Senior Director, Head of Oncology

Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Dublin; Remote; EUR 204,000 - 306,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

401k plan

Vacation & leave

Job summary

Jazz Pharmaceuticals is seeking a Senior Director, Head of Oncology Project Management to lead an elite PM team responsible for global oncology programs from Phase 1 through launch. The role demands strategic oversight, capacity management, and strong collaboration with Therapeutic Area leadership to operationalize portfolio strategy.

The ideal candidate has extensive biopharma PM experience, demonstrated people leadership, and expertise in enterprise PM tools like Planisware and Smartsheet.

Qualifications

• Extensive drug development project management experience in biopharma.
• Direct line management experience supervising PM professionals.
• Proven track record delivering molecules from Phase 1 through regulatory submission and global launch.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop an elite oncology PM team across development stages.
• Forecast capacity and manage resources to prevent bottlenecks and burnout.
• Partner with TA leadership to translate development plans into operational roadmaps.

Skills

Team leadership

Cross-functional leadership

Strategic thinking

People development

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences or related field

Advanced degree preferred (Ph.D., PharmD, MS, MBA)

Tools

Planisware

Smartsheet

Orchestra model

Job description

Senior Director, Head of Oncology## Cookies are used on this site to assist in continually improving the candidate experience and all the interaction data we store of our visitors is anonymous. Learn more about your rights on our Privacy Policy page.### Senior Director, Head of OncologyApply: Remote: US - Home-Based: UK - Home-Based: Ireland - Home-Based: Full time: Posted 2 Days Ago: End Date: November 7, 2026 (7 days left to apply): R040249**If you are a current Jazz employee please apply via the Internal Career site**Jazz Pharmaceuticals is a global biopharma company whose purpose is to innovate to transform the lives of patients and their families. We are dedicated to developing life-changing medicines for people with serious diseases — often with limited or no therapeutic options. We have a diverse portfolio of marketed medicines, including leading therapies for sleep disorders and epilepsy, and a growing portfolio of cancer treatments. Our patient-focused and science-driven approach powers pioneering research and development advancements across our robust pipeline of innovative therapeutics in oncology and neuroscience. Jazz is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland with research and development laboratories, manufacturing facilities and employees in multiple countries committed to serving patients worldwide. Please visit www.jazzpharmaceuticals.com for more information.## **Job Description****Brief Description:**The Senior Director, Head of Oncology Project Management provides strategic operational leadership, coaching, and portfolio-level oversight for the oncology project management organization at Jazz Pharmaceuticals. This leader focuses on fostering, equipping, and scaling a high-performing team of Project Managers. The oncology PM team is responsible for driving global oncology programs through the full development lifecycle.This role ensures that the Oncology PM team has tools, strategic mindset, and talent density to drive critical-path execution and operational excellence. The Senior Director partners closely with Oncology Therapeutic Area Leadership to operationalize portfolio strategy and proactively manages team capacity.**Essential Functions****People Leadership & Coaching*** **Team Leadership:** Direct, mentor, and foster an elite oncology project management team capable of driving programs across Phase 1, late-stage, regulatory filing, and global launch.* **Capability Building:** Coach and develop PMs to proactively identify critical path dependencies, manage cross-functional execution, and maintain rigorous operational standards. Establish PMs as the strategic operational leaders (“COOs of their projects”) co-leading Development Teams/Global Project Teams (GPTs) in tandem with Early/Late Development Leads.* **Talent Development:** Implement individualized development plans, succession planning, and proactive recruitment to ensure critical programs are staffed with top-tier talent. Prevent burnout and optimize workload distribution through active capacity management.**2. Portfolio Oversight & Execution Excellence*** **Milestone Tracking:** Maintain high-level line-of-sight on all oncology program health, key milestones, critical paths, and project risk profiles.* **Operational Excellence:** Partner with Oncology Therapeutic Area Leadership to convert clinical development plans into integrated operational roadmaps, ensuring that pipeline assets advance through the development continuum with speed and quality.* **Gap Coverage:** Actively step in to directly manage a project or program when necessary to bridge a critical team resource or staffing gap.