Reporting to the Senior Director, Program & Alliance Mgmt, the Director, Program Management will lead cross-functional drug development teams through clinical development stages to approval. The successful incumbent will partner with program leadership to shape, plan and execute on integrated development strategy while driving the program team to timely and effective decision-making. This position will also help develop best practices for the Program Management function as we advance our portfolio and support business operations. The successful candidate will have in-depth knowledge of the drug development process and foundational principles of complex project management with a natural ability to effectively communicate across the organization. This highly visible position is an excellent opportunity for a motivated and intellectually curious individual, who embraces challenge and seeks a cross-functional leadership role in a dynamic, fast-paced, team-oriented organization.

This role must be based in one of our office locations in Lexington, MA, San Diego, CA or London, UK. Our office-based employees follow a hybrid schedule of 4 days in the office, and 1 day remote.

Responsibilities (including, but not limited to):

• Lead program management activities for one or more programs in the development portfolio
• Coordinate and drive cross-functional teams to efficiently advance development programs
• Partner with the program team and functional leaders to create and maintain integrated drug development plans that define critical path activities, key milestones, cross-functional interdependencies, risks, and resource requirements
• Proactively identify potential risks and challenges, escalate when appropriate, and seek resolution with input from program team members and senior leadership
• Establish and foster collaborative relationships with key internal and external stakeholders, and functional subject matter experts, to drive effective decision-making and timely issue resolution
• Partner with senior leadership to ensure strategic and operational alignment with program and company objectives
• Organize and manage team meetings, including preparing agendas, taking minutes, and ensure post-meeting follow-through
• Track progress and monitor health toward program goals and communicate program status to various stakeholders across the organization
• Partner with Finance for program budget and resource requirements
• Collaborate with the Program Management team to continuously improve and implement best practices within program teams and across the organization
• May lead additional ad hoc projects

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in a relevant discipline with a minimum of 5+ years in a Program Management role and ideally 2+ years in a hands-on preclinical or clinical research role
• Demonstrated agility in dynamic, highly-matrixed environments
• Strong knowledge of drug development process, including IND submissions, prepation of regulatory filings, defining and achieving clinical development milestones and and executing clinical studies
• Strong interpersonal skills with ability to lead, engage, negotiate, build trust, resolve conflict, influence, and drive effective decision-making
• Demonstrated ability to work proactively, both independently and collaboratively in a dynamic team environment, including ability to align and integrate multiple stakeholder for positive outcomes
• Demonstrated competency in applying analytical, organizational and problem-solving skills; ability to combine attention to detail with big-picture strategic perspective, while navigating complexity and ambiguity in a highly-dynamic, fast-paced environment
• Proficient in the use of MS Word, Excel and Power Point; familiarity with project planning tools such as MS Project and/or Smartsheet
• Demonstrated competence in written and verbal communication; must be fluent in English (written and spoken)

All Kiniksa new hires whose roles require them to enter Kiniksa’s physical offices will be required to provide documentation that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or, if not, that they are legally entitled to an accommodation due to a medical condition or a sincerely held religious belief. Requests for accommodation will be considered on a case-by-case basis, and Kiniksa will consider, among other things whether a proposed accommodation would create an undue hardship.