Senior Director, Head of Oncology

Jazz Pharmaceuticals; Dublin; On-site; EUR 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Jazz Pharmaceuticals seeks a Senior Director, Head of Oncology Project Management to lead and scale the oncology PM organization. This role partners with TA leadership to translate portfolio strategy into executable plans and to ensure governance, risk management, and resource allocation across programs from Phase 1 to launch.

You will coach PMs, drive cross‑functional collaboration, and implement best practices using Planisware and Smartsheet to accelerate delivery and strategic decision making.

Qualifications

• Extensive drug development project management experience in biopharma.
• Direct line management experience of PMs.
• Proven track record delivering programs from Phase 1 to launch.
• Experience with governance committees and risk management.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor an elite oncology PM team across development stages.
• Coach PMs to identify critical-path dependencies and manage capacity.
• Translate clinical plans into integrated operational roadmaps.
• Ensure budget oversight, risk mitigation, and delivery excellence.
• Foster cross-functional collaboration and tool adoption (Planisware/Smartsheet).

Skills

Team Leadership

Coaching

Capacity Planning

Cross-functional Collaboration

Governance

Risk Management

Financial Management

Process Optimization

PM Coaching

Strategic Alignment

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences or Engineering

Advanced degree preferred

PMP or PM certification preferred

Tools

Planisware

Smartsheet

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.

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