Director, Project Management

Summary

The Director, Project Management is responsible for leading the organization’s project management function within a medical device environment. This role oversees the Project Priority List (PPL), ensures strategic alignment and disciplined execution of cross-functional initiatives, and leads a team of project and program managers. The Director partners closely with executive leadership, functional stakeholders, and project teams to ensure alignment of initiatives with strategic priorities, that approved initiatives remain on track, that risks are actively managed, and business objectives are achieved in compliance with applicable quality and regulatory expectations.

Essential Responsibilities

• Own and manage the Project Priority List (PPL), ensuring that project priorities, sequencing, resource needs, dependencies, and business impact are clearly defined and aligned with company strategy.
• With his/her team, own program KPIs including On-Time-Deliver of projects, budget, and business impact (e.g., revenue achievement, number of installs).
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of Project Leads, including Project Managers and Program Managers, fostering accountability, collaboration, and professional growth.
• Conduct monthly portfolio reviews with project leaders and cross-functional stakeholders to assess progress, identify risks and barriers, confirm priorities, and ensure projects remain on track.
• Lead all innovation reviews including portfolio reviews, PPGs, and corporate innovation reviews.
• Contribute to the innovation strategy formulation, drive the translation of innovation strategy to execution KPIs, and track the strategy execution progress.
• Drive governance, standardization, and continuous improvement of project management processes, tools, templates, reporting, and decision-making forums.
• Partner with senior leadership and functional leaders to evaluate project trade-offs, resource constraints, portfolio risks, and escalation needs.
• Ensure project plans include appropriate scope, schedules, milestones, deliverables, budgets, dependencies, risk mitigation plans, and stakeholder communication plans.
• Support medical device development, lifecycle management, quality, regulatory, operations, commercial, and business improvement initiatives as needed.
• Promote execution discipline in a regulated medical device environment, including awareness of applicable quality system, design control, risk management, and regulatory requirements.
• Develop and maintain portfolio-level metrics, dashboards, and status reporting to communicate project health, priority changes, resource impacts, and key decisions.
• Facilitate cross-functional alignment, issue resolution, and timely decision-making across departments such as R&D, Regulatory Affairs, Quality, Operations, Supply Chain, Clinical, Marketing, and Finance.
• Identify organizational bottlenecks, recommend corrective actions, and drive improvements that increase project predictability, speed, quality, and business value.
• Perform other duties and special projects as assigned.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Life Sciences, Business, Project Management, or a related field; equivalent combination of education and relevant experience may be considered.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive project, program, or portfolio management experience, including experience leading cross-functional initiatives.
• Minimum of 5 years of people leadership experience, preferably managing experienced Project Managers, Program Managers, or equivalent project leadership roles.
• Experience working in the medical device, life sciences, healthcare technology, or other regulated industry.
• Demonstrated experience managing project portfolios, priority lists, governance processes, executive reporting, and resource prioritization.
• Strong knowledge of project management methodologies, portfolio management practices, risk management, schedule management, and stakeholder communication.
• Ability to influence senior leaders and cross-functional partners without direct authority and drive decisions in complex, matrixed environments.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present concise, executive-level updates and recommendations.
• Strong analytical, organizational, facilitation, conflict-resolution, and problem-solving skills.
• Proficiency with common project management and productivity tools such as Microsoft Project, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams, SharePoint, and portfolio reporting systems.

Preferred

• Master’s degree or MBA preferred.
• PMP, PgMP, Lean Six Sigma, Agile, or similar certification preferred.
• Experience with medical device product development, design controls, ISO 13485, FDA Quality System Regulation, EU MDR, or related quality and regulatory frameworks.
• Experience leading portfolio governance forums, strategic planning processes, or enterprise-level prioritization discussions.
• Demonstrated success improving project management maturity, implementing reporting dashboards, and developing high-performing project leadership teams.

Key Competencies

• Strategic portfolio leadership
• People leadership and talent development
• Executive communication and influence
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Risk-based decision making
• Operational discipline and accountability
• Continuous improvement mindset