Director - Programming

Ephicacy; Bengaluru; On-site; INR 4,000,000 - 8,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Ephicacy Bengaluru seeks a senior leader to build, scale, and lead high-performing Programmers & Analysts across SAS, R, and Real-World Evidence (RWE). You will chart strategic technology roadmaps, drive delivery transformation, and ensure quality, regulatory compliance, and sustainable growth.

You will manage 50+ professionals, guide talent development, and oversee multi-client delivery, with strong emphasis on stakeholder communication and business development in life sciences.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading large analytics teams.
• Strong client-facing and executive stakeholder engagement.
• Deep knowledge of regulatory requirements and quality management.

Responsibilities

• Build, scale, and lead high-performing Programmers & Analysts.
• Drive operational excellence, innovation, and delivery transformation.
• Lead end-to-end people management including performance, hiring, onboarding.
• Develop strategic training plans based on business priorities.
• Mentor and coach team members to foster leadership and continuous improvement.
• Oversee resource planning across SAS, R Programming, and RWE teams.
• Ensure adherence to regulatory requirements and client expectations.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Team management

Client engagement

Regulatory knowledge

Quality management

Tools

SAS

R

RStudio

Define-XML/CDISC

Job description

• Build, scale, and lead high-performing Programmers & Analysts.
• Drive operational excellence, innovation, talent development, and delivery transformation while ensuring quality, regulatory compliance, and sustainable business growth.
• Lead end-to-end people management responsibilities, including performance management, career development, succession planning, disciplinary procedures, hiring, onboarding, and resource allocation.
• Develop and implement strategic training and competency development plans based on business priorities, emerging technologies, operational requirements, and individual development needs.
• Mentor, coach, and evaluate team members, fostering technical expertise, leadership capabilities, career progression, and a culture of continuous improvement.
• Oversee resource planning and utilization across SAS, R Programming, and RWE teams, ensuring optimal workforce deployment, productivity, capacity management, and timely project delivery.
• Drive departmental growth, capability expansion, and operational scalability while ensuring adherence to regulatory requirements, industry standards, and client expectations.

Preferred Skills & Qualifications

Technical Expertise

• Extensive knowledge of clinical data standards, including CDISC SDTM, Adams, Define-XML, and regulatory submission requirements.
• Knowledge of R frameworks and tools such as RStudio, Shiny, R Markdown, and relevant R packages.
• Understanding of SAS-to-R migration, modernization strategies, and implementation of open-source programming solutions.
• Strong understanding of Real-World Evidence (RWE) and Real-World Data (RWD) methodologies, observational research, and evidence-generation frameworks.
• Programming and analytical expertise using SAS, R, for large-scale data processing and advanced analytics.
• Understanding of data integration, data harmonization, data quality, analytical dataset development, and validation methodologies.

Strategic & Client Leadership

• Demonstrated experience in defining and executing strategic technology roadmaps and building new service-line capabilities across SAS, R Programming, and RWE.
• Strong client-facing experience, including executive-level stakeholder engagement, account management, business reviews, and strategic consulting.
• Proven ability to lead RFPs, proposals, solution architecture, capability presentations, and business development initiatives.
• Experience identifying new business opportunities, expanding existing accounts, and contributing to revenue growth.
• Ability to translate complex client requirements into scalable technical solutions and delivery strategies.
• Strong understanding of the pharmaceutical, CRO, and life sciences industries.

People & Business Management

• Proven experience managing and scaling large, multidisciplinary teams, preferably 50+ professionals.
• Strong leadership capabilities in talent acquisition, resource planning, performance management, succession planning, and organizational development.
• Experience managing multiple client engagements, delivery portfolios, budgets, utilization, and operational performance.
• Ability to build technical leadership pipelines and foster a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Strong communication, stakeholder management, negotiation, and executive presentation skills.
• Knowledge of regulatory compliance, quality management systems, and ISO standards, including ISO 9001, ISO 27001, and ISO 22301.