Associate Director, Strategic Initiatives

Role Overview

• Provides leadership and direction for complex, cross-functional programs, ensuring alignment with enterprise and functional strategies and business priorities.
• Leads and oversees matrixed teams, including senior professionals and subordinate project leaders, establishing clear accountability, governance, and performance expectations across programs.
• Owns end-to-end program execution, including development and oversight of program charters, integrated delivery roadmaps, dependency management, resource strategies, and governance frameworks.
• Drives execution excellence by monitoring progress against milestones, KPIs, and value realization targets, proactively addressing risks to ensure successful delivery of outcomes.
• Identifies, evaluates, and resolves complex, cross-functional risks and issues, escalating strategic decisions to executive sponsors and governance bodies as appropriate.
• Provides oversight of scope, budget, and resource planning, ensuring initiatives are delivered within approved financial and operational parameters.
• Influences and validates financial forecasts, monitors program-level spend, and partners with finance leaders to ensure reconciliation of resources and expenditures across initiatives.
• Leads enterprise-level change management and business readiness efforts, ensuring adoption, sustainability, and realization of intended benefits across impacted functions.
• Serves as a primary liaison to executive sponsors and steering committees, delivering concise, insight-driven updates and framing decisions that impact multiple functions or business units.
• Represents strategic initiatives in governance, portfolio, and cross-enterprise forums, influencing prioritization, sequencing, and investment decisions.
• Coaches and mentors project managers and senior team members, building organizational capability and reinforcing best practices in program delivery.
• Drives continuous improvement by capturing lessons learned and contributing to the evolution of strategic initiative methodologies, tools, and standards.
• Partners with functional leaders to identify opportunities for process optimization and operational improvements that support long-term business objectives.

Requirements

• 4 Year / Bachelors Degree BA/BS or equivalent combination of education and experience considered
• At least 8 years’ experience in project management
• Demonstrated expertise in leading large, complex programs that span multiple functions or business units, with accountability for outcomes and value realization.
• Proven ability to lead through influence, including managing senior stakeholders and directing work through matrixed teams and subordinate leaders.
• Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving skills, with experience resolving complex operational, technical, and organizational challenges beyond a single team.
• Experience coaching and developing experienced professionals or project leaders, fostering high performance and professional growth.
• Exceptional executive-level communication and presentation skills, with the ability to frame issues, decisions, and recommendations for senior leadership.
• Advanced proficiency in project and program management methodologies and tools, with the ability to adapt approaches to fit enterprise-scale initiatives.
• High degree of adaptability, initiative, and judgment in dynamic, fast-paced environments involving ambiguity and competing priorities.

Benefits

• We are passionate about developing our people, through career development and progression;
• Supportive and engaged line management;
• Technical and therapeutic area training;
• Peer recognition and total rewards program;
• Committed to building an inclusive culture – where you can authentically be yourself.