Director, Technical Project Management (R&D), Research & Development

Sabin Vaccine Institute, Inc.; Northern (KY); Hybrid; USD 173,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, vision coverage

Flexible spending accounts

Flexible vacation leave

Employer 401(k) matching

Job summary

Sabin Vaccine Institute, Inc. is seeking a Director of Technical Project Management in R&D to lead a team of technical Project Managers spanning nonclinical, clinical, regulatory, and CMC activities. You will drive strategic planning, governance, and delivery, ensuring on‑time and within‑budget execution across vaccine programs.

The role requires 12+ years in biopharma PM, strong leadership, and experience with government or global health funders. This is a fully remote US‑only position.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a scientific field; advanced degree and/or PMP preferred.
• 12+ years of biopharma vaccine PM experience, with integrated development exposure.
• Proven leadership in coaching and developing Project Managers.
• Broad understanding of vaccine development across nonclinical, clinical, regulatory, and CMC.

Responsibilities

• Lead, manage, coach, and develop a team of technical Project Managers across vaccine development activities.
• Set expectations for planning, meeting management, risk, budget tracking, and reporting.
• Build team capabilities through training, knowledge sharing, and cross‑program learning.
• Mentor individuals and manage performance, career development, and tools usage.
• Foster a collaborative, accountable, inclusive team culture with transparency and learning.
• Provide leadership oversight for interfaces with CDMOs, CROs, labs, partners, and funders.
• Guide scenario planning, dependency management, and readiness planning.
• Drive standardization of PM tools, dashboards, and operating rhythms.

Skills

Team leadership

Program management

Budgeting

Risk management

Stakeholder management

MS Project

Smartsheet

Education

Bachelor’s degree in a scientific field

PMP certification

Tools

MS Project

Smartsheet

Microsoft 365

Job description

All Jobs > Director, Technical Project Management (R&D)

Director, Technical Project Management (R&D) Fully Remote Remote Worker - US Only Research & Development

Reports to: Vice President, Program and Portfolio Management, Research & Development

Location: Remote Work (US Only)

Why Sabin:

Our mission is to make vaccines more accessible, enable innovation and expand immunization across the globe. We seek a future free from vaccine-preventable diseases. We are an innovative, collaborative, and engaged team that values accountability, teamwork, partnership and driving impact. We are vaccine champions improving lives through immunization. Sabin staff, management and the Board of Trustees are committed to ensuring that fairness, integrity, and opportunity remain at the core of how we operate.

Position Summary:

The Director, Technical Project Management, Vaccine Research & Development (R&D) is a senior leader responsible for building, leading, coaching, and developing a team of technical Project Managers who support vaccine development programs across nonclinical, clinical, regulatory, and Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) disciplines. This role ensures all technical Project Managers operate in a consistent and aligned manner by setting standards and performance expectations for the function.

The incumbent will partner closely with Program Managers, program leadership, functional leads, Finance, Grants & Contracts, and all vaccine development workstreams to ensure the Project Management team translates development strategy into tactical plans, budgets, risks, and reporting outputs and on-time delivery.

The ideal candidate brings broad biopharma vaccine development Project Management experience, strong people leadership, coaching and development skills, and experience supporting programs funded by U.S. Government agencies, non-profits, and/or global health organizations where strong financial acumen, planning rigor, and earned value/project controls are critical.

Responsibilities:

Leadership and Team Development:

• Lead, manage, coach, and develop a team of technical Project Managers supporting integrated vaccine development activities by fostering a high-performance culture rooted in accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement
• Set expectations for Project Management excellence, including planning discipline, meeting management, decision documentation, issue escalation, risk management, budget tracking, and reporting
• Build team capabilities through training, knowledge sharing, and cross-program learning opportunities
• Build individual capabilities within the team through mentoring, feedback, performance management, career development, and consistent use of tools and templates
• Foster a collaborative, accountable, inclusive team culture that supports transparency, constructive challenge, and continuous learning
• Serve as a role model and uphold principles of Program Governance
• Provide clear direction and feedback, supporting individual development plans and career progression
• Provide leadership oversight for direct reports interfaces with CDMOs, CROs, testing laboratories, consultants, academic partners, global health organizations, federal agencies, and other external stakeholders

