Senior Manager, Portfolio and Program Management

Company Overview

Cerevel Therapeutics is dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of the brain to treat neuroscience diseases. We are tackling neuroscience diseases with a differentiated approach that combines expertise in neurocircuitry with a focus on receptor selectivity. Our portfolio of pre-commercial neuroscience assets targets a broad range of central nervous system (CNS) disorders, including schizophrenia, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease and substance use disorder.  

Headquartered in the Greater Boston area, we are bold thinkers, deep experts, resilient pathfinders, and transparent partners who push the boundaries of scientific understanding to unlock breakthrough CNS therapies that have real impact on people’s lives.

Cerevel aspires to develop and nurture a culture characterized by trust, respect, courage, curiosity, and compassion, with a relentless focus on mission and results.  Our patient-centricity guides our purpose, how we treat each other and what we work on every day.  The successful candidate will bring their own unique thinking and approach to Cerevel while sharing our core values and convictions.

Role Summary

The Sr. Manager, Portfolio and Program Management will be responsible for supporting cross-functional execution of the company’s pipeline program development strategies, and ensuring tight alignment with functional and corporate leadership, including support of portfolio analysis and prioritization. This person will also play a significant role in establishing the Portfolio and Program Management capability, including developing operating processes across the company. 

Key Responsibilities

• Partner closely with Program and Functional Team Lead(s) to execute program strategy, help identify core team goals, and ensure tight coordination and alignment across the program team 
• Lead the development and coordinate execution of program workplans/timelines, integrated development plans, and program-level budget, tracking progress and driving toward milestones/goals, key events, identifying and mitigating risks and scenario planning, as appropriate. 
• Develop and maintain fully integrated program plans, incorporating activities, responsibilities, interdependencies, key resource requirements and critical path analysis that facilitate the delivery of tangible results against program and corporate goals. 
• Drive coordination of cross-functional activities and promote effective communications (e.g., Team meetings, program updates); ensure clarity of role and responsibility across program team members to drive effective execution 
• Contribute to the development of portfolio-level analyses and reports, including prioritization and trade-off discussions 
• Manage Program Team meetings, including leading discussions to drive to decision-making, agenda creation, and meeting minutes. 
• Owner for key global program documents, e.g. global filing and launch plan, integrated development plan 
• Build strong cross-functional partnerships across all programs in the portfolio 

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, with direct experience working on or leading clinical and/or commercial stage program teams 
• Degree in Engineering or Life Sciences required, advanced degree (PhD or MBA) preferred 
• Strong knowledge of drug discovery, development and commercialization processes and strategies and awareness of the current regulatory environment 
• Ability to energize others, comfortable with ambiguity, and passionate about accomplishing mission-driven goals 
• Experience collaborating with cross-functional teams in a fast-paced and dynamic environment 
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; ability to combine attention to detail with an understanding of broader strategic context 
• Excellent communication skills 
• Competency in developing, implementing and delivering project plans, dashboards and risk mitigation and contingency plans to successful endpoints 

Desired Qualifications

• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to motivate and influence others, negotiate during situational conflict, and establish the best forward path in the face of competing points of view 
• Fluency with standard computer software packages (MS Office Suite, MS Teams, MS Project) Experience in other project management tools or software applications a plus 
• Life Sciences related educational background preferred 

Education

• BA/BS in Engineering or Life Sciences required, advanced degree (PhD or MBA) preferred