Program Manager - Technical Operations

Scorpion Therapeutics; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 131,000 - 179,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Retirement savings plan (company match

Paid vacation/holidays/personal days

Caregiver/parental leave

Medical/dental/vision coverage

Job summary

Scorpion Therapeutics is seeking a Program Manager, Technical Operations to lead planning and execution of complex, multi-disciplinary programs across the development portfolio. You will partner with CMC teams and manufacturing to drive milestones, risk mitigations, and governance processes.

The role emphasizes translating strategic objectives into tactical plans, providing leadership visibility into progress, risks, and operational considerations while ensuring data-supported decisions are

Qualifications

• 6+ years of applicable experience plus a Bachelor’s or 4+ years plus a Master’s or 2+ years plus a PharmD/PhD
• Direct experience supporting CMC, Technical Operations, or manufacturing (required)
• Strong working knowledge of pharmaceutical development and CMC/Technical Operations across the product lifecycle
• Knowledge of governance, risk/decision/escalation practices; strong cross-functional influencing and communication skills
• Ability to integrate plans, milestones, dependencies, risks, and deliverables across multiple disciplines/workstreams

Responsibilities

• Lead integrated planning and execution of Technical Operations/CMC programs and major workstreams from development planning through key milestones
• Develop and communicate integrated plans, timelines, milestones, critical paths, dependencies, decision points, and deliverables
• Establish meeting cadences, governance forums, decision logs, action trackers, and status reporting
• Monitor execution; identify schedule risks, resource constraints, dependencies, and emerging issues
• Partner with SME functional leaders to evaluate options and develop mitigation/escalation strategies
• Facilitate scenario planning and trade-off discussions
• Maintain documentation of assumptions, decisions, risks, actions, and accountabilities
• Integrate plans across CMC disciplines and connect upstream/downstream impacts and milestones

Skills

Program management

CMC/Tech Ops knowledge

Cross-functional leadership

Risk management

Strategic planning

Schedule coordination

Education

Bachelor's degree

Master's degree

PharmD/PhD

Job description

About The Role

The Program Manager, Technical Operations supports planning, execution, and operational effectiveness of Technical Operations programs across the development portfolio, providing program management leadership for complex, multidisciplinary initiatives.

Program and Project Management

• Lead integrated planning and execution of Technical Operations/CMC programs and major workstreams from development planning through key milestones
• Develop and communicate integrated plans, timelines, milestones, critical paths, dependencies, decision points, and deliverables
• Establish meeting cadences, governance forums, decision logs, action trackers, and status reporting
• Monitor execution; proactively identify schedule risks, resource constraints, dependencies, and emerging issues
• Partner with SME functional leaders to evaluate options and develop mitigation/escalation strategies
• Facilitate scenario planning and trade-off discussions
• Maintain documentation of assumptions, decisions, risks, actions, and accountabilities

CMC and Technical Operations Integration

• Integrate plans across CMC disciplines (API/drug substance, analytical, drug product/pharmaceutical, manufacturing, supply chain, quality, regulatory)
• Connect upstream/downstream impacts and coordinate program-level milestones and readiness plans

Strategic and Operational Support

• Translate strategic objectives into tactical plans, deliverables, timelines, and ownership
• Provide leadership visibility into progress, risks, constraints, decisions, and operational considerations

Risk, Issue, and Decision Management

• Identify, assess, track, and communicate risks/issues; develop mitigations and contingencies
• Ensure decisions are data-supported, documented, and incorporated into updated plans; elevate as needed

Operational Excellence

• Improve program management processes/workflows/governance and cross-functional collaboration

Requirements

• 6+ years applicable experience + Bachelor's OR 4+ years + Master's OR 2+ years + PharmD/PhD
• Direct experience supporting CMC, Technical Operations, or manufacturing (required)
• Strong working knowledge of pharmaceutical development and CMC/Technical Operations across the product lifecycle
• Working knowledge of core CMC disciplines listed above
• Ability to integrate plans, milestones, dependencies, risks, and deliverables across multiple disciplines/workstreams
• Knowledge of governance, risk/decision/escalation practices; strong cross-functional influencing and communication skills
• Strong planning/organizational skills; continuous-improvement mindset

Benefits

• Retirement savings plan (company match), paid vacation/holidays/personal days, caregiver/parental and medical leave, and medical/prescription drug/dental/vision coverage

Compensation

• Annual base salary: $130,800.00-$179,000.00; annual bonus target 30%; equity long-term incentive eligibility