Sr. Program Manager Houston, TX
The actual location of this job is in Houston, TX, US. Relocation assistance is available for eligible candidates and their families, if needed.
This is a fully site‑based role. Working together in person supports close, real‑time collaboration and the technical precision needed to manufacture medicines to the highest quality and safety standards.
What you will get:
- An agile career and dynamic working culture.
- An inclusive and ethical workplace.
- Compensation programs that recognize high performance.
- A variety of benefits dependent on role and location.
The full list of our global benefits can be found here: https://www.lonza.com/careers/benefits.
What you will do:
- Be the interface between the Customer and Lonza to ensure execution and delivery according to Lonza and the Customer’s expectations
- Understand the Customer’s needs and represent their interests by acting as their advocate on-site
- Use all PM Standard Work processes to effectively manage projects
- Fully accountable for all operational aspects in leading and motivating cross-functional project teams to deliver on all scope objectives with the highest level of quality
- Manages the financial aspects of assigned programs. Actions include but not limiting to forecasting, invoicing, and revenue recognition.
- Ensure Customer satisfaction throughout the life of the program through collaborative relationship management with AM/Sales
- Act as PM Peer during Onboarding of new individuals
- Develop and share best practices in PM tools and methodologies at local level
- Ensure adherence to Global Program and Project Center of Excellence (PPM CoE) Standards, including maintenance of data integrity excellence in Planview.
What we are looking for:
- Required: 3-5 years in managing clinical development and GMP manufacturing. Candidates must demonstrate experience managing programs that involve both clinical-stage development and manufacturing operations.
- Demonstrated manufacturing experience within a CDMO or biopharmaceutical environment, including cross-functional coordination of GMP manufacturing, process development, technology transfer, scale-up, manufacturing readiness, and product supply.
- Experience managing programs spanning pre-clinical development through clinical manufacturing and commercial manufacturing, including coordination of technical, quality, regulatory, and operational deliverables.
- Experience building, managing and owning cross-functional integrated timelines
- 10+ Years of experience in the life sciences, biotechnology, or CDMO industry, inclusive of 4–5 years of experience in Program Management
- Bachelor's Degree in Life Sciences, Biotