Director, Program Management Planning Systems

Position Summary

The Director, Development Planning Systems & Tools is a senior business leader who owns the strategy, standards, and roadmap for the systems and tools that Program Managers and Global Program Teams (GPTs) use to plan, monitor, and manage drug development programs in alignment with their Integrated Asset Development Plans (IADPs) and Integrated Project Execution Strategy (IPES). This role sits within the business and acts as the senior business partner and demand owner to BI&T, translating Program Management and portfolio needs into a coherent technology and process strategy that BI&T and other technical partners execute against. The Director is accountable for the end-to-end planning tools portfolio — including ePlan, adjacent and successor platforms, and any current or emerging system used to build, integrate, and maintain development plans — and for ensuring that portfolio evolves in step with how Program Managers actually plan and manage work against their IADPs and IPES. This is a highly visible role that shapes how planning discipline, data quality, and digital innovation (including AI) show up across the development portfolio, and it carries direct accountability for a team of tool and process owners.

Key Responsibilities

Business Ownership of the Planning Tools Portfolio

• Serve as the senior business owner and strategic partner — not a technology owner — for every system or tool that enables Program Managers to plan development programs in line with their Integrated Asset Development Plans (IADPs) and Integrated Project Execution Strategy (IPES), including ePlan (Planisware) and future planning platforms
• Define and own the multi-year strategy and roadmap for the planning tools portfolio, ensuring it is driven by Program Management, and portfolio needs rather than by technology availability
• Act as the primary business counterpart to BI&T and other technical delivery partners, translating planning and portfolio requirements into clear business cases, priorities, and success criteria for them to build against
• Make investment, prioritization, and sequencing decisions across the planning tools portfolio, balancing near-term Program Manager needs against long-term platform strategy

Alignment to Integrated Asset Development Plans and Integrated Project Execution Strategy (IPES)

• Ensure every planning tool and system in scope is fit for purpose in helping Program Managers build, maintain, and adapt plans that are fully aligned to their IADPs and IPES.
• Partner with Global Program Leads (GPLs), Program Managers, Resource Management, and Portfolio Reporting & Analytics to identify gaps between current tooling and IADP planning needs, and prioritize solutions accordingly
• Champion standardization of planning templates, data structures, and governance so that plans across programs roll up cleanly into asset- and indication-level views

AI & Digital Innovation

• Set the vision and business case for embedding AI-driven capabilities into planning workflows to improve plan quality, reduce administrative burden, and proactively surface risk
• Sponsor pilots with BI&T, technology partners, and internal innovation teams, and own the decision on which AI capabilities scale enterprise-wide

Governance, Standards & Adoption

• Own the planning standards, templates, and documentation that ensure consistent, high-quality planning practices across development teams
• Define and report on measures of success — tool adoption, user satisfaction, plan data quality, and reduction in manual planning effort — to senior leadership
• Direct system training and change management programs that drive adoption of planning tools and reduce reliance on manual workarounds
• Represent the planning tools portfolio in governance forums, portfolio reviews, and leadership updates, and escalate risks or trade-offs that require senior decision-making

Stakeholder & Cross-Functional Leadership

• Build and sustain senior-level partnerships with BI&T, Resource Management, Portfolio Reporting & Analytics, Program Managers, and GPLs
• Ensure planning tool outputs are structured to feed portfolio reporting, analytics, and executive decision-making without duplication of effort
• Serve as an escalation point for cross-functional planning tool issues and decisions that span multiple stakeholder groups

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree (MBA, MS, or equivalent) preferred
• 8+ years of experience in pharmaceutical drug development, portfolio/program management, or enterprise systems, including significant experience partnering with IT/BI&T as the business owner of a system or tool portfolio
• Demonstrated experience owning or governing project/program planning tools (e.g., MS Project, Planisware, or equivalent) at an enterprise scale
• Strong understanding of drug development processes and how Integrated Asset Development Plans (IADPs) and Integrated Project Execution Strategy (IPES) are built, integrated, and used across a portfolio
• Experience sponsoring or scaling AI/ML tool integration or broader digital transformation initiatives
• Executive-level stakeholder management, communication, and presentation skills, with experience representing a function in senior governance forums
• Demonstrated ability to act as the business voice to technology partners — translating complex or ambiguous planning needs into clear requirements without owning the underlying technology delivery
• Experience operating effectively in a large, matrixed, cross-functional environment