise and understanding of team dynamics, strengths, and weaknesses to deliver performance feedback to teams to improve program outcomes. 

Oversee Program Quality and Effectiveness by: 

• Proactively monitor, identify, and mitigate project/program/portfolio risks, issues, and trigger events across multiple interdependent programs and modif processes based on the analyses and identification of trigger events. 

• Leveraging program and portfolio management capability assessments and staying up-to-date on industry trends to identify areas for program growth and develop actionable changes to achieve organizational advancement. 

• Ensuring expectations are met for the delivery of high-quality deliverables/results that adhere to applicable guidelines, tools, and templates 

• Driving policy and contracting adherence by enforcing the alignment of program plans, team members, and vendors with organizational, departmental, and/or legal guidelines 

Drive Stakeholder Management by: 

• Identifying and building cross-functional teams and drive rapport building to develop trusting relationships in support of program goals and long-term objectives. 

• Creating strategic alignment across the organization to generate buy-in and communicate a clear vision of overall program goals and objectives. 

• Holding program teams accountable for following the Research & Development operating model from end-to-end with a fit-for-purpose approach. 

• Driving collaboration with key cross-functional stakeholders and senior leaders to develop goals, define success, create business process strategies (e.g. change management, accountabilities), and facilitate decision-making to align program delivery with long-term organizational value. 

Build, Coach, and Mentor Team by: 

• Championing new approaches and improvements for program and portfolio management methodologies with consideration of long-term strategic goals and alignment with existing training programs. 

• Aligning long-term project, program, and portfolio goals with broader organizational objectives. 

• Overseeing department’s professional development initiatives and ensure alignment with organizational priorities. 

Drive Successful Performance of Team or Department by: 

• Overseeing the operation of multiple teams, proactively anticipating and planning for operational needs. 

• Establishing clear, measurable objectives aligned with Generate's long-term, strategic goals, monitoring team member performance, championing efforts to drive performance improvement across teams, and taking ownership of addressing employment issues. 

The Ideal Candidate will have:

• PhD in life sciences or business-related field or PharmD and ten (10) years of project, program, or portfolio management or program leadership experience; or Master's degree in life sciences or business-related field and twelve (12) years of project, program, or portfolio management or program leadership experience; or Bachelor's degree in life sciences or business-related field and fifteen (15) years of project, program, or portfolio management or program leadership experience; or eighteen (18) years of experience in project, program, or portfolio management or program leadership experience.  

• Nine (9) years of biotechnology or pharma industry experience. 

• Five (5) years experience managing operational budgets or financials. 

• Ten (10) years of experience in a leadership role with direct reports. 

• Nine (9) years of experience in drug, biotech, medical device, or combination product development across multiple therapeutic areas in discovery or early-stage development. 

• Project Management Professional (PMP) or equivalent project/program management certification. 

• Proven leadership and people management skills with experience overseeing a team. 

• Ability to work collaboratively on multiple projects concurrently in a fast-paced environment. 

• Outstanding interpersonal skills with a demonstrated ability to build alignment and drive resolution of issues while maintaining positive working relationships across functions. 

• Ability to apply advanced project management principles including, but not limited to, identifying critical paths, building and communicating timelines, defining milestones, and setting expectations and accountability. 

• Proficiency with SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Smartsheet, and other PM management workspace collaboration tools. 

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Agile methodology certification (e.g. PMI-ACP, PSM, AgilePM). 

• Portfolio Certification (e.g., sAFE, PfMP, CFA). 

• Experience in Oncology/Immuno-oncology/infectious disease. 

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. 

• Demonstrated ability to provide effective program management excellence in terms of setting program plans for the lifecycle of a program from discovery through commercial launch. 

Location: This role will be located at our headquarters in Somerville, MA with an onsite presence expected. Open to relocation. 

Generate:Biomedicines is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

COVID Safety:

Generate:Biomedicines enforces a mandatory vaccination policy for COVID-19. All employees must be fully vaccinated and have received a booster.  The purpose of this policy is to safeguard the health of our employees, their families, and the community at large from infectious disease that may be reduced by vaccinations.  The Company will make exceptions to this policy if required by applicable law and will consider requests for an exemption from this policy due to a medical reason, or because of a sincerely held religious belief, or any other exemptions that may be recognized by applicable.

Recruitment & Staffing Agencies: Generate:Biomedicines does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to Generate:Biomedicines or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by the Company’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of Generate:Biomedicines and the Company will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.

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