Director, Portfolio & Project Management - BioPharma​/Ophthalmology Development

Do you want to be part of an inclusive team that works to develop innovative therapies for patients? Every day, we are driven to develop and deliver innovative and effective new medicines to patients and physicians. If you want to be part of this exciting work, you belong at Astellas!

Astellas Pharma Inc. is a pharmaceutical company conducting business in more than 70 countries around the world. We are committed to turning innovative science into medical solutions that bring value and hope to patients and their families. Keeping our focus on addressing unmet medical needs and conducting our business with ethics and integrity enables us to improve the health of people throughout the world.

For more information on Astellas, please visit our website at

This position is based in Northbrook, Illinois. Remote work from certain states may be permitted in accordance with Astellas’ Responsible Flexibility Guidelines. Candidates interested in remote work are encouraged to apply.

• Program and Portfolio Management (PPM) is responsible for driving the planning and execution of drug development programs and for providing transparent, unbiased program information to support company needs and enable informed portfolio decisions.
• The global/regional project manager role provides project management expertise and operational support for global drug development programs. This position is accountable for maintaining accurate project plans and forecasts and for ensuring strategic execution aligned with program goals.
• Motivates and inspires the PPM group, including team members, to embrace organizational and environmental changes and adapt effectively to new circumstances.

• Provides project management leadership and support to the project team(s) in managing highly complex internal or partnered projects to deliver the pipeline with optimal strategies, realistic plans, and seamless execution.
• Builds Engagement by inspiring high performance and integrity by connecting team efforts to larger strategic company objectives.
• Manages stakeholders ensuring appropriate and timely communication on project progress and issues while working in partnership with the Asset Lead and key functional leads. Resolves conflicts by taking the lead in finding solutions that promote collaboration and benefit all parties.
• Coordinate high-quality deliverables in close collaboration with relevant project team members, to optimize development timelines by taking informed risks.
• Identifies critical changes in the project deliverables (timelines, budget, and/or outcome), assess their impact and communicate to the Asset Lead and relevant project team members.
• Partners with project members to proactively identify, assess and manage project risks and mitigation plans, and monitor/report status of identified key risks, including escalation as appropriate.
• Lead generation and maintenance of a complete and accurate project plan and forecast in the planning system (Helix) by liaising with relevant functions to ensure a realistic plan that reflects the strategy.
• Proactively identifies improvement areas for existing processes to problem-solve and propose efficiencies for implementation and solutions for processes and/or organizational structures and policies.
• Proficient in various project management methodologies, demonstrating the ability to adapt project management approaches to meet the needs of diverse projects and ensure successful delivery.
• Play a role for functional level initiatives within PPM as needed, build and sustain collaborative relationships with internal and external Astellas stakeholders.
• Drive retrospective project/process reviews to identify issues and strengths and help capture learnings.
• Reports to the US, JP or CN Group Lead in BOD PPM.
• Develops team members through purposeful growth and learning opportunities.
• Addresses team member and individual performance issues quickly in an ethical, timely, and appropriate manner.
• Empowers team members by demonstrating trust and by giving them the autonomy to make decisions within the scope of their responsibility.

• BA/BS in a science or business-related field, with extensive project management experience (10+ years) in the pharmaceutical. For this position, demonstrated expertise and experience in drug development is also required in addition to project management experience.
• Ability to proactively lead, influence, and align cross-functional, multi-regional teams within highly complex and multicultural environments.
• Excellent communication skills in English, with proficiency in Japanese if hired for a position in Japan or in Chinese if hired for a position in China, with the ability to interact effectively at all levels of personnel.
• Demonstrates solid knowledge in establishing operational standards and using industry-standard tools such as MS Project, Excel, and project planning software; open to international travel as required.
• Demonstrated experience in people…