**3. Governance & Decision Framing*** **Strategic Governance:** Guide and support PMs as they prepare their project teams for governance committees, ensuring rigorous preparation and data-driven pre-reads.* **Trade-Off Analysis:** Help team frame complex decisions for executive leadership through clear trade-off analyses balancing timelines, cost, resources, and risk.* **Risk & Issue Management:** Facilitate proactive risk identification, mitigation plans, and contingency execution across all programs.**4. Resource, Capacity & Budget Management*** **Capacity Planning:** Proactively forecast FTE resource bottlenecks and partner with functional heads to resolve gaps partnering with the Resource Management Team.* **Financial Management:** Maintain oversight of oncology program budgets, collaborating with Finance to track variances, commitments, and multi-million-dollar program allocations.**5. Process Optimization & Best Practices*** **Process Excellence:** Lead enterprise-level and departmental process optimization initiatives to drive efficiency, agility, and best practices in project management.* **Systems Adoption:** Ensure team-wide adoption of standardized PM tools, risk management frameworks, and enterprise planning systems (such as Planisware).* **Model Integration:** Lead the active embedding and continuous sustainment of the Orchestra Team Operating Model across all early-stage project teams, clarifying roles, responsibilities, and team decision rights.* **Cross-Functional Collaboration:** Break down traditional functional silos to build highly collaborative, high-performing drug discovery and early development teams.* **PPM Vision Alignment:** Embed the department’s core strategic pillars into day-to-day operations, shaping project managers as the strategic “COOs of their projects”.**Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities****Experience*** Extensive experience of drug development project management experience in biopharma.* Direct line management experience supervising, developing, and staffing project management professionals.* Proven track record of managing a team of PMs who have successfully delivered molecules from Phase 1 through to regulatory submission and global commercial launch.**Technical Acumen*** Broad knowledge of the end-to-end clinical drug development lifecycle (Phase 1 through launch) and global regulatory frameworks.* Familiarity with oncology-specific regulatory and developmental pathways (e.g., fast-track, companion diagnostics, FDA Project Optimus).**Systems & Tools*** Hands-on experience with enterprise project management systems, schedule analytics, and FTE capacity planning models.* Advanced expertise in Planisware, Smartsheet, and resource forecasting modeling.**Leadership Skills*** Superb people developer with a passion for coaching and building collaborative, high-performing matrix teams.* Strong executive presence and influence; ability to easily navigate ambiguity and build alignment across senior R&D and commercial leaders.* Proven experience in organizational design, change management, and establishing PM coaching frameworks.**Required/Preferred Education and Licenses*** Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences, Engineering, or a related field required.* Advanced degree preferred (Ph.D., PharmD, MS, or MBA)* PMP (Project Management Professional) or equivalent PM certification preferred. #LI-SM1#LI-remote*Jazz Pharmaceuticals is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any characteristic protected by law.***FOR US BASED CANDIDATES ONLY**Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices and we strive to provide employees with total compensation packages that are market competitive. For this role, the full and complete base pay range is:$228,000.00 - $342,000.00Individual compensation paid within this range will depend on many factors, including qualifications, skills, relevant experience, job knowledge, and other pertinent factors. The goal is to ensure fair and competitive compensation aligned with the candidate's expertise and contributions, within the established pay framework and our Total Compensation philosophy. Internal equity considerations will also influence individual base pay decisions. This range will be reviewed on a regular basis.At Jazz, your base pay is only one part of your total compensation package. The successful candidate may also be eligible for a discretionary annual cash bonus or incentive compensation (depending on the role), in accordance with the terms of the Company's Global Cash Bonus Plan or Incentive Compensation Plan, as well as discretionary equity grants in accordance with Jazz’s Long Term Equity Incentive Plan.The successful candidate will also be eligible to participate in various benefits offerings, including, but not limited to, medical, dental and vision insurance, 401k retirement savings plan, and flexible paid vacation. For more information on our Benefits offerings please click here: https://careers.jazzpharma.com/benefits.html