Senior Director, Program Lead

Deciphera’s cross-functional program teams drive the strategy and operations of our late preclinical, clinical, and commercial assets. We are seeking a dynamic, seasoned Sr Director, Program Lead (PL) who will be responsible and accountable for one or more therapeutic assets. The successful candidate will be a strategic leader leveraging strong drug development expertise, emotional intelligence, and organizational skills to develop and drive asset strategy and lead all development and life-cycle management projects.

Responsibilities

• Program Strategy & Execution Accountability (60%)
  • Develop and execute the overarching global program strategy for a given asset/program, leading all research and development activities from lead candidate nomination to market launch with full accountability.
  • Drive the strategic plan, balancing data quality, timelines, and costs based on internal corporate considerations and the external landscape.
  • Lead cross-functional program teams to define program vision, strategy, goals, decision points, investments, and areas of risk, including mitigations and contingencies.
  • Partner closely with the program manager to provide strategic, process, and operational leadership to the program team.
  • Identify and communicate risks and appropriate mitigations.
  • Lead data-driven decision-making processes to enable timely and objective development decisions.
• Communication (20%)
  • Ensure clear, holistic, and confident communication between program teams and leadership regarding expectations, program status, timelines, milestones, risks, and mitigations.
  • Focus team efforts on critical tasks and resolve communication bottlenecks.
  • Represent the program team in Portfolio Strategy Steering Committee meetings.
  • Liaise with relevant stakeholders within the Ono Pharma Group to ensure alignment across entities.
  • Collaborate with peers within the Program Leadership and Management function to maintain consistent cross-project standards, align strategies, and address competing priorities.
• Organizational Leadership (20%)
  • Serve as an experienced, versatile, and strong enterprise leader.
  • Drive top performance and deliver against challenging goals as a collaborative cross-functional leader.
  • Proactively address risks and challenges in partnership with other functions, using joint decision-making to maximize asset value.
  • Communicate effectively with partners and stakeholders at an appropriate level of detail.
• Other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Requirements

• A minimum of 15 years of drug development experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including at least 3 years of development program leadership experience.
• Solid understanding of the drug development process, including steps, functions, roles, and key interdependencies.
• Strong interpersonal skills with a proven track record of influencing without authority across a matrixed organization.
• Ability to build consensus while identifying final decision-makers or escalating when required.
• Outstanding written and oral communication skills, with the ability to clearly and accurately express complex ideas.
• Demonstrated flexibility and openness to adjusting approaches as new information or circumstances emerge.
• Resilience in a fast-paced, rapidly evolving environment.
• Highly motivated with a "hands-on" leadership style—no task is too big or small.
• Strategic, efficient, organized, and empathetic leader who can balance high-level vision with operational details.
• Commitment to driving the program forward to the next strategic inflection point to enable informed decision-making aligned with corporate objectives.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience managing cross-functional teams.
• Late-phase or commercial experience.
• Experience working with Alliance and Business Development Teams, with an understanding of the importance of partnerships.
• Proficiency in MS Office Suite (PowerPoint, Excel, MS Teams); familiarity with project management tools (Smartsheet, ThinkCell, MS Project) is a plus.

Pay

The base salary pay range for this role is $226,200 - $310,000. Actual compensation will depend on factors including depth of experience, education, skillset, overall performance, and location. Deciphera offers a competitive total rewards strategy, including annual performance bonus, a long-term incentive plan, and a full range of benefits.