Director, Project Management Search & Evaluation

Director, Project Management Search And Evaluation

CSL is transforming its R&D organization to accelerate innovation and create greater impact for patients. With a streamlined, project-led structure and a focus on collaboration, we're building a future-ready team that excels in dynamic biotech ecosystems. Joining CSL now means being part of an agile team committed to developing therapies that make a meaningful difference worldwide.

Could you be our next Director, Project Management Search And Evaluation? The job is in our King Of Prussia, PA or Waltham, MA, office. This is a hybrid position and is onsite three days a week.

Position Description Summary

Provides strategic Project Management leadership for external innovation activities including Search (identifying and evaluating external opportunities) and Early (Stage 1) Due Diligence (preliminary assessment of potential in-licensing or partnership candidates. This role ensures timely, high-quality execution of evaluations, facilitates cross-functional collaboration, and supports decision-making for portfolio growth and strategic partnerships. Leads end-to-end project management for the Global Search function, guiding external innovation opportunities from initial partnering discussions through triage, evaluation, governance, and early due diligence assessments to Business Development (BD) and Development PM handoff, while meeting agreed timelines and performance standards.

Main Responsibilities & Accountabilities

Search Function Support

• Partner with Search teams to plan and manage projects related to scouting and initial assessment of external opportunities and landscape assessments.
• Support search leads with timelines, deliverables, and stakeholder engagement templates for early-stage evaluations.
• Maintain visibility of Search pipeline and ensure alignment with corporate strategy.
• Support development and maintenance of DD toolkit, templates, document and knowledge management
• Support conference meeting planning and networking event management

Early (Stage 1) Due Diligence

• Partner with Search lead and project manage early due diligence assessments of potential in-licensing or acquisition opportunities.
• Interface with potential partners, lead preparation for governance meetings, presentations, etc.
• Develop and manage integrated project plans, ensuring timely completion of scientific, clinical, regulatory, IP, legal, and commercial evaluations.
• Facilitate cross-functional meetings, track risks, and escalate issues to leadership as needed.
• Ensure seamless transition to Development PM for Stage 2 Due diligence or, as needed, continue through Stage 2 Due Diligence

Governance & Reporting

• Ensure compliance with confidentiality agreements and internal governance standards.
• Execute governance processes that enable timely, high-quality decisions on external opportunities, ensuring clear evaluation criteria, defined turnaround times, and strong stakeholder alignment.
• Develop and maintain status reports, dashboards and decision-support materials for senior leadership and governance committees.
• Develop and maintain tracking tools to prioritize external opportunities, monitor deal progress, highlight company inflection points, and provide leadership with transparent pipeline visibility.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Partner with Search lead as key liaison between internal cross-functional teams and external partners, organizing meetings with external companies and orchestrating scientific, clinical, regulatory, and commercial assessments to support informed decision-making.
• Build strong relationships with senior stakeholders across, R&D, BD, Legal and Finance

Continuous Improvement

• Drive continuous improvement and innovation, enhancing processes and tools—including adoption of evaluation platforms (e.g., In Part) and AI-enabled search capabilities—while coaching team members and fostering collaboration across internal and external stakeholders.
• Drive process optimization for Search and Due Diligence workflows.
• Capture lessons learned and implement best practices for future evaluations.

Qualifications & Experience Requirements

• Advanced degree preferred (PhD, PharmD, MD, MSc/MBA).
• 12+ years in biopharma with 8+ years in managing complex cross-functional program projects under tight timelines; Project leadership; S&E/BD&L or external innovation exposure required.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills
• PMP or equivalent certification is an advantage
• Experience orchestrating asset due diligence across scientific/clinical/CMC/Reg/IP/Commercial threads; comfort with valuation drivers and deal critical paths.
• Proficiency with partnering platforms (InPart or similar) and collaboration stacks (MS Teams/SharePoint); enthusiasm for AI-assisted landscaping.
• Strong understanding of drug development processes and external innovation strategies.

The expected base salary range for this position at hiring is $234,000-260,000. Please note this salary range reflects the minimum and maximum base pay that CSL expects to pay for this position at the time of this posting. Individual base salary for a successful candidate is determined by qualifications, skill level, experience, competencies and other relevant factors. In addition to base salary, total compensation for this role may also include incentive compensation and equity.