Program Enablement:

• Partner with Program Managers and functional leaders to ensure technical Project Managers develop and maintain fit-for-purpose integrated plans, schedules, milestones, budgets, assumptions, risks, issues, dependencies, and decision records
• Provide review and feedback of team outputs to ensure high-quality and appropriate integration of functional, external partner, budget, schedule, and decision inputs
• Serve as an escalation point and thought partner for direct reports as well as Program Managers on complex planning, stakeholder alignment, and delivery challenges
• Guide direct reports in using scenario planning, dependency management, critical path analysis, trade‑off assessment, and operational readiness planning
• Drive consistent use of project management tools, dashboards, templates, and operating rhythms to ensure alignment, visibility, accountability, and performance
• Ensure technical Project Managers provide timely, accurate visibility to deliverables, risks, issues, assumptions, and variances to support Program Manager decision‑making and escalation
• Provide hands‑on support and coaching for proposal planning, basis‑of‑estimate development, budget assumptions, and project controls, while building these capabilities within the team

Program & Portfolio Management Office and R&D Operations:

• Contribute to strategic planning activities, providing insights into program performance, resource utilization, and potential implications for new opportunities and R&D initiatives
• Support the planning and delivery of organizational objectives/goals to ensure successful R&D‑wide evolution in support of our mission
• Support R&D‑wide efforts, including but not limited to routine and ad‑hoc meeting planning and execution, reporting, and system/infrastructure building
• Participate in the development and refinement of project and program management tools which foster alignment, communication, and performance

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in a scientific field; advanced degree and/or PMP certification strongly preferred
• 12+ years of relevant biopharma, vaccine, biologics, or pharmaceutical experience, including significant project/program management and integrated product development experience
• Demonstrated experience leading, coaching, and developing Project Managers, including performance management, mentoring, and capability building
• Broad understanding of vaccine/biologic development across nonclinical, clinical, regulatory, and CMC disciplines, with sufficient technical fluency to identify dependencies, risks, trade‑offs, and integration needs
• Experience with programs funded by U.S. Government agencies, global health organizations, foundations, and/or non‑profit funders preferred; familiarity with contractual deliverables, funder reporting, and audit‑ready documentation highly valued
• Strong financial acumen, including program budgeting, forecasting, accruals, variance analysis, basis‑of‑estimate development, earned value management/project controls, and schedule/cost performance tracking
• Experience with third‑party vendors and partners, including CDMOs, CROs, testing laboratories, consultants, and academic or government collaborators
• Experience with pharmaceutical or vaccine governance practices, risk management, issue escalation, and executive‑level reporting
• Advanced proficiency with MS Project and Smartsheet tools; strong proficiency with Microsoft 365 applications
• Excellent people leadership, communication, facilitation, influencing, and stakeholder management skills; ability to coach others to lead through ambiguity and operate effectively in a matrixed environment
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage competing priorities, confidential information, and time‑sensitive deliverables; dependable and able to prioritize competing demands to meet deadlines
• Commitment to furthering Sabin’s mission and contributing to a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and collaborative workplace
• Ability to travel approximately 10‑20% domestically and internationally with notice

Other:

• Subject to a criminal background investigation
• Request for three professional references
• Verification of education/degrees

Sabin’s philosophy is to ensure fair, unbiased, equitable, competitive compensation and benefits. Using benchmarking and salary survey data, the annual salary for this position ranges from $173,000 - $190,000. The exact compensation may vary based on skills, experience, training, and certifications/degree. As a grant‑funded organization, Sabin actively seeks funding for existing and new programs.

Sabin provides a comprehensive benefits package for eligible, featuring medical, dental, and vision coverage as well as flexible spending accounts. Eligible employees enjoy flexible vacation leave, sick leave, and both short‑term and long‑term disability options. The organization observes 10 federal holidays plus an end of the year winter break. Additionally, Sabin offers an employer matching 401(k) plan.

Sabin is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to their race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, disability or genetic information, sex (including gender identity, pregnancy or sexual orientation), marital status, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state or local laws.