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Calico Life Sciences · 1 month ago

Principal Program Manager, Drug Discovery (Medicinal Chemistry and DMPK)

South San Francisco, CA

Full-time

Onsite

Senior Level, Lead/Staff

$188K/yr - $200K/yr

7+ years exp

Calico is an Alphabet-founded research and development company focused on understanding human aging. They are seeking a Principal Program Manager to drive their preclinical drug discovery pipeline, ensuring projects are delivered on-time and within scope while maintaining high scientific standards.

Responsibilities

Rigorously monitor CRO performance against the agreed-upon SOW, budget, and timeline, proactively identifying and mitigating potential delays or scope creep

Ensure clear and consistent communication among all internal team members, external CROs, and collaborators

Facilitate and document team meetings to enable cross-functional communication, decision-making, and alignment with internal and external stakeholders

Work closely with project Drug Discovery Team Leader, internal scientific functional leads to define clear milestones, deliverables, and decision points (Go/No-Go criteria)

Meet regularly with stakeholders to assess the states of ongoing projects, identify current or projected problems, and proactively suggest solutions

Lead and/or contribute to the development of processes and tools to enable planning, prioritization, tracking, and execution of pipeline projects

Ensure the seamless and compliant transfer of data, materials, and biological samples between internal facilities and external partners

Manage contracts and financial tracking related to external spend, processing invoices, and forecasting future expenditures with finance and procurement teams

Ensure that business critical contracts are executed in a timely manner

Develop and distribute regular project status reports detailing progress, key findings, risks, and mitigation strategies to senior management and internal stakeholders

Organize and manage project documentation, ensuring all project records and data summaries are centralized, current, and audit-ready

Develop and manage project plans and integrated timelines for pipeline projects as needed

Qualification

Drug discovery project managementManaging external CROsPMP certificationProject management softwareScientific literacy in drug discoveryNegotiation skillsCommunication skillsInterpersonal skillsProblem-solving skillsOrganizational skills

Required

M.S. or Ph.D. in Chemistry or Biology with a minimum of 7 years of progressive industrial drug discovery project management experience is required

Demonstrated experience in managing multiple external CROs (domestic and international) across different scientific disciplines is essential

Deep scientific literacy in drug discovery processes (e.g., target identification, hit-to-lead, lead optimization, preclinical safety assessment)

Expert proficiency with project management software tools, methodologies, and best practices

Experience facilitating and documenting team meetings to enable cross-functional communication, decision-making, and alignment with internal and external stakeholders while managing project scope, deliverables, risks, and resources

Outstanding organization and planning skills to effectively manage competing priorities, resources, and activities within and across a diverse portfolio of projects and programs

Exceptional negotiation, communication, and interpersonal skills required to manage complex relationships with external vendors and internal stakeholders

Proven ability to manage budgets and accurately forecast external expenditures

Strong risk assessment and problem-solving skills, with an ability to function effectively in a fast-paced, high-pressure environment

Ability to effectively communicate complex information, issues, and potential solutions across the organization, including leadership and external collaborators

Ability to foster partnerships and effective collaboration within and across teams

Ability to design and implement medium-to-large-scale process improvements

Must be willing to work onsite at least four days a week

Preferred

PMP (Project Management Professional) certification or an equivalent project management qualification is highly desirable

Benefits

This position is also eligible for two annual cash bonuses.

Company

Calico Life Sciences

Glassdoor4.1

Calico is an Alphabet-founded research and development company whose mission is to harness advanced technologies.

Founded in 2013

South San Francisco, California, USA

201-500 employees

http://www.calicolabs.com/

H1B Sponsorship

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