Associate Director, Program Management (Automation)

Associate Director of Program Management - Automation
 

PACT Pharma is an exciting, well-funded clinical-stage company developing personalized adoptive T cell therapies for the eradication of solid tumors. Our private designer T cells are created by analyzing a patient’s individual tumor and engineering T cells to kill that specific tumor. 

If you desire a stimulating fast-paced environment, working with intelligent people who are making an impact in cancer, you will want to join the PACT Pharma team.  We are a rapidly expanding, innovative, and collaborative workforce working towards one main goal, eradicating cancer! 

We are in the San Francisco bay area, the heart of the world’s premier biotechnology research hub. PACT Pharma offers a competitive compensation and benefits package, including participation in the aggressive growth of the company in the form of stock option grants. 

We are seeking an Associate Director of Program Management to work in this exciting new area of cancer immunotherapy.  This individual will work closely with the Technical Operations Leadership Team & Functional Heads towards achieving corporate & project goals by providing top-notch program management expertise.  This is a highly visible role that will interact with the full range of functions within our rapidly growing company.  This position will have an opportunity to shape the future of the department and be a heavy contributor to the success of the organization.  This position will report to the VP Program & Portfolio Management and will be based in South San Francisco.

 What you will do: 

The Associate Director of Program Management will be responsible for working closely with PACT’s Technical Operations Leadership to advance programs centered around the scale-out  through lab instrument automation of the company’s end to end manufacturing (especially upstream product development process) which utilizes a proprietary approach to identifying patient specific T cells that target neo-epitopes.  Ideal candidates should demonstrate strength in communication and team leadership and preferably have a healthcare R&D background, particularly in lab operations using IT systems.  This person should have strong business operations and cross-functional management experience.  The Associate Director of Program Management will oversee lab automation and infrastructure build-out projects while helping PACT employees / Scientists navigate through rapid growth and organizational change. 

Key responsibilities will include: 

• Provide technical project management expertise and leadership to the team to develop and monitor progress on roadmaps for decreasing cost of goods and accelerating timelines for next-generation upstream product development process
• Partner with Tech Ops executives to develop structure to ensure that resources and capabilities are adequate to support rapid company growth
• Partner with Finance, Supply Chain, and functional groups in the development and regular maintenance of resource plans necessary to scale operations to meet clinical demand
• Partner with Quality Assurance and Quality Control teams on validating process, system and software changes through installation, operational, and performance qualifications
• Lead projects centered around lab automation buildout in collaboration with software engineering, bioinformatics, and instrument automation teams, for product development pipeline scale-out and enterprise data management buildout, while identifying realistic and achievable milestones for PACT programs
• Drive collaboration and coordination across business functions to facilitate the planning process, establishment of goals & milestones, and creation & maintenance of comprehensive timelines that integrate available resources, dependencies, budget, priorities and other constraints as appropriate
• Develop PM tools to track overall team progress including project dashboards for Senior Leadership distribution that tracks KPIs
• Ensure project plans and objectives are clearly established and communicated; Collaborate with and / or manage other Program Managers to integrate timelines and deliverables with the overall project plans
• Partner with Functional Team Leaders to manage cross-functional project teams, establish project goals and milestones, control changes, and establish the development path
• Stakeholder management of external development partners, CMOs, CROs, and other key collaborators as required. 

Minimal Qualifications:

• BS/MS with 8+ years progressive project / program management experience in biotech/pharma/diagnostic/device industry along with relevant biologic / pharma / diagnostic / device / drug development background
• Familiar with product development and a keen ability to understand and teach others the technical requirements of working within a regulated industry. Candidates with an Engineering background encouraged to apply.
• One or more years’ experience with biospecimen and automation related workflows; Preferably experience with implementation of systems for scale-up
• Track record of success leading development programs from preclinical and clinical phases of development through FDA approval and launch
• Demonstration of strategic thinking and high-level planning with the ability to navigate comfortably in an ambiguous and fast-paced environment; ability to operate at both strategic and tactical levels.
• Ability to build strong partnerships with internal and external key stakeholders and hold oneself and others accountable for commitments in a productive and collaborative manner
• Business acumen and solid relationship management skills with a focus on cross-functional collaboration and customer service
• Solid understanding of the FDA, EMA, ICH and other guidelines relevant to the pharmaceutical industry
• Proactive problem solver able to promote ideas persuasively and build on the ideas of others in a constructive manner
• Command of tools to efficiently communicate complex ideas to a wide array of audiences by providing project summaries to Senior Leadership and updates for the wider company to ensure alignment across disciplines and departments
• Positive attitude and ability to foster the qualities of a high performing team through organizational change management

 Preferred Qualifications:

• SW Engineering background strongly preferred
• Experience with biological products or cancer immunotherapies
• Experience with Confluence and Jira is a big plus
• Prior experience working in cellular therapy, oncology research
• Expertise in using and / or developing resource management tools
• Prior experience working successfully in a small to mid-size biotech company
• Understanding of immunology, clinical trial execution, GxP requirements, next-generation sequencing, technical logistics and data infrastructure needs 

PACT Pharma is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and strives to build a diverse and inclusive team. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.