Associate Director, Discovery & Translational Portfolio Management

MSD

Associate Director managing early-stage R&D programs portfolio for drug discovery and development at a global healthcare leader. Leading project management and strategic portfolio insights across cross-functional teams.

Posted 5/28/2026full-timeNew Jersey, Pennsylvania • 🇺🇸 United StatesLead💰 $129,000 - $203,100 per yearWebsite

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Leading portfolio management activities for early-stage R&D programs (discovery through IND/Ph1) including owning the integrated view of the TA portfolio (timing, key milestones, risks, and dependencies), in partnership with the TA Lead and Discovery Core Team Leads
Translating portfolio strategy into actionable plans, including synthesizing, and articulating portfolio strategy and translating it into execution
Preparing regular reports and presentations for senior management/governance committees/leadership committees, with a focus on developing clear, data-driven insights and narratives to enable decision-making.
Capturing and communicating various metrics on the portfolio, including resources, project distribution across sites, phases of development, etc. and translating these into actionable portfolio insights
Providing our Company's organizational and process expertise to teams to enable navigation of discovery, development, and corporate governance and business requirements.
Collaborating effectively with functional areas, support functions, and alliance partner functions (if applicable) to facilitate project/portfolio delivery.
Managing or administrating strategic, cross-functional or cross-divisional management, governance, or alliance committees
Proactively surfacing key risks, trade-offs, and opportunities across the portfolio, and driving alignment across stakeholders in support of decision-making
Providing mentoring, coaching, and oversight to Specialist/Senior Specialist project/Portfolio Managers working on common projects
Actively participating and completing ongoing training and personal development activities to increase leadership competency and to gain knowledge and skill in the discipline of project management and the business and science of pharmaceutical product discovery and development.
Partnering with Finance to ensure resource/budget planning and management.
Collaborating with IT and PMO colleagues to maintain portfolio tools, dashboards, and reporting systems.
Identifying and implementing best practices in portfolio management and governance, to drive process improvements and operational efficiencies, including contributing to the continuous evolution of portfolio and governance processes within GPAM.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Bachelor’s degree required; concentration in a scientific or applied discipline strongly preferred
Minimum of five (5) years of experience in project or portfolio management or a related role required
Demonstrated leadership and ethics; demonstrated ability to hold others accountable for delivery
Proven ability to lead and influence in highly matrixed environments without direct authority
Demonstrated ability to navigate ambiguity, create clarity, and drive alignment across complex stakeholder groups
Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a team setting, including demonstrated experience building and leading teams, committees, task forces, etc.
Strong collaboration and problem-solving skills; able to establish good working relationships with employees at all levels, resolve conflict and provide feedback, and to devise and implement creative solutions to problems
Strong communication skills, both oral and written; demonstrated ability to speak up appropriately and to raise issues to teams and management
Ability to connect strategy, data, and execution to generate actionable portfolio-level insights

Benefits

Comp & perks

medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family)
retirement benefits, including 401(k)
paid holidays
vacation
compassionate and sick days

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

portfolio managementproject managementdata analysisrisk managementbudget planningprocess improvementgovernancemetrics trackingstrategic planningcross-functional collaboration

Soft Skills

leadershipcommunicationcollaborationproblem-solvingmentoringinfluenceaccountabilityteam buildingnavigating ambiguityconflict resolution