Director, PMO

ROLE OVERVIEW:

The Director, PMO is Hilleman Laboratories operational hub for portfolio and project delivery. Sitting within the Portfolio Realisation function, this role owns the governance infrastructure that keeps the vaccine and biologics pipeline on track, maintains the integrated view across all organisational projects, and sets the standards that project managers apply consistently across the organisation.

This is not a coordination or support role. The Director, PMO is a senior operational leader who builds delivery discipline, challenges poor planning before it becomes a problem, and actively develops project management capability across the organisation.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

The position reports to the Head of Portfolio Realisation and works in close collaboration with scientific and operational functions. Primary responsibilities will include but are not limited to the following:

Portfolio governance & integrated planning

• Own and maintain the integrated portfolio dashboard as the single source of truth for program status, resource loading, and milestone health.
• Run the portfolio governance cadence - monthly Portfolio Reviews, bi-weekly Program Steering meetings, and stage-gate boards - ensuring forums are decision-ready.
• Maintain RAID logs current and complete before every governance forum escalate with proposed resolutions, not problem statements.
• Produce the monthly CEO Portfolio Briefing and contribute data and dashboards to board reporting on a consistent cadence.

Project management standards & tooling

• Define and maintain PMO governance standards, templates, and tooling across vaccine programs and organisational initiatives.
• Own the stage-gate framework - ensure all programs reach gates with complete evidence packs.
• Conduct quarterly artifact audits for organisational projects managed by functional PMs escalate persistent gaps to relevant functional heads.
• Maintain version control and archiving of governance artifacts to GMP/GxP documentation standards for audit readiness.

People & capability development

• Line manage Project Manager(s) within the PMO - set clear delivery expectations, review plans, and actively develop PM capability.
• Coach program leads on project management disciplines: integrated planning, RAID management, dependency mapping, and milestone documentation.
• Run a PMO community of practice across the project manager population share learnings, tune standards, and build delivery discipline organisation-wide.

QUALIFICATIONS, EXPERIENCE, COMPETENCIES AND SKILLS:

Essential:

• Minimum 8-10 years of project/program management experience, with at least 3 years leading a PMO or equivalent governance function.
• Demonstrated ability to manage complex, multi-workstream portfolios with competing priorities and resource constraints.
• Strong stakeholder management skills - credible with both scientific and operational audiences able to hold others to delivery standards.
• Proficient with portfolio management platforms, dashboard tools (Power BI or equivalent), and SharePoint-based document management.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills - able to present complex portfolio trade-offs clearly and concisely to senior leadership.

Advantageous:

• Experience in biotech, vaccine development, or GMP-regulated environments familiarity with stage-gate frameworks and CMC documentation standards.
• Prior experience managing a PMO spanning both R&D/science programs and operational or infrastructure projects.
• Exposure to GxP audit readiness and documentation standards.
• Project management certification (PMP, PRINCE2, or equivalent).

Core working style:

• Comfortable operating without complete information - makes sound governance judgements in ambiguous situations.
• Proactive escalator - raises issues early with proposed resolutions.
• Collaborative but firm on standards - builds delivery discipline without creating adversarial relationships.
• Lean instinct - adds governance only where it earns its place actively simplifies over time.