Director, Program Manager

Role Summary

The Director, Program Manager will lead and manage the Commercial Customer Facing Solutions Delivery Project Management team delivering end-to-end technology solutions, applying both waterfall and agile approaches. Works with Business Partner leaders, other technology service providers, and business stakeholders. Responsible for guiding team members from multiple digital groups, overseeing vendor contractors, coaching multiple scrum teams, and fostering continuous improvement to streamline processes and enhance capabilities in support of patient well-being.

Responsibilities

• Prepare and own program proposals that are part of a large project portfolio to determine goals, time frame, funding, procedures for accomplishing project, staffing requirements and colleague resource planning.
• Develop project plans, specifying goals, staffing, scheduling, risks, contingency plans and allocation of available resources.
• Act as a servant leader, facilitating effective team meetings, ceremonies, and discussions, including sprint planning, daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives.
• Oversee vendor resources assigned to project work including negotiating SOW terms, managing POWs, financial forecasting and reconciliation, invoice cost tracking and distribution, and demand management.
• Be accountable to work closely with Business Partners to ensure business and functional analysis activities (e.g. documenting functional requirements) for projects are clear and concise.
• Collaborate with product owners and stakeholders to define and prioritize product backlogs, ensuring alignment with business goals and objectives.
• Effectively leverage governance and portfolio tools that support project, resource and financial management in accordance with technology standards.
• Work with the Core Technologies Lead and Global Product Engineering team to ensure project solutions comply with technology standards.
• Own key initiatives to achieve technical delivery cost savings targets through effective project estimation, vendor selection and negotiation, and project delivery efficiencies.
• Direct and coordinate activities of project personnel to ensure project progresses on schedule and within budget.
• Remove impediments and roadblocks to help the team maintain focus and meet sprint commitments.
• Establish standards and procedures for project reporting and documentation.
• Prepare project status reports, and keep stakeholders informed of project status and related issues.
• Confer with project personnel to provide technical advice and resolve problems.
• Coordinate and respond to requests for changes from original specifications.
• Develop quality assurance test plans and ensure quality assurance testing.
• Work closely with Core Technologists and Service Managers to understand and implement measures for meeting solution lifecycle objectives.
• Mentor and guide team members on agile principles, ensuring the team's understanding and adherence to agile best practices.
• Foster a culture of continuous improvement, encouraging teams to identify areas for enhancement and experimentation.
• Collaborate with other Scrum Masters and Agile Coaches to drive consistent agile practices and continuous learning across the organization.
• Provide insights and metrics on team performance, velocity, and other relevant agile metrics to inform decision-making.
• Participate in the development and improvement of agile methodologies within the organization.
• Provide leadership and motivation to project team members throughout the project life cycle.

Qualifications

• Required: Bachelor’s degree with at least 8 years of experience
• Required: Proven track record of using knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry, related industries, customer requirements, and the general business environment to define strategic actions for a global business unit
• Required: Demonstrated capabilities managing large complex global programs consisting of capital and operating expenses and virtual teams
• Required: Strong people management experience
• Required: Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to establish relationships, influence outcomes, and deliver effective presentations to a variety of audiences
• Required: Experience in managing application support and maintenance, change management, configuration management, problem management, incident management, and lifecycle management
• Required: Demonstrated progressive experience successfully designing, delivering and maintaining IT business solutions for mid-to-scale organizations across multiple hardware and software platforms. Must have demonstrated competency / expertise in:
  • Software Development Lifecycle management, including production system maintenance and operation
  • Agile principles and methodologies
  • Proven experience working with business teams developing and delivering strategy and operating plans with demonstrated competency in strategic thinking, and relationship management
  • Technology solutions delivery in a pharmaceutical or regulated environment
  • Line management experience in a global organization with demonstrated career development and coaching expertise, including performance management, succession planning and new hire planning
  • Certified Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Scrum Master (CSM) or equivalent agile certification required; Certified Scrum Professional (CSP) or Certified Scrum Coach (CSC) is a plus.
• Required: Experience in financial stewardship for budgets and resources allocated to application support and management
• Required: Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to develop solutions to complex or unique problems
• Required: Experience in fostering an environment of continuous improvement and innovation in daily operations
• Required: Ability to manage talent and leadership development, participate in succession planning, and prepare for long-term development needs
• Required: Strong leadership skills to hold senior managers accountable for skill development and diversity
• Required: Experience using common AI tools, including generative technologies such as ChatGPT or Microsoft Copilot, to support problem solving and enhance productivity. Demonstrated curiosity for exploring how these tools can improve outcomes and understanding of responsible AI practices, including risk management and ethical use
• Required: Candidate demonstrates a breadth of diverse leadership experiences and capabilities including: the ability to influence and collaborate with peers, develop and coach others, oversee and guide the work of other colleagues to achieve meaningful outcomes and create business impact.
• Preferred: Master’s degree with proven progressive experience as an Information Technology professional

Additional Requirements

• Travel globally to Pfizer locations as needed
• Non-standard work hours may be required based on project deliverables and business needs
• Work Location Assignment: Hybrid. Must be able to work in assigned Pfizer office 2-3 days per week, or as needed by the business