Sr. Director, Program Team Leader (POLG Program)

Pretzeltx; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k)

Stock options

Paid time off

Job summary

Pretzel Therapeutics, a Boston-based biotech company, seeks a Program Team Leader to shape and advance development strategies across multiple therapeutic programs through potential global commercialization.

You will lead cross-functional teams, align on vision and milestones, manage risk and budget, and communicate strategy to senior leadership and governance bodies. This role demands collaboration, clinical development expertise, and strong business judgment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a scientific or technical field is required.
• 7–10 years in biotech/pharma with program or project management experience.
• Experience leading cross-functional development programs (Clinical, Regulatory, CMC, Nonclinical, etc.).
• Strong understanding of drug development lifecycle and decision points.
• Ability to develop integrated program plans, timelines, and risk management.
• Proven ability to translate strategy into executable, resourced plans.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills across senior leadership.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the accountable leader for overall program strategy with cross-functional partners.
• Establish an integrated development plan aligning research, clinical, regulatory, CMC, and medical affairs.
• Lead a cross-functional Program Team to deliver milestones and decisions.
• Steward program budget with finance and functional leaders; ensure resource alignment.

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Program management

Strategic thinking

Communication

Drug development

Education

Bachelor’s degree in a scientific field

Advanced degree preferred

Job description

Boston, MA, USA

HYBRID
EXEMPT
REPORTING TO THE CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

COMPANY OVERVIEW

Pretzel Therapeutics is a biotechnology company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, with research facilities in Mölndal at GoCo House, part of GoCo Health Innovation City. Pretzel Therapeutics is dedicated to developing life-changing medicines with a broad pipeline of first-in-class treatments addressing novel targets within the mitochondria. By harnessing cellular energetics to modulate disease processes and improve survival, function and quality of life, we are ushering in a new treatment paradigm for a breadth of conditions spanning neurological, muscle, metabolic and rare diseases.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Program Team Leader (PTL) is a highly visible, enterprise-level leader responsible for shaping, integrating, and advancing the program strategy for one or more of Pretzel’s priority therapeutic programs from development through potential global commercialization. This individual serves as the strategic and operational leader of the cross-functional Program Team and is accountable for ensuring the team has a clear vision, an aligned development path, disciplined execution plans, and timely decision-making in support of key program and corporate objectives. The PTL brings deep drug development expertise, strong business judgment, and a global, patient-centered perspective to guide complex decisions across clinical, regulatory, CMC, non-clinical, medical affairs, commercial, and patient access considerations.
Working in close partnership with an experienced Program Manager, functional leaders, senior leadership, and governance bodies, the PTL drives the development of an integrated plan that reflects scientific opportunity, regulatory strategy, development feasibility, resource requirements, risk mitigation, competitive dynamics, and long-term product value. The successful candidate is a collaborative and influential leader who can lead through ambiguity, align stakeholders around the most important priorities, anticipate and resolve issues before they become barriers, and communicate program strategy and progress with clarity and credibility. This role is central to translating Pretzel’s innovative science into meaningful outcomes for patients while helping the organization make thoughtful, evidence-based choices as programs advance through critical stages of development.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Program Strategy and Integrated Development Leadership:

• Serve as the accountable leader for the overall program strategy, working with cross-functional partners to define the vision, objectives, milestones, critical path, risks, and key decision points
• Establish and maintain an integrated development plan that aligns research, non-clinical, clinical, regulatory, CMC, medical affairs, commercial, and patient access considerations
• Bring a global development and commercialization perspective to program planning, ensuring short-term execution supports long-term product value and patient impact
• Translate evolving scientific, clinical, regulatory, competitive, and patient insights into clear strategic implications for the program

Cross-Functional Execution and Governance:

• Lead a high-performing cross-functional Program Team, creating clarity around priorities, deliverables, interdependencies, resources, and decision rights
• Partner with the Program Manager to drive disciplined execution, maintain program documentation, track key decisions, and ensure timely delivery against milestones and timelines\
• Structure and facilitate critical program decisions, bringing forward relevant perspectives, tradeoffs, recommendations, and risk mitigation options for efficient governance review
• Own program recommendations across stages of development and ensure issues, risks, budget implications, and resource needs are surfaced early and addressed proactively
• Steward the program budget in partnership with Finance and functional leaders, ensuring resources are aligned to program priorities and corporate objectives

Executive Communication and Stakeholder Alignment:

• Provide clear, proactive, and balanced communication to senior leadership, governance bodies, and other stakeholders regarding program strategy, status, priorities, risks, and decisions
• Drive preparation and presentation of high-quality materials for Executive Committee, Board of Directors, Scientific Advisory Board, and other senior forums
• Serve as the primary advocate for the program, ensuring program needs are considered in the context of corporate strategy, portfolio priorities, and organizational capacity
• Build visible and credible relationships with external stakeholders, including key opinion leaders, patient advocacy groups, and other relevant external partners
• Participate in business development activities, as needed, including opportunity assessments and due diligence

Team Leadership and Culture:

• Foster a collaborative, accountable, and inclusive team environment that supports scientific excellence, open communication, innovation, and continuous improvement
• Lead through ambiguity and change with steadiness, urgency, and pragmatic problem-solving, helping the team navigate complex development decisions
• Coach and support team members to perform at their best, identify gaps in capability or capacity, and enable effective collaboration across functions and levels
• Model Pretzel’s core values and serve as a visible leadership example during periods of growth, complexity, and organizational evolution

EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in a scientific, technical, or related discipline required; advanced degree preferred
• Minimum of 7–10 years of relevant biotechnology or pharmaceutical industry experience, including significant experience in program or project management within drug development
• Demonstrated experience managing cross-functional development programs involving multiple functions such as Clinical Development, Clinical Operations, Regulatory Affairs, CMC, Nonclinical, and Translational Medicine
• Strong understanding of the drug development lifecycle and the key activities, dependencies, risks, and decision points required to advance development-stage programs
• Demonstrated ability to develop and manage integrated program plans, timelines, critical paths, risks, dependencies, and cross-functional deliverables
• Strong project and program management skills with the ability to translate complex development strategies into clear and executable plans
• Ability to identify program-level risks, evaluate potential solutions, facilitate decision-making, and drive issues to resolution across functional boundaries
• Strong communication and influencing skills with the ability to build alignment and accountability across teams without relying on direct authority
• Experience preparing program updates and decision materials for development governance and senior leadership
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and adapt quickly as program strategy, data, timelines, and organizational needs evolve
• Experience in rare disease, genetic disease, mitochondrial disease, or other complex development programs preferred
• Highly collaborative, results-oriented team player with strong judgment, attention to detail, and a demonstrated ability to operate effectively in a lean, fast-paced biotechnology environment

BENEFITS

Pretzel offers a highly competitive compensation package, including base salary, annual bonus eligibility, incentive stock options, comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage, 401(k), paid time off, company holidays, and an annual winter shutdown.