Associate Director, Program Management (6-month Contract)

About the Role

As we advance our pipeline towards the clinic, we're looking for a highly motivated and experienced Program Management expert to join our dynamic team. This role begins as a contract engagement of approximately 20 hours per week, with the potential to transition to a full-time position.

As a Program Manager at Ascidian Therapeutics, the individual will be instrumental in working closely with the core program team, ensuring milestones are delivered on time, within scope, and on budget. Working alongside our program lead and functional experts, you'll build and own the integrated plans that connect Research, Clinical, Regulatory, CMC, and nonclinical teams moving IND-enabling work into the clinic. Program strategy, research and clinical decisions sit with the program lead. Your role is to frame the options, balance quality, speed, and cost, and guide the team to clear decisions, then make sure those decisions are carried through. This is a hands-on role for someone who digs into the details, raises risks early, and builds trusted relationships across the company to keep work moving.

This role requires strong communication skills, meticulous attention to detail, and the ability to navigate complex scientific and operational challenges within a fast-paced, early-stage biotech environment. Another key success factor is the ability to closely partner with cross-functional teams across both internal functions and external partners, translating strategic goals into actionable plans and tracking progress toward key milestones.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the integrated program plan and timeline across research, CMC, regulatory, and clinical readiness activities, with a clear critical path and key dependencies.
• Build and maintain program plans, trackers, and dashboards in Smartsheet, and implement scalable project management practices suited to a growing company.
• Act as the team's point person on program risk, proactively identifying issues and driving mitigations and contingency plans with functional leads, and escalating issues as needed.
• Coordinate cross-functional input into agency interactions, such as IND filings, tracking timelines, review cycles, and commitments.
• Drive external activities with CROs and CDMOs, integrating their work into the program plan and holding partners accountable for high-quality deliverables.
• Serve, as needed, as the point of contact for vendor and contract management, from vendor selection and contracting through day-to-day relationship management.
• Organize and lead program team meetings, capturing decisions and action items and keeping the team focused on priorities.
• Present program status, trade-offs, and options to program leads and the leadership team to support timely decisions.
• Support budget planning, forecasting, and resource tracking, flagging variances and re-prioritization needs.
• Deliver clear program updates and dashboards to the team and leadership, and maintain program documentation and decision logs.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a scientific or engineering discipline (e.g., Biology, Biochemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemical Engineering) or related field; advanced degree (MS, PhD, PharmD) preferred.
• Minimum of 7+ years of experience in the biopharmaceutical or life sciences industry, including 4+ years of program or project management supporting drug development programs.
• Proven experience moving a program through IND-enabling studies and IND submission.
• Working knowledge of nonclinical development (GLP toxicology, biodistribution, pharmacology) and of CMC for biologics.
• Experience identifying and managing program risks, assessing critical path implications, and proactively addressing issues that could affect program timelines or deliverables.
• Ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders at all levels without direct authority, including CROs and external development partners.
• Strong decision-making skills, with the ability to frame options, assess trade-offs, and guide teams toward clear, data-driven decisions.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating and managing work with CROs and CDMOs, including vendor selection, contract and work order management, and ongoing vendor oversight.
• Experience with AAV or other gene therapy programs, including viral vector manufacturing and analytics, is highly preferred.
• Experience supporting INTERACT or pre-IND meetings and coordinating IND module authoring is a plus.
• Proficiency with Smartsheet (strongly preferred) or comparable project management software, and comfort building integrated timelines, risk registers, and dashboards.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced clinical-stage biotech environment with evolving priorities and ambiguity.
• Strong problem-solving abilities and a proactive, results-oriented mindset.
• Ability to work independently and deliver effectively in a part-time contract capacity (~20 hours/week), with interest in a potential transition to full-time.
• PMP or other project management certification is a plus.