NPI Project Manager

PCI TRGR Penn Pharmaceutical Services Ltd; Philadelphia (Philadelphia County); On-site; USD 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

PCI Pharma Services is seeking an experienced Project Manager to lead end-to-end NPI programs from award through commercialization. You will coordinate schedule, budget, and cross-functional teams, ensuring alignment with cGMP and FDA requirements, and you will communicate progress to stakeholders.

This role includes stage-gate management, technology transfer support, and ongoing process improvements. The ideal candidate has 4+ years in pharma project management, strong communication skills, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical, engineering, or science discipline.
• 4+ years of pharmaceutical project management experience.
• Knowledge of cGMP and FDA regulatory requirements.
• Experience managing integrated timelines, risks, escalation, and resolution.
• Proficiency with Smartsheet or equivalent project management platforms and Microsoft 365.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end project-level execution of NPI programs from award through commercialization.
• Maintain and manage project plans, action trackers, and RAID logs in Smartsheet; track milestones and risks.
• Lead cross-functional coordination across Engineering, QA, Operations, Procurement, Supply Chain, and Validation.
• Serve as the primary day-to-day operational contact for assigned clients; lead client steering committee meetings.
• Drive NPI stage-gate management and tech transfer activities; coordinate validation and launch readiness.
• Monitor scope, cost, and schedule; support CER submissions and BD-to-NPI handover; manage documentation.

Skills

Project management

Cross-functional coordination

Communication

Risk management

Problem solving

Detail oriented

Influence without authority

Customer focus

Education

Bachelor’s degree in technical, engineering, or science

Master’s degree (preferred)

Tools

Smartsheet

Microsoft 365

Job description

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The essential duties and responsibilities include the following but other duties may be assigned.

Project Execution and Delivery

Own end-to-end project-level execution of assigned NPI programs from award through commercialization, managing the integrated project timeline including milestones, dependencies, and deliverables. Maintain and manage project plans, action trackers, and RAID logs in Smartsheet. Track progress against milestones and elevate schedule, cost, or scope risks to the Program Manager early. Prepare and deliver weekly project status updates for internal governance and leadership reporting, ensuring documentation, templates, and systems (Smartsheet, JDE) remain accurate and current. Ensure all project activities follow the NPI Playbook and standard ways of working established by the NPI function. Ensure all activities are performed in accordance with cGMP, FDA 21 CFR 211, applicable regulatory standards, and PCI SOPs and EHS requirements.

Cross-Functional Coordination

Drive cross-functional coordination across Engineering, Quality Assurance, Quality Engineering, Operations, Procurement, Supply Chain, and Validation to ensure project deliverables stay on track. Lead internal weekly project team meetings and ensure clear accountability for action items across all functional areas. Align Engineering, QA, Operations and Supply Chain on technical requirements, material readiness, and validation plans. Ensure procurement timelines and material availability align with project milestones.

Customer and Stakeholder Communication

Serve as the primary day-to-day operational contact for assigned clients during active project execution, escalating strategic or relationship-level issues to the Program Manager. Lead or co-lead client steering committee meetings for assigned programs, preparing agendas, status materials, and action item tracking in coordination with the Program Manager. Provide internal and external project status reporting including schedule adherence, risk and issue summaries, and budget status as required.

Operational Readiness and Stage-Gate Management

Drive projects through formal NPI stage gates (Kickoff - Development - Tech Transfer - Validation - Commercialization), ensuring all gate deliverables are completed before phase transitions. Work in close partnership with the Project Engineering team throughout the NPI lifecycle, ensuring alignment on equipment readiness, technical requirements, process development activities, and validation execution. Serve as a resource to the PE team for scheduling coordination, client communication, and cross-functional issue resolution. Coordinate activities required for technology transfer, engineering runs, operational qualification (OQ), process line trials (PLT), process qualification (PQ/PPQ), and launch readiness, including in-person walkthroughs and alignment sessions on the manufacturing floor. Ensure floor readiness and Business Unit resource availability prior to key manufacturing phases. Confirm batch records, Master Packaging Instructions (MPIs), specifications, and quality approvals are in place before validation runs. Track material readiness including components, tooling and materials to ensure arrival in time for engineering and validation runs. Coordinate with Procurement and Supply Chain to resolve shortages or lead time issues. Ensure program timelines account for regulatory submissions, approvals and inspection readiness milestones.

