Associate Director, R&D Project Planning Capability Lead

CSL Behring is a global biotechnology leader, guided by a promise to save and improve lives. Millions of people around the world are living with rare and serious medical conditions. CSL Behring is committed to delivering medicines that improve their lives.

With operations in 35+ nations and ~ 30,000 employees worldwide, CSL is inspired to develop and deliver a broad range of lifesaving therapies to treat disorders such as hemophilia and primary immune deficiencies, and vaccines to prevent influenza. Our therapies are also used in cardiac surgery, organ transplantation and burn treatment. CSL is the parent company of CSL Behring, CSL Plasma, CSL Seqirus and CSL Vifor. CSL Behring is a global leader in the protein biotherapeutics industry, focused on bringing to market biotherapies used to treat serious and often rare conditions.

Could you be our next Associate Director, R&D Project Planning Capability Lead? This position is located in our King of Prussia PA office. It is a Hybrid role.

The Associate Director, R&D Project Planning Capability Lead, is a member of CSL R&D’s Project and Portfolio Operations team responsible for advancing R&D’s project planning and schedule management practices to support the delivery of our drug development pipeline.  You will lead initiatives to develop and implement strategies, tools, and training programs to empower project managers with advanced project planning techniques and methodologies. This role requires a combination of drug development knowledge, project management expertise, and excellent facilitation and communication skills.  The capability lead will provide input into the design and development of project planning best practices.  This includes using your expertise in drug development planning and scheduling with project teams to enhance their effectiveness and efficiency in their project outcomes. In this role, you will also be developing and utilizing innovative methodologies, providing training, and facilitating collaboration among project team members.  The role will report to the Head of Project and Portfolio Operations.

Responsibilities:

• Develop and implement strategies to enhance the project planning capabilities of R&D project managers and project teams, including identifying areas for improvement and implementing enabling processes and tools to drive significant improvements in project execution.

• Develop standardized frameworks, templates, and guidelines to support consistent and effective project planning across all projects.

• In partnership with project managers, design and co-facilitate planning workshops with cross-functional teams to create quality schedules, including alternative scenarios and risk mitigation strategies.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to streamline and optimize project planning processes, eliminating redundancies, reducing cycle times, and enhancing overall efficiency and effectiveness.

• Lead and support continuous improvement initiatives focused on enhancing project planning capabilities, soliciting feedback from project managers, identifying opportunities for refinement, and implementing iterative improvements.

• Ensure that project planning processes adhere to quality standards, regulatory requirements, and industry best practices, providing guidance and support to project managers to uphold high standards of planning excellence.

• Design and deliver training sessions, workshops, and mentoring programs to empower project managers with advanced project planning techniques, tools, and methodologies, fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement.

• Evaluate project management tools and techniques to support project planning activities, recommend appropriate tools based on organizational needs, and oversee the implementation and adoption of selected tools and techniques.

• Identify and recommend key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to assess the effectiveness of project planning efforts, track progress over time, and identify areas for further improvement.

• Engage with senior leadership, project sponsors, and other stakeholders to communicate the importance of effective project planning, garner support for planning improvement initiatives, and ensure alignment with organizational goals and objectives.

Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in life sciences, business, or related discipline. 

• 7+ years of experience in the biotechnology or pharmaceutical industry

• At least 4 years as a project manager leading and managing complex, cross-functional drug development projects.

• Strong knowledge in drug research, development and manufacturing processes of pharmaceuticals (CMC, non-clinical, clinical, and regulatory).

• Expert level skillset in creating technically robust project schedules leveraging advanced techniques and tools such as critical path method, critical chain, PERT, network diagrams, etc.

• Experience developing multiple scenarios for drug development plans that consider resourcing, budget, and risk.

• Proficient in the use of enterprise Project Management, Business Intelligence, and reporting tools such as Microsoft Project, Clarity PPM, Qlik Sense, Power BI, or similar.

• Experience designing, deploying, and supporting Project Portfolio Management (PPM), reporting, and project operations solutions, with an emphasis on quality planning and schedule management; PMO team member experience a plus.

• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification preferred

• Medical, Dental, Vision

• 401K

• PTO

#LI-Hybrid

Our Benefits

CSL employees that work at least 30 hours per week are eligible for benefits effective day 1. We are committed to the wellbeing of our employees and their loved ones. CSL offers resources and benefits, from health care to financial protection, so you can focus on doing work that matters. Our benefits are designed to support the needs of our employees at every stage of their life. Whether you are considering starting a family, need help paying for emergency back up care or summer camp, looking for mental health resources, planning for your financial future, or supporting your favorite charity with a matching contribution, CSL has many benefits to help achieve your goals.

Please take the time to review our benefits site to see what’s available to you as a CSL employee.

About CSL Behring

CSL Behring is a global leader in developing and delivering high-quality medicines that treat people with rare and serious diseases. Our treatments offer promise for people in more than 100 countries living with conditions in the immunology, hematology, cardiovascular and metabolic, respiratory, and transplant therapeutic areas. Learn more about CSL Behring .

We want CSL to reflect the world around us

As a global organization with employees in 35+ countries, CSL embraces diversity and inclusion. Learn more about Diversity & Inclusion at CSL.

Do work that matters at CSL Behring!