Associate Director, Project Planner

We are looking for a Associate Director, Project Planner to support our client Pfizer within the Pfizer Research & Development team. You would need to be available by April 2024 and US based ideally, or Canada, Costa Rica, /- within 3 hours of US East Coast time zone. Technical expertise is highly important.

JOB SUMMARY
The Associate Director, Project Planner possesses a comprehensive knowledge of drug development, advanced knowledge of scheduling and resource forecasting software (e.g., MS Project, Planisware) as well as the definitions and standards and associated systems and tools, and may support several different types of schedules in support of a clinical development plan, which may include, but are not limited to: medicine, candidate/indication, clinical studies, end game/submission, and product launch planning. He/she plays a key role in scenario planning, i.e., building schedule/resourcing options and forecasting associated development costs that depict various development options. The Associate Director, Project Planner typically works within a cross-functional team environment but frequently leads/co-leads complex sub-team initiatives. He/she applies skills to support teams' operational/strategic delivery of new medicines to patients.

The Associate Director, Project Planner is expected to anticipate potential objections and have the ability to influence others. He/she collaborates across various organizations and may work with Research Unit (RU)/Business Unit (BU) and pan-BU/RU colleagues, above RU/BU portfolio colleagues (e.g., Strategy, Portfolio, and Commercial Operations), and members of partner lines. Typical collaboration focuses on providing input into best practices, making recommendations for improvements, or driving development of new technologies and continuous improvement of planning processes, tools, reports, and systems.

The Associate Director, Project Planner may also be expected to periodically provide his/her expertise or insights to the further development of Pfizer-wide initiatives related to Resource and Planning Insights for Decisions (RAPID) or other Corporate project planning tools and processes.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
Responsible for performing important project planning activities in support of team deliverables and the PRD portfolio. To effectively execute the primary responsibilities, the Associate Director, Project Planner must possess an advanced knowledge of the principles, concepts, and theories of project management.

The colleague executes his/her role by partnering with the Asset PM in support of Development, Operations, and Commercial project team members and partner line representatives to create project schedules that enable effective planning and ensure project delivery. The colleague is expected to apply technical, team, and line knowledge along with advanced scheduling knowledge to contribute to the achievement of work team deliverables and goals.

Planning/Controlling (Scheduling and Resource Management)
• Responsible for coordinating, monitoring and reporting project schedule information to enable alignment of PRD and partner line schedules and FTE/dollar resources. These schedules include:

o The cross-functional schedules (Product Group and Candidate Plans) that integrate schedule information across all lines supporting PRD at all stages of the development continuum.
o Clinical study plans (Protocol Development to Final Clinical Study Report) and Clinical Operation Submission activities to support Module 1 and 5 of the submission plan.
o Submission plans in collaboration with the PMSO submission group.
o Selected commercial launch plans
• Identifies and raises schedule conflicts, risks, and resource peaks/troughs appropriately for resolution.
• Directly participates in and contributes to cross-functional and functional teams to discuss, review, and optimize protocol/project/program schedules and resource management plans.
• Monitors progress of project activities towards next project milestone, anticipates and highlights potential variances, supports line/team in critical path analyses and understanding the impact, and partners with the Asset PM, Clinical Operations and the project team to identify/recommend solutions to schedule risk.
• Performs scenario planning of project timelines within and across protocols and across therapeutic area/portfolio to enable optimum use of local, global, and outsourced resources to ensure efficient delivery of project milestones.
• Contributes to the validation of resource information at the project level with the project teams.

Project Execution and Delivery
• Partners with key team members (e.g., PMSO, Medicinal Sciences, CS&O, DSRD, Commercial) to manage the project and achieve key milestones according to the endorsed timeline, cost, and quality parameters.
• Supports negotiations in the allocation of line resources to support the endorsed development plan.
• Contributes to risk management through the identification of operational and project/program risks for discussion with appropriate team leadership. Participates in team discussions to de-risk projects and
• develop new options to resolve moderately complex issues.
• Provides the Portfolio Management group with project schedule information to enable effective portfolio management activities.

Analysis and Reporting
• Produces what-if scenario analyses (base, optimistic and pessimistic development) based on context obtained from project team members (e.g. PMSO, Medicinal Sciences, CS&O, DSRD, Commercial). Decisions taken by the team based on these analyses may impact project delivery, costs, and resource requirements.
• Reviews own work regarding quality of schedule and resource metadata through utilization of quality reports and monitoring/management of such data with the team/line members.
• Provides timely reporting to the Asset PM, Portfolio Management, and project teams, alerting them to the possibility of endangered/missed or conflicting milestones and critical path activities.
• Ensures regular information updates and analysis and interpretation of planning and forecasting data to project teams, Portfolio Management, platform lines, and management teams.
• Utilizes available reporting and visualization tools to support governance and team reporting needs (e.g. OnePager, Business Objects, Spotfire).
• Provides context to local customers of reports generated globally and consolidates customer feedback to enable improvement of existing reports and generation of new reports.

Process
• Partners with project team members (e.g., PMSO, Medicinal Sciences, CS&O, DSRD, Commercial) to identify opportunities and potential solutions to realize efficiency in the development process.
• Contributes to continuous improvement of project plans, plan generation, plan utilization, report creation/development processes, and/or systems/process integration.
• Collaborates with colleagues to ensure cross-team, site learnings, and best practices are shared.
• Promotes partner lines/teams taking ownership of data within planning tools to help them manage their business. May provide training and mentorship to new and established users of planning systems, including the associated operating procedures and reporting.

QUALIFICATIONS / SKILLS

Education
• Bachelors level degree.
• Advanced degree desirable in one of the disciplines relating to drug development or business.
• B.S. with 9 years' experience or M.S. with 7 years' experience.

Experience
• At least 7 years of relevant experience, including:
o At least 5 years of applicable experience in project planning and project management.
o At least 5 years of applicable pharmaceutical industry experience.
• Experience with planning and resource forecasting tools (e.g., MS Project, Planisware, OnePager) and use of these tools to support Asset, Candidate and/or Clinical Study planning.

Beneficial Relevant Capabilities
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
• Experienced in end-game/regulatory submission planning and/or product launch planning.
• Experience formally mentoring and/or supervising colleagues.
• Experienced user of reporting and office software (e.g. Business Objects, Spotfire).
• Trained/experienced in negotiation, facilitation, emotional intelligence, and managing cross-functional team dynamics.
• The job is highly technical and the incumbent must be able to understand complex computer systems as well as develop complex project plans.
• Demonstrates emotional intelligence to manage change and difficult conversations.

ORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS

• Reports directly to a Project Planning Lead. A colleague at this level is expected to work independently on most assignments (which typically involve complex problems and scenarios), using knowledge and work experience to achieve desired results. The Associate Director, Project Planner works primarily in a cross functional or matrixed team environment and is expected to ensure his/her work meets expected standards with minimal review by team members or leadership.
• Partners primarily with Asset Proram Managers (Asset PMs), members of project teams, protocol teams, and partner lines (e.g., Medicinal Sciences, Clinical Sciences and Operations [CS&O], Drug Safety Research & Development [DSRD], Commercial) to ensure accurate, integrated project planning at the medicine, indication and study level. Due to comprehensive breadth of knowledge and prior work experiences, the colleague has a high level of awareness of his/her limits and judgment and is frequently a resource to peers, leadership, and other colleagues.

RESOURCES MANAGED
• This role does not have budgetary responsibility or direct reports.