Associate Director, R&D IT Portfolio Delivery Lead

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the management and delivery of the R&D IT project portfolio, ensuring alignment with the prioritized Book of Work (BOW) and supporting effective decision-making and resource allocation.
• Build trusted partnerships with IT Leadership, Product Managers, and cross-functional stakeholders to facilitate collaboration and drive portfolio success
• Serve as the primary contact for portfolio-level updates, ensuring clear and transparent communication and translating technical information into business-relevant insights
• Manage financial for both investment projects and ongoing operational (run) support, including budgeting, forecasting, and tracking expenditures to ensure optimal use of resources and value delivery.
• Oversee project planning, execution, monitoring, and closure, ensuring adherence to best practices, regulatory requirements, and that projects remain within scope, schedule, and budget.
• Establish and monitor portfolio-level risks, issues, and dependencies, ensuring timely resolution and escalation as needed.
• Support consistent use of project and program management methodologies (Agile, Waterfall, hybrid) and collaborate with stakeholders to define scope, budget, timeline and success criteria.
• Serve as a coach and escalation point for project managers, enabling delivery excellence and risk mitigation.
• Manage objectives and key results to assess portfolio health and value realization, track key performance indicators, and provide regular status updates to R&D IT leadership.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement by implementing lessons learned and feedback loops.
• Ensure compliance with pharmaceutical industry regulations and BMS policies throughout project delivery.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in information technology, Computer Science, Business Administration, or related field; advanced degree preferred.
• Proven experience in managing complex IT project portfolios within a research or pharmaceutical environment.
• Demonstrated expertise in financial management, including budgeting, forecasting, and tracking expenditures for both investment projects and ongoing operational support.
• 8+ years of experience in IT project management.
• At least 3 years in a portfolio or program management role, ideally within pharmaceutical research or life sciences, preferred.
• Strong understanding of pharmaceutical industry regulations and compliance requirements (e.g., GxP, FDA, GDPR).
• Proven track record of successfully delivering complex IT projects and portfolios on time and within budget, with hands-on experience in Agile environments.
• Demonstrated experience implementing and scaling Agile methodologies (e.g., Scrum, Kanban, SAFe) across teams and portfolios.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience with project management and Agile tools (e.g., Jira)
• PMP, PgMP, Agile certification (e.g., Certified ScrumMaster, SAFe Agilist) preferred.
• Ability to influence and drive change in a matrixed, global organization.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities.