Director, Project Management - EDS

Accountabilities

• • Lead and directly manage a team of approximately 10–15 Clinical Project Managers, including hiring, onboarding, coaching, performance management, career development, compensation recommendations, and succession planning.
  • Establish clear performance expectations and hold team members accountable to KPIs covering milestone delivery, budget adherence, quality, client satisfaction, revenue, utilization, and retention.
  • Build a high-performing culture based on ownership, accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and consistent delivery standards.
  • Manage performance improvement plans and disciplinary processes in partnership with HR when required.
  • Develop and continuously refine resource allocation strategies to align project demand with team capacity, skills, and experience.
  • Maintain healthy utilization levels while ensuring sufficient capacity for training, mentoring, business development, and other strategic activities.
  • Own contingency planning for planned leave, unexpected attrition, portfolio surges, and other capacity risks, ensuring appropriate backup coverage and minimizing concentration risk.
  • Use data such as utilization, candidate evaluations, capacity, and skill fit to substantiate resource decisions and address supply challenges.
  • Drive adoption of SOPs, RACI frameworks, governance processes, and quality-management requirements across the project management organization.
  • Participate actively in project review processes to identify risks, coach project managers, reinforce standards, and implement corrective actions.
  • Ensure accurate and timely maintenance of project milestones, baselines, financial forecasts, and portfolio information within enterprise systems.
  • Champion inspection readiness, portfolio health monitoring, and consistent operational reporting.
  • Partner with Quality Assurance on CAPA execution, audit responses, inspection preparation, and continuous improvement of SOPs.
  • Represent the project management function in governance meetings, business reviews, escalations, and other senior client or internal forums as required.
  • Ensure project managers provide clear, accurate, and executive-ready status reporting and communications.
  • Collaborate with leaders across Data Management, Clinical Operations, Biostatistics, Medical Writing, Regulatory, and Site Management to resolve resource, quality, and delivery challenges.
  • Partner with HR, Finance, and business leadership on organizational design, compensation planning, workforce capacity, and resource forecasting.

  Requirements

  • Bachelor's degree in life sciences, health sciences, or a related discipline; an advanced degree such as an MS, PharmD, PhD, or MBA is preferred.
  • At least 10 years of clinical project management experience within a CRO, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or related environment.
  • Minimum 5 years of direct people-management experience, with a demonstrated ability to build, develop, motivate, and retain high-performing teams.
  • Proven experience leading teams responsible for full-service clinical trials and/or post-authorization safety studies, registries, and real-world evidence programs.
  • Demonstrated ability to oversee teams accountable for revenue delivery, margin management, financial performance, and change-order execution across a portfolio.
  • Deep knowledge of clinical project management methodologies, resource planning, risk management, contingency planning, and operational governance.
  • Strong experience with enterprise delivery and productivity systems such as Planisware, CTMS, financial forecasting tools, SharePoint, Teams, Excel, and Copilot.
  • Experience supporting regulatory inspection readiness and a strong understanding of FDA, EMA, Health Canada, GCP, and ICH requirements.
  • Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to synthesize complex operational issues into clear decisions, recommendations, and executive-level communications.
  • Proven ability to balance strong KPI accountability with effective coaching, talent development, employee engagement, and team culture.
  • Comfortable operating within a matrixed, international organization and collaborating effectively across European and US-based teams.
  • Strong strategic and analytical thinking, with the ability to use operational and financial data to guide decisions.
  • Highly organized, decisive, and pragmatic, with a strong focus on quality, client outcomes, and continuous improvement.
  • PMP or equivalent project management certification is preferred.

  Benefits

  • Senior leadership opportunity with significant responsibility for team performance, portfolio delivery, and organizational development.
  • Opportunity to lead and develop a sizeable team of experienced clinical project management professionals.
  • Remote working opportunity within Europe, offering flexibility and autonomy.
  • Exposure to international clinical research programs and collaboration across global teams.
  • Opportunity to influence operational strategy, resource planning, quality, and continuous improvement at organizational level.
  • Professional development and career growth opportunities within a global clinical research environment.
  • Collaborative, cross-functional working environment involving clinical, data, regulatory, statistical, financial, and operational specialists.
  • Meaningful opportunity to contribute to high-impact clinical research and evidence-generation programs.