Associate Director, Planning System Lead

Our expertise in Innovative Medicine is informed and inspired by patients, whose insights fuel our science-based advancements. Visionaries like you work on teams that save lives by developing the medicines of tomorrow.

Join us in developing treatments, finding cures, and pioneering the path from lab to life while championing patients every step of the way.

Learn more at https://www.jnj.com/innovative-medicine

Please note that this role is available across multiple countries and may be posted under different requisition numbers to comply with local requirements. While you are welcome to apply to any or all of the postings, we recommend focusing on the specific country(s) that align with your preferred location(s):

• United States - Requisition Number: R-080467

• Belgium, Netherlands - Requisition Number: R-082562

Remember, whether you apply to one or all of these requisition numbers, your applications will be considered as a single submission.

Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine R&D is recruiting for an Associate Director, Planning System Lead.  This position is a hybrid role and can be located in Beerse, Belgium or Leiden, Netherlands.

The Associate Director, Planning System Lead, reporting to the Director, Data Strategy and Governance, will serve as a key partner and point of contact driving process improvements and standard methodologies in Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) planning.  This individual will focus on enhancing operational planning and forecasting efficiency, ensuring high data quality across the organization, and addressing data gaps to drive informed decision-making.  Partner closely with Functional Leads, Project Managers, Clinical Forecasting and Discovery, Product Development and Supply (DPDS) counterparts to identify innovative solutions and capabilities that drive consistency and standardization with the end-to-end PPM systems and associated processes.  Provide insights to the Portfolio Performance and Resourcing (PPR) departments to expand and develop planning insights used to inform Senior Leaders.

Key Responsibilities include the following:  

• Lead initiatives to improve portfolio planning system processes, ensuring alignment with organizational goals.

• Support the development of portfolio data quality metrics to foster continuous improvement.

• Lead data quality efforts, identifying gaps, and prioritizing data management initiatives.

• Partner with business teams to implement process improvements and technology solutions that elevate operational data integrity.

• Apply data quality metrics to track progress and support informed decision-making.

• Act as a Project Manager to increase transparency of planning initiatives, leading timelines, resources, and risks.

• Drive standardization of planning activity definitions across Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine (JJ IM) Therapeutic Areas (TAs) and Global Development partners.

• Collaborate with PPR teams to develop and refine planning insights for senior leadership.

The Associate Director, Planning System Lead, will also be responsible for supporting the Business Product Owner of Planisware (E7) and the User Community Tool (UCT) Planning products.  This includes making recommendations on new capabilities and/or improvement to current systems, coordinating the UAT, training and adoption in partnership with Portfolio Solutions and IT.  This role will reinforce planning data quality via metrics, communication, and process reinforcement to the Planning community to maintain a high degree of portfolio project data integrity. 

Principal Responsibilities:      

• Lead and implement capability and process improvement initiatives to advance best planning practices for JJ IM stakeholders.  Act as Portfolio and Project Manager of all Planning Initiatives by tracking and identifying risks in meeting milestone deliverables.

• Provide leadership and support to the Business Product Owner of the User Community Tool (UCT) and Planisware (E7), which includes leading UAT, training and adoption of new processes associated with tool enhancements to end users.

• Drive continuous improvement to planning capabilities and processes by demonstrating data quality insights to optimize planning, forecasting, and the overall integrity of PPM data, including partnering with DPDS counterparts to ensure planning and forecasting data accuracy.

• Reinforce Data Quality Planning Metrics and Reporting capabilities, including enhancing PPM data through analysis of data quality findings and driving accountability with Project Managers to correct data errors and close critical data gaps.

• Ensure and drive consistency and standardization with Planning activity definitions.

• Proactively build and maintain internal (across J&J) and occasionally external relationships that support the Business Product Owner (UCT and E7).

Qualifications:

• A minimum of a Bachelor’s degree is required, preferably in a scientific or business discipline.  Master’s degree preferred.

• A minimum of 8 years of experience with a pharmaceutical company or Contract Research Organization (CRO) is required.

• Expertise in the areas of drug development, financial operations, and strategic planning is required.

• Project management experience is required.

• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is preferred.

• Experience leading diverse teams in a direct and matrixed environment is preferred.

• Experience with information systems (e.g., Planisware, SAP/SEM, CTMS, Ariba, Power BI) is highly preferred.

• Solid understanding of the financial aspects of clinical operations is highly preferred.

• Effective leadership skills, with the ability to cultivate team productivity and cohesiveness, required

• Must have excellent communication skills.

• Must have strong analytical and conceptual skills.

• Must have strong planning and organizational skills with a strong attention to detail.

• Must be results and performance driven with the ability to lead and deliver in a complex environment.

• The ability to recommend and implement process improvements and handle multiple tasks simultaneously is required.

• The ability to lead multiple projects is preferred.

• This position will require up to 10% domestic and international travel.

The NL: The annual base pay includes an 8% holiday allowance.

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