Financial and Scope Oversight

Monitor project scope against awarded work and identify potential scope changes, escalating to the Program Manager with supporting documentation for financial review. Track key program cost drivers that could affect timeline, budget or capacity planning and report variances to the Program Manager. Support timely submission of Capital Expenditure Requests (CERs) related to NPI programs and assist with onboarding cost tracking as directed by the Program Manager. Maintain a working relationship with Business Development to support the BD-to-NPI handover process, ensuring project-level inputs (technical requirements, commercial terms, timeline expectations) are captured accurately and incorporated into project plans. Coordinate product destruction activities following completion of validation runs, ensuring proper documentation, client approvals and compliance with PCI procedures and regulatory requirements.

Continuous Improvement

Capture lessons learned throughout the project lifecycle and contribute to improving the NPI Playbook, templates and processes. Provide feedback to the Program Manager on process gaps, operational challenges, and improvement opportunities identified during project execution. Coordinate with internal change control processes to manage changes that affect project scope or timelines, ensuring proper documentation and approvals.

Scope and Authority

Influence-based leadership of cross-functional project teams with accountability for project-level deliverables and timelines. Responsible for adhering to SOPs, Health & Safety, cGMP and regulatory guidelines. Authority to escalated project-level risks, scope changes and issues to the Program Manager for resolution or further escalation. This role requires occasional travel for vendor, supplier or client engagements.

Qualifications:

The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required for the stated position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Required:

Bachelor’s degree in a technical, engineering, or science discipline. 4+ years of experience in pharmaceutical project management, preferably within a CDMO or contract manufacturing environment. Sound working knowledge of cGMP and FDA regulatory requirements. Experience managing technical projects including integrated timeline management, risk identification, escalation, and resolution. Proficiency with Smartsheet or equivalent project management platforms, and Microsoft 365 suite. Strong communication skills with the ability to interact effectively with internal cross-functional teams and external clients. Ability to manage multiple concurrent projects with competing priorities and deadlines. Strong problem-solving skills with an analytical, detail-oriented approach. Ability to influence and drive accountability across cross-functional teams without direct authority. Dependability, reliability, integrity and attention to detail. Customer-centric mindset with a commitment to quality, ethics and professionalism.

Preferred:

Master’s degree in a technical, engineering, or science discipline. PMP, PRINCE2 or equivalent project management certification. Experience with tech transfer, process validation (PLT / PQ / PPQ), or commercial manufacturing readiness activities. Understanding of drug product manufacturing processes, equipment and packaging operations. Experience working directly with pharmaceutical clients as the primary operational point of contact. Familiarity with stage-gate or phase-gated project management methodologies in a GMP manufacturing environment.

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Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Statement: PCI Pharma Services is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. We do not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, creed, national origin, ancestry, citizenship status, marital or domestic or civil union status, familial status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetics, disability, military eligibility or veteran status, or any other protected status. At PCI, Equity and Inclusion are at the core of our company’s purpose: Together, delivering life-changing therapies. We are committed to cultivating an inclusive workplace by holding ourselves accountable to the highest standards of understanding, fairness, respect, and equal opportunity – at every level. We envision a PCI community where everyone can belong and grow, and we strive to bring this vision to reality by continuously and intentionally assessing our people practices, policies and programs, marketing approach, and workplace culture.

Why work for PCI Pharma Services?

At PCI, we have an uncompromising focus on providing quality and operational excellence and providing the industry leading customer experience. Our people make all of this happen, so providing an industry leading experience for our people is equally as important. By creating an authentic culture of purposeful work, we aspire to be an interesting and fulfilling place for talented individuals to grow careers. We live a philosophy of intentional learning combined with real-life experience supported by a fair and competitive rewards program.