Consulting Principal, Pharma Project Manager

About the role

Cognizant Consulting is a global community of 5,000+ experts focused on helping Fortune 500 clients reimagine their businesses through innovative solutions. As a Consulting Principal, Pharma Project Manager, you will play a crucial role in leading complex programs and delivering high-quality results.

Responsibilities

• Establish and lead project governance structures to engage stakeholders, manage risks and issues, and ensure effective decision-making for successful program delivery.

• Own and manage project scope, aligning with business objectives and controlling scope changes and value impact through appropriate controls.

• Lead integrated planning efforts, including work breakdown structures, scheduling, resource allocation, and dependency management.

• Oversee financial management, including cost estimation, forecasting, and tracking performance against baseline plans.

• Drive risk, assumption, issue, and dependency (RAID) management while ensuring successful delivery of business value, adoption, and transition to operations.

• Work collaboratively with senior stakeholders, cross-functional delivery teams, and pharma/biotech clients in the Greater Boston area.

Requirements

• Experience leading complex projects or program delivery in a consulting or professional services environment.

• Strong expertise in governance, scope management, scheduling, and resource planning.

• Proven experience managing project financials including forecasting, budgeting, and cost tracking.

• Demonstrated ability to manage risks, issues, and dependencies across cross-functional teams.

• Strong stakeholder engagement and communication skills across business and technical audiences.

Qualifications

• Experience operating within structured project delivery frameworks such as SDLC and formal governance models.

• Exposure to regulated environments and adherence to established policies and processes (e.g., GxP compliance).

• Strong decision-making capabilities leveraging governance frameworks and structured methodologies.

• Experience driving stakeholder alignment and transparent communications through reporting and governance forums.

• Ability to support change management, adoption planning, and business value realization initiatives.

Skills

• Project management skills.

• Financial management and budgeting.

• Risk management and issue resolution.

• Stakeholder engagement and communication.

• Change management and adoption planning.

Pay

$122,400 – $190,500

Schedule

This is a hybrid position requiring 3 days a week in a client or Cognizant office in Boston, MA. The working arrangements may change based on project needs and business requirements.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, vision and life insurance

• 401(k) plan and contributions

• Employee stock purchase plan

• Employee assistance program

• 10 paid holidays plus PTO

• Paid parental leave and fertility assistance

• Long-term/short-term disability

• Learning and development certifications and programs