Technical Project Manager - Pharma R&D

About the role

Location: Remote, UK/CAN/Central Europe/Poland preferred
Time Zone Availability: Must be available for UK/US East Coast business hours
Experience: 5+ Years of Technical Project Management Experience

We are seeking a Technical Project Manager to support R&D delivery initiatives for a leading pharmaceutical company's life sciences platform and application development programs. This mid-level role focuses on tactical execution excellence, sprint orchestration, and dependency coordination across engineering teams while building strong technical literacy in cloud platforms and scientific computing environments.

As a Technical Project Manager, you will coordinate multiple tactical projects simultaneously, or support focused delivery streams within larger strategic initiatives. You'll work within a hybrid delivery model combining waterfall-style governance with agile/Scrum execution, ensuring smooth sprint operations and dependency management across interconnected R&D systems.

This role emphasizes delivery fundamentals: robust sprint planning, clear communication, comprehensive reporting, and proactive risk escalation. You'll report under client Program Managers and work closely with Product Managers to ensure delivery alignment with business value and strategic priorities.

What You'll Do

Sprint Delivery & Execution

• Manage bi-weekly sprint planning, retrospectives, and delivery reviews for assigned projects
• Own sprint health, burndown accuracy, and velocity tracking in Jira
• Facilitate daily stand-ups and ensure team alignment on sprint goals
• Track story point completion and identify blockers proactively
• Coordinate with engineering teams to maintain delivery momentum

Dependency Management & Coordination

• Track dependencies across teams with clear visibility in Jira and dashboards
• Coordinate with other vendors and cross-functional teams on integration points
• Proactively map dependencies and critical paths for delivery streams
• Facilitate coordination meetings and resolve tactical blockers
• Escalate dependency conflicts through Program Managers when needed

Planning & Reporting

• Define clear Product Delivery Plans with sprint schedules, resource allocation, and risk registers
• Maintain comprehensive sprint dashboards and milestone tracking
• Provide weekly status reporting to stakeholders and Program Managers
• Prepare Shiproom materials with clear status, risks, and decision needs
• Generate executive-ready reports for governance checkpoints

Risk Management & Escalation

• Identify delivery risks and blockers with clear escalation pathways
• Document risk registers and mitigation strategies
• Escalate critical issues to Program Managers within 48 hours
• Implement contingency plans for schedule or resource risks
• Track risk resolution and communicate status updates

Technical Coordination

• Develop working knowledge of cloud platforms (GCP) and technical architectures
• Understand project technical components to facilitate meaningful discussions with engineers
• Navigate ticketing systems and support workflows
• Support technical dependency resolution between teams
• Learn and apply technical terminology relevant to R&D systems

Stakeholder Communication

• Provide transparent updates with timely escalations
• Facilitate sprint reviews and demo sessions
• Communicate blockers, risks, and status clearly to all stakeholders
• Manage expectations on delivery timelines and scope changes
• Build trusted relationships with engineering teams and Product Managers

Knowledge Management

• Maintain current Confluence documentation for all assigned projects
• Document sprint outcomes, decisions, and action items
• Ensure knowledge capture is integrated into daily workflows
• Support runbook creation for operational handoffs
• Contribute to continuous improvement through retrospective insights

AI-Powered Project Management (Learning & Application)

• Learn to leverage Gemini Pro and Atlassian AI for project management tasks
• Apply AI tools for sprint summaries and automated Jira hygiene
• Use intelligent forecasting tools for burndown and velocity predictions
• Participate in AI use case development initiatives

Requirements

Essential Qualifications

Core Project Management Skills

• 5+ years of experience in technical project management or software delivery
• Strong understanding of agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban)
• Proven experience managing sprints and coordinating engineering teams
• Demonstrated ability in dependency tracking and multi-team coordination
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
• Proficient user of Jira for sprint management and reporting
• Experience with ticketing systems and support workflows

Technical Skills

• Working understanding of cloud platforms (GCP experience highly valued)
• Basic knowledge of Google Cloud services: BigQuery, Workflows, Cloud Run, GCS
• Ability to learn technical concepts and communicate with engineering teams
• Familiarity with software development lifecycle and DevOps practices
• Understanding of technical dependencies and integration points
• Capacity to read technical documentation and participate in technical discussions

Communication & Collaboration

• Excellent communication and stakeholder management abilities
• Strong analytical skills with ability to interpret delivery metrics and identify improvements
• Proven ability to facilitate meetings and drive decision-making
• Self-motivated with excellent problem-solving abilities
• Demonstrated leadership in coordinating technical teams across time zones (UK/US)

Recommended Qualifications

Certifications & Training

• Project Management certification (PMP, PRINCE2, CSM, or equivalent) or comparable experience
• Cloud certification (Google Cloud, AWS, Azure) or equivalent experience
• Agile/Scrum certifications (CSM, CSPO, SAFe)
• ITIL or service management framework knowledge

Life Sciences & Domain Knowledge

• Experience in pharmaceutical or life sciences industries
• Understanding of scientific research workflows and R&D environments
• Familiarity with GxP and compliance requirements
• Knowledge of scientific computing and high-performance computing (HPC) concepts

Advanced Technical Skills

• Understanding of HPC in cloud environments, particularly GCP offerings
• Knowledge of containerized workloads and orchestration
• Experience with infrastructure as code and automation principles
• Familiarity with data engineering concepts and pipelines
• Understanding of AI/ML platform operations and MLOps

Process & Improvement

• Experience with continuous improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma) or on-the-job application
• Background in implementing or following ITIL service management practices
• Knowledge of ServiceNow administration and workflow configuration
• Experience with data analysis and metrics-driven decision making

Domain Specializations

• Background in data science, machine learning, or computational science environments
• Experience supporting scientific computing software stacks
• Knowledge of batch processing systems for large-scale workloads
• Understanding of data movement challenges for large scientific datasets