Director, Program Management

Umoja Biopharma is an industry-leading biotech with locations in Seattle, WA and Louisville, CO, focused on transforming the treatment of cancer with a novel integrated immunotherapy platform. Our vision is to develop off-the-shelf therapies capable of treating any tumor, any time. We are a diverse and growing team working in brand-new facilities in downtown Seattle, Washington and Louisville, Colorado, and we are looking for innovative thinkers who are excited by groundbreaking science and technology, and passionate about squaring up to the challenges inherent to cutting-edge drug development. We are committed to our core values and principles that support our overall mission and strongly invite applications from enthusiastic individuals who share our commitment and help position Umoja to deliver on our goals.  We at Umoja believe in the importance of stories; we are looking for great people to join our team to help us create more stories for ourselves, for you, and most importantly for patients and their families.

Umoja Biopharma – Your Body. Your Hope. Your Cure. 

POSITION SUMMARY  

  Umoja is looking for a Director of Portfolio & Program Management who will drive strategic planning and cross-functional execution as the Program Management Lead for select Umoja development programs. This is a unique career opportunity for a candidate who is looking to directly influence and impact Umoja’s mission to bring transformative medicines to patients by bringing functions together to execute on timelines and program deliverables.  

  This role will  partner with the product team lead and all members of the cross-functional product teams to translate strategy into integrated plans and drive execution across the product lifecycle, including Ph 1 program(s) and strategic planning for late-stage development, regulatory submission, and commercial readiness. A key responsibility for this role will be to ensure consistency across functions and drive cross-functional integration to support efficient drug development.  

  The ideal candidate is collaborative, has the ability to understand cross-functional impacts of decisions and timelines, can build strong partnerships, has excellent communication and organizational skills, and is focused on solving problems. This person will need to be a hands-on builder who can evolve and strengthen our project management tools and practices as the organization grows. This person is dedicated to our mission of bringing medicine to patients and shows up with passion and a sense of urgency. They have the ability to influence all because they are curious, listen to their partners, and provide strong leadership to help the teams work through challenges.  

This role reports to the Vice President, Portfolio & Program Management in the Clinical Development organization and will be based out of our Seattle, WA office and will be required to work onsite at least 3 days per week given the highly collaborative nature of this position.  A candidate that prefers to work remote may be limited in their effectiveness of their performance.  

 
CORE ACCOUNTABILITIES  

Specific responsibilities include:   

• Manage / lead cross functional teams to drive programs into and through clinical trials  
• Partner with project teams and functional leadership to create development strategies with options, define goals and milestones, track and report program progress, identify and escalate gaps and challenges, and execute asset development plans
• Enable efficient drug development by driving highly effective, inclusive and collaborative program/alliance teams and ensuring inclusive and robust discussions leading to optimized operational plans
• Support product and Governance decisions with best meeting practices (e.g., agendas, meeting minutes, decision and action logs) to ensure robust, durable decision making, operational implementation and follow-up.
• Own program team operating rhythm and documentation, including maintaining integrated timelines, risk and issue registers, decision and action logs, and meeting records, to ensure accountability, transparency, and audit-ready program records.
• Ensure clear and consistent program communications across the organization including systematic reporting to ensure transparency across the organization (e.g., monthly reports, milestone tracking) Within Portfolio & Program team, support functional goals to develop consistent program and project management best practices, infrastructure buildout and efficient ways of working within Umoja. 
• Provide Alliance management support to assigned partnered program(s) where relevant, maintaining a strong Alliance relationship and driving consistent partnership excellence practices within Umoja.
• Partner with Finance, Business operations, and other functional stakeholders to support corporate program planning, including cross-functional resource planning and financial assessments.
• Support initiatives and special projects as needed.
• This role may include coaching, mentoring and directing activities of other program/project managers and/or contractors.  

The successful candidate will have:
The level of this position will be determined by the qualifications below.  

Required Qualifications

• Director Level:   
  • Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or other advanced degree in immunology, biology, or genetics highly preferred.
  • Minimum of 10 years of experience with at least 5 years of experience in program management in a pharmaceutical/biotech setting
• Sr. Director Level:
  • Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or other advanced degree in immunology, biology, or genetics highly preferred.
  • Minimum of 12 years of experience with at least 7 years of experience in program management in a pharmaceutical/biotech setting
  • Minimum of 2 years people management experience  
• Experience leading oncology, autoimmune disease, or gene and cell therapy programs.
• Successful experience in oversight of IND-stage and clinical programs required; experience in INDs and ex-US equivalent(s) strongly desired.
• The ability to effectively and comfortably present to leadership; including peers and executive teams
• The ability to build strong relationships and partnerships to positively influence successful outcomes
• The ability and judgement to make decisions, including difficult ones, and push forward ideas with the companies best interest
• The ability to communicate effectively to all levels of the organization and simplify complex ideas that can be understood by various audiences
• Experience and advanced skills using Smartsheet, OnePager or other project management tools.
• Strong technology skills including Outlook, PowerPoint, SharePoint, Excel, and MS Teams.  

Preferred Qualifications:   

• PMP or equivalent program/project management certification.  
• Experience as a program manager in a growing or start ‑ up biotech environment.
• Demonstrated strong leadership capabilities in a scientific multi-disciplinary setting.
• Demonstrated ability to drive initiatives in a fast-paced nimble environment.  

Physical Requirements:   

• Ability to work onsite a minimum of three days per week in Seattle office, which is more than our company policy  
• Ability to sit for prolonged periods of time
• Ability to travel as needed  

Director level Salary Range: $207,000 - $255,000
Senior Director Salary Range: $250,000 - $309,000

Benefits Offerings

Umoja Biopharma offers its employees competitive Medical, Dental, and Vision plans. Additionally, we offer Umojians access to a 401k plan through Fidelity, with a 100% match up to their first 4% deferral. Umoja also provides a generous Paid Time Off policy, employee commuter benefits, and cell phone stipend. For a full breakdown of our benefits offerings, please see the Benefits section of our website.