Associate Director, Development Project Management

Definium Therapeutics; Durham (NC); On-site; USD 150,000 - 195,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits for you and dependents

401(k) with company match

Flexible time off

Parental leave

Job summary

Definium Therapeutics is seeking an Associate Director, Development Project Management to act as a strategic partner across programs and cross-functional teams. The role oversees integrated planning, milestone tracking, risk management, governance readiness, and cross-functional execution for assigned programs in a lean, fast-paced organization.

The ideal candidate has strong drug development experience, stakeholder management skills, and the ability to create structure and accountability while

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a scientific, business, operations, or related discipline required.
• Advanced degree in science, business, operations, or related discipline preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and maintenance of integrated project plans across functions.
• Align plans with program strategy, milestones, and critical decision points.
• Monitor progress, milestones, timelines, resources, and critical paths.
• Facilitate meetings and ensure clear accountability for decisions and actions.
• Identify risks, issues, assumptions, dependencies, and opportunities impacting objectives.
• Support governance by preparing status updates and risk summaries.

Skills

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Stakeholder management

Risk management

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in scientific/business/operations

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

Planisware Enterprise

Smartsheet

Microsoft Project

Microsoft Office

Job description

Definium Therapeutics is a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company and our mission is to forge a new era of psychiatry by applying scientific rigor to psychedelics, with the goal of developing accessible treatments that unlock healing at scale.

Our lead product candidate, lysergide tartrate (our proprietary orally disintegrating tablet form of lysergide (LSD) D-tartrate), represents a highly differentiated, potential best-in-class opportunity for patients suffering from generalized anxiety, major depressive disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Our early stage pipeline includes DT402, the R-enantiomer of MDMA and is under development to target the core symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), specifically addressing social communication challenges.

Guided by the recognition that patients deserve more than better, Definium is relentlessly advancing a new generation of therapeutics intended to address the underlying causes of psychiatric and neurological disorders. By turning evidence into impact, Definium aims to change the trajectory of today's mental health care crisis and enable a healthier future.

Headquartered in New York, Definium Therapeutics trades on Nasdaq under the symbol DFTX.

Together we are moving psychiatry forward—beyond better, into a boundless future. Join us!

Associate Director, Development Project Management

We are seeking an Associate Director, Development Project Management, to serve as a strategic execution partner across programs, functional, and cross-functional teams in a growing environment. This individual will lead integrated planning, milestone tracking, risk and issue management, governance readiness, and cross-functional execution for assigned programs and initiatives. The ideal candidate will bring strong drug development experience, excellent stakeholder management skills, and the ability to create structure, drive accountability, and influence without authority in a lean, fast-paced organization. Experience with late-stage development, regulatory submission planning, and tools such as Planisware Enterprise is preferred.

The ideal candidate will be comfortable operating in a lean, evolving organization where roles may be broad, priorities may shift, and processes may still be developing. This individual should be able to create clarity, structure, and accountability while remaining flexible and pragmatic.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and maintenance of integrated project plans that align program strategy, milestones, deliverables, dependencies, and decision points across key functions. Ensuring alignment with the sub-team plans
• Partner with sub-team functional leads to ensure plans are realistic, aligned, and positioned to support successful program execution
• Drive cross-functional execution by monitoring progress against milestones, deliverables, timelines, resources, and critical path activities
• Facilitate productive team meetings and ensure clear accountability for decisions, actions, and follow-up activities
• Proactively identify, assess, and manage risks, issues, assumptions, dependencies, and opportunities that may impact program objectives
• Partner with teams to develop mitigation strategies, contingency plans, and escalation recommendations to enable informed decision-makingSupport governance and leadership forums by preparing decision-focused materials, status updates, risk summaries, and recommendations
• Ensure timely communication and alignment of key program priorities, decisions, milestones, and risks across stakeholders
• Identify opportunities to improve planning, execution, team effectiveness, and operational processes to enhance organizational performance

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a scientific, business, operations, or related discipline required, Advanced degree in science, business, operations, or related discipline preferred
• Minimum 10 years of overall experience in the pharmaceutical or biotech industry preferredMinimum of 8 years of project/program management experience in the pharmaceutical, biotech, or life sciences industry
• Strong understanding of end-to-end drug development business processes
• Experience supporting cross-functional development teams, functional workstreams, or program-level initiatives in a matrixed environment
• Demonstrated ability to develop and manage integrated project plans, milestones, critical paths, dependencies, risks, issues, assumptions, and decision points
• Experience working across one or more development functions, such as clinical development, clinical operations, CMC, regulatory affairs, preclinical, translational, commercial, or medical affairs
• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office and project management tools, such as Microsoft Project, Planisware Enterprise, Smartsheet, or equivalent systems
• Experience in late-phase development organizations or late-stage asset planning preferred
• Experience supporting NDA, BLA, MAA, major regulatory submissions, or submission-readiness planning preferred
• Experience using Planisware Enterprise or other portfolio/project management systems in a development environment preferred
• PMP, Agile, Lean Six Sigma, or other relevant project management certification preferred

The starting base pay range for this position is $ 150,000.00-195,000.00. Compensation will be determined based on several factors including, but not limited to, skill set, years of experience, and the employee's geographic location.

Employees in this role may be entitled to additional compensation, including bonus and equity. Benefits information is listed on our Jobs Page. The Company provides competitive benefits to employees including:

• 100% paid health benefits including Medical, Dental and Vision for you and your dependents 401(k) program with company match and vesting after the turn of the first month after your start date
• Flexible time off
• Generous parental leave and some fun fringe perks!