Director, Product Engineering

Work Schedule

Standard (Mon-Fri)

Office

At Thermo Fisher’s PPD clinical research business, we’re using digital innovation, data science, and AI to reimagine how life-changing therapies reach patients. Our teams combine deep scientific expertise with advanced analytics, automation, and digital platforms to make research smarter, faster, and more connected.

At PPD we know that innovation happens when diverse minds meet. Our Digital Science, Data, and AI professionals collaborate closely with scientists, clinicians, and operational experts to solve real-world challenges in clinical research. Alongside our partnership with Open AI, you can be part of the collaboration that will help to improve the speed and success of drug development, enabling customers to get medicines to patients faster and more cost effectively.

You’ll join a culture that values experimentation, learning, and collaboration — where your ideas can help shape how we deliver life-saving solutions and improve global health outcomes. Whether you’re a data engineer, product manager, software developer, or AI scientist, you’ll find opportunities here to apply your skills to work that truly matters — improving global health outcomes.

The Director, Product Engineering (known internally as Director, IT, band
9), will lead and scale a global product engineering organization responsible for delivering secure, reliable, and differentiated digital products. This leader will set engineering strategy, establish strong operating mechanisms, and build a high-performance culture grounded in customer outcomes, quality, and predictable delivery. The role partners closely with Product, UX, Data Science, Security /Compliance, and business leaders to translate strategy into scalable platforms and exceptional end-user experiences while accelerating execution through modern engineering practices and AI-enabled productivity.

• Define and implement strategic technical direction and engineering best practices.

• Foster a culture of quality, accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement within the engineering teams.

• Oversee the architecture and technical decisions, ensuring solutions are scalable, secure, and align with the organization’s long-term vision.

• Stay abreast of AI and machine learning technologies to optimize engineering workflows, enhance developer productivity and streamline development processes

• Recruit, mentor, and retain high-performing engineering talent.

• Drive career development, set clear performance objectives, and establish a supportive environment for professional growth.

• Manage growth and expansion of engineering capabilities in strategic global locations.

• Provide coaching, leadership, and technical guidance to engineering teams and managers.

• Lead the adoption and execution of modern software development methodologies (e.g., Agile, CI/CD, Dev Ops, Cloud-native practices).

• Establish robust quality assurance practices, including automation and testing strategies, to ensure delivery of reliable and high-quality software products.

• Ensure adherence to industry standards, compliance regulations, security best practices, and performance benchmarks.

• Implement AI-driven tools and processes to boost engineer productivity, automate repetitive tasks and enhance overall efficiency.

• Collaborate closely with Product Management, UX/UI, Data Science, Operations, and business leaders to ensure alignment on product goals, timelines, and deliverables.

• Clearly communicate engineering strategies, plans, and progress to executives, stakeholders, and cross-functional teams.

• Act as a trusted advisor on technical matters to senior leadership and peers across the organization.

• Manage budgets, resource planning, and vendor relationships related to engineering activities.

• Implement metrics-driven management, defining clear KPIs to measure team performance, product delivery success, and operational effectiveness.

• Proactively manage risks and challenges,…