Program Manager (Preclinical)

CHDI Management; Los Angeles (CA); Hybrid; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

CHDI Management, Inc. seeks a highly organized Program Manager to join the preclinical Program Management Office supporting multiple teams. You will coordinate translational and preclinical studies, manage contracts, and work closely with Ph.D.

scientists in a fast‑paced, impact‑driven environment. The role offers significant growth opportunities in a nonprofit setting focused on Huntington’s disease research.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's in life sciences or chemical sciences.
• Contract management experience coordinating studies with collaborators.
• Experience in pharmaceutical/biotech industry.
• Licensing, technology transfer and alliance management experience is a plus.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate contracts with collaborators, including fee-for-service agreements.
• Collaborate with finance and legal to ensure policy compliance.
• Evaluate budgets and monitor expenditures against contracts.
• Track study progress using CHDI tools and report issues promptly.
• Ensure deliverables meet contract terms and allocated funds.
• Prepare meeting minutes and support program management meetings.
• Manage invoicing, audits, amendments, and contract closeouts.
• Review invoices for alignment with contract terms.

Skills

Contract management

Study coordination

Pharma/biotech industry experience

Licensing/tech transfer/alliances

Organizational skills

Multitasking

Communication skills

MS Office proficiency

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in life sciences or chemical sciences

Job description

Title:

Program Manager

Location:

Princeton, NJ or Los Angeles, CA (currently hybrid) - 2 days per week in the office. Must be local to one of our offices, others will not be considered.

Reports To:

Director, Program Management

Salary Range:

$80,000 – $120,000. Exact compensation will vary based on experience

Other:

Vaccination against COVID-19 is a prerequisite for employment at CHDI Management

About CHDI Foundation, Inc.

CHDI Foundation, Inc. is a privately funded nonprofit biomedical research organization exclusively dedicated to collaboratively developing therapeutics that will substantially improve the lives of those affected by Huntington’s disease (HD). Our scientists work closely with a network of more than 700 researchers in academic and industrial laboratories around the world in the pursuit of these novel therapies, providing strategic scientific direction to ensure that our common goals remain in focus. This helps bridge the translational gap that often exists between academic and industrial research pursuits and that adds costly delays to therapy development. In its role as a collaborative enabler, CHDI seeks to bring the right partners together to identify and address critical scientific issues and move drug candidates to clinical evaluation as rapidly as possible. Our activities extend from exploratory biology to the identification and validation of therapeutic targets, and from drug discovery and development to clinical studies and trials. More information about CHDI can be found at www.chdifoundation.org.

Job Description:

We are seeking a highly motivated and organized Program Manager to join the preclinical Program Management Office supporting various preclinical teams. The candidate should have strong experience in the coordination and management of translational and preclinical studies. In addition, the candidate should be very detail-oriented and have significant experience working with Ph.D. level scientists. The position offers significant growth opportunities, exposure to a new model of non-profit orphan disease drug discovery, and an entrepreneurial work environment with high impact.

Job Responsibilities:

• Work with CHDI Science Directors to understand project goals and deliverables in order to enable the execution of legal contracts with collaborators, including fee-for-service companies, academic institutions, pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies.
• Work with CHDI’s finance and legal officers to execute contracts in compliance with Foundation policies.
• Work with scientists and the financial officer to evaluate and optimize proposed budgets for new projects.
• Use existing tracking tools to monitor the progress of executed contracts in accordance with the terms specified in each contract.
• Identify and communicate potential issues and delays to scientists, the legal department and the financial officer in a timely manner and propose solutions to remedy the issues in an expedited fashion.
• Liaise with collaborative counterparts to ensure: a) that studies are conducted in accordance with corresponding contracts; and b) that deliverables are delivered on time and per allocated funds to each such study.
• Work with materials/data repository managers to ensure: a) that materials/data are available and can be provided for a given study prior to the execution of contracts; and b) that materials/data generated by collaborators are properly registered in CHDI’s databases, consequently tracked and deposited.
• Participate and host internal and external meetings as needed, prepare meeting minutes, follow up on action items and act in an ‘advisory’ role on matters related to operations, finances and legal issues.
• Ensure all post-execution contract management requirements are performed including invoicing, audit reports, material shipments, amendments, and contract close-outs.
• Review periodic invoices, ensuring they align with financial terms of corresponding contracts and CHDI policy, flag discrepancies and resolve issues with collaborators and/or the CHDI financial officer in an expedited fashion to meet the monthly timeline.
• Review academic financial audit reports and reconcile any discrepancies. Work with principal investigators and grant analysts at academic institutions to understand and resolve budgetary discrepancies.
• File scientific reports and project management documents in CHDI’s document management system and distribute internally to relevant individuals.
• Prepare and summarize contract budgetary information to support annual fiscal year forecasting.
• As required, work with scientific team leads to track team Goals, Strategies, and Objectives in existing tracking tools, ensuring updates to project status and resources.
• Participate in monthly Program Managers’ team meetings and host selected meetings in accordance with the pre-established schedule.
• Propose tools and strategies to streamline and optimize tracking of studies and expenditures whenever possible.

Job requirements:

• Bachelors or Masters Degree in life sciences or chemical sciences.
• Contract management experience and hands‑on experience coordinating studies with collaborating sites.
• Experience in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry.
• Experience in licensing, technology transfer and alliance management in industry or academia a plus.
• Self‑motivator and resourceful.
• Strong organizational and multitasking skills.
• Superior written and oral communication skills.
• Highly proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.

About CHDI Foundation, Inc.

CHDI Foundation is a private nonprofit biomedical research organization exclusively dedicated to collaboratively developing therapeutics that will substantially improve the lives of those affected by Huntington’s disease (HD).

About CHDI Management, Inc.

Our staff works for CHDI Management, Inc., which was established in 2002 to provide administrative and management services to CHDI Foundation, Inc.

About our Donors

CHDI’s activities focus solely on the collaborative development of therapeutics that will substantially improve the lives of those affected by Huntington’s disease. We are indebted to our donors, whose generosity and guidance have made possible this exclusive focus on science.