Senior Director – Head of R&D Governance and Portfolio Management

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in United States, +2 more countries.

📋 Description

• Design, lead, and enhance the governance committees for R&D, covering Early Discovery/Research through Late-Stage Development and Registration.

• Supervise scheduling cycles, topic intake processes, curated agendas, distribution of pre-read materials, publication of minutes, and tracking of action items.

• Develop and implement decision-rights frameworks, committee charters, and quorum standards.

• Oversee expedited offline endorsement processes for urgent or straightforward milestone decisions.

• Prepare documentation for Science Committees, Quarterly Portfolio Review meetings, and additional R&D leadership forums.

• Direct integrated annual and in-year R&D portfolio prioritization alongside Corporate Strategy and Finance.

• Connect study-level FTE/capacity and financial allocations to prioritized portfolio milestones.

• Propel annual pipeline corporate goal-setting and monitor quarterly advancements against milestone commitments.

• Synthesize portfolio-level risks and facilitate proactive discussions on mitigation strategies.

• Collaborate with committee chairs and executive participants to maintain meeting focus and secure strategic decisions.

• Mentor Global Project Teams and development leads prior to governance meetings.

• Review presentations to identify narrative deficiencies, clarify decision requests, and ensure readiness of pre-read materials for executives.

• Maintain the enterprise source of truth for governance decisions, rationales, and contingency triggers.

• Develop governance tools, audit operational models and templates, and provide training on governance best practices.

• Benchmark stage-gate progression and approval timelines against industry standards.

• Create and publish dashboards that measure governance performance and completion of action items.

⛳️ Requirements

• Extensive experience in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry, particularly in R&D governance, program management, portfolio management, or R&D strategy operations.

• Comprehensive, end-to-end knowledge of global drug discovery, preclinical development, clinical phases (Phase 1–3), interactions with global health authorities (IND, CTA, NDA, BLA), and post-marketing obligations.

• Proven success in creating, chartering, and managing senior-level R&D decision-making committees within mid-to-large biopharmaceutical organizations.

• Established track record of influencing senior Vice Presidents and C-suite leaders, maintaining control of meetings, and driving consensus without formal operational authority.

• Capability to analyze complex scientific, clinical, regulatory, and commercial data to pinpoint analytical gaps and enhance presentation materials.

• Practical experience with Enterprise Project & Portfolio Management systems (e.g., Planisware, OnePager, Power BI) and risk-adjusted valuation frameworks.

• Outstanding written and verbal communication abilities, with a keen attention to detail in documentation, minutes, and decision tracking.

• Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences, Engineering, Business, or a related field is required.

• An advanced degree (PhD, PharmD, MS, or MBA) is strongly preferred.

🏝️ Benefits

• Discretionary annual cash bonus or incentive compensation.

• Discretionary equity grants.

• Medical insurance.

• Dental insurance.

• Vision insurance.

• 401k retirement savings plan.

• Flexible paid vacation.