Director, IT PMO

Role Summary

The Director of IT PMO, UK stands at the helm of overseeing and coordinating the organization’s portfolio of GxP and Corporate Functional project.  They provide line management for a team of UK based contracted and employee project managers to provide expert knowledge and support for the portfolio of work under their team’s remit. The role is expected to provide strong leadership in a matrix environment to promote best practices in managing projects and programmes to ensure successful delivery. This role will also ensure UK based project manager and project resources have the correct toolsets and processes in place and that all relevant staff are trained and equipped to deliver successfully.

This role involves a blend of leadership and expertise in project management practices, as it requires guiding project managers on their teams, optimizing resource allocation, and streamlining processes to enhance productivity and project outcomes. By fostering collaboration across departments and with stakeholders, the Director of PMO, UK ensures that projects progress smoothly from conception through completion, maintaining a focus on timelines, budget adherence, and quality standards. This position serves as a linchpin in the organization’s ability to successfully execute projects and achieve its long-term objectives.

Key Responsibilities

People Management
-Lead, mentor, and develop a team of project managers and business analysts, fostering a collaborative work environment and encouraging continuous professional growth.
- Create progression plans to develop careers of direct reports.
-Ensure the project management team has the right expertise, working with IT leadership to inform the hiring plan.
-Responsible for the project management hiring and onboarding processes for the UK-based resources working on their team.
- Acts as a conduit between project management and other departments in the business, shielding and fielding questions where necessary.
-Provides strategic vision and effectively leads the team to deliver objectives successfully.
-Evangelises the work of the team, internally and externally.
-Keeps team members focused on project goals and deliverables, removing roadblocks to ensure successful project delivery. 

Portfolio and Project Management
-Co-ordinate projects by assigning work to appropriate people, monitoring their activities and ensuring timely completion.
-Uses multiple approaches, tools and resources to accomplish project and portfolio objectives.
-Co-ordinate and manage business, organizational, technological and resource changes.
-Establish and maintain relationships with key stakeholders, including clients, vendors, and senior management, to ensure alignment of project objectives and company goals.
-Allocate resources effectively, including personnel, budgets, and technologies, to maximize efficiency and productivity across multiple projects.  Work with business departments to identify resource needs across the portfolio and baseline project timelines.
-Monitor project progress continuously, identifying potential risks and issues, implementing mitigation strategies, and making necessary adjustments to project plans. 
-Manage escalations for the UK project delivery team; be the first line of support to address problems, remove roadblocks, and ensure projects are progressing appropriately.
-Pulling from a broad range of experience, ensure project management and project delivery best practices and formal project governance is followed.  
-Facilitate communication across project teams and departments to ensure transparency, timely updates, and the seamless integration of project components.
-Oversee the development and implementation of project management policies, processes, and methodologies to ensure projects are delivered on time, within budget, adhere to high quality standards, and meet customer expectations.  Implement project KPI benchmarks and measurements for the UK team.
-Evaluate project outcomes critically, conducting post-project analysis to capture lessons learned, assess overall performance, and integrate improvements into future project management practices.

Demonstrated skills and competencies
E – Essential P – Preferred

Experience

E: Minimum minimum of 10 years of project management experience with 3 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry delivering GxP system implementations or GxP system validation projects.
E: Minimum 5 years people management experience.
E: Budget management experience for portfolios over $3M.
E: 5 years’ experience in vendor management.

Qualifications

P: Project Management Professional (PMP) or the equivalent certification.
P: Bachelor’s degree. 
P: Any other associated certifications aligned to Project Management.

Skills/Specialist knowledge

E: Strong understanding of formal project management methodologies.
E: Understanding of software development project management methodologies
E: Experience coaching and team building
E: Knowledge of Pharmaceutical systems and implementations
E: Expert‐level knowledge of project and change management, methodologies, techniques, processes.
E: Flexible, adaptable and resourceful when managing changing timelines and multiple deliverables.
E: Demonstrated leadership ability to establish and manage a high‐performance team.  
E: Motivated and able to build relationships at executive levels with technology, solutions, customers and vendor groups.