PURPOSE OF JOB:

The Director of Project Management will work closely with VP, Program and Alliance Management, Project Team Leaders, Executive Leadership to define requirements, develop project plans, and optimize team effectiveness. They will use their excellent communication skills, drug development acumen and experience, and a positive, can-do attitude to bridge cross functional issues on project teams. Ability to influence without direct report authority is a must. Broader input on standardization across RAPT programs will be required to ensure that multiple programs, in distinct phases, can be executed smoothly and efficiently using common tools and language. Extensive experience helping cross-functional core teams drive products from IND through to successful submission(s), as well as, maintaining highly functional ways of working will be key to long term success. The ideal candidate will be both highly capable and enthusiastic to partner with senior cross-functional staff to create detailed product requirements, development plans, schedules, resource estimates, dependencies, and risk management. Day-to-day planning, coordinating, and tracking of deliverables will also be a central aspect of ensuring efficient development and use of resources. Planning and facilitating regular core team meetings, in conjunction with the team leader(s) where decisions and actions are captured, communicated, and tracked will be a core responsibility. Their experience and intuition to anticipate and manage program risks will be paramount as will the skills to communicate and set proper expectations with executive leadership. This is an individual contributor role with the ability to develop and implement program management best practices and systems as RAPT continues to advance its programs.

MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Partner with team leaders to optimize team effectiveness and work with the VP, program and & alliance management to enable effective program decision making
• Work with VP, Program and Alliance Management to build out standards and best practices for the PM function at RAPT
• Work with Project Teams, Executive Leadership and Department Heads to develop detailed project plans, schedules, and resource estimates
• Proactively identify and aid in the resolution of program challenges
• Drive information flow and communicate program status to all stakeholders
• Perform effective risk management assessments
• Perform PTS assessments using industry benchmarks
• Create and drive timelines to keep program(s) on schedule
• Prepare program timelines identifying all significant activities, dependencies, resources, and milestones
• Plan, coordinate, and track cross-functional activities for the assigned programs
• Continual review and analysis of critical path activities
• Facilitate highly effective team building and communication
• Help facilitate meetings and keep the team on track
• Provide meeting minutes and drive follow-up on Action Items
• Design and ultimately produce status reports (milestones, status, issues, decisions) for senior management and or updates to Board presentations when requested by team leaders
• Maintain effective communication with the team through oral and written correspondence and ensure adequate documentation of each communication
• Identify, develop and/or maintain an appropriate electronic platform for reporting/archiving/documenting relevant program information, records, etc.
• Interface internally by acting as a liaison and facilitator of cross-functional teams in planning and executing programs

EXPERIENCE & REQUIREMENTS: 

• B.S in life sciences field is required. Advanced degree (PhD, MS, MBA) is strong plus.
• 10 years of Program Management experience within biotechnology settings
• Prior experience in leading and managing interdisciplinary or cross-functional life science teams is required.
• Late-stage development experience required
• Ability to work with discovery teams and provide stage appropriate PM support also required
• Proactive mindset with strong leadership, facilitation, teamwork, and influence management/negotiation skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills as well as exceptional planning and organizational capability
• Ability to drive program plans and timelines (across multiple functional areas) is essential.
• Proven success in goal setting, prioritization, and time management is required.
• High proficiency with Microsoft Project, Google Suite and Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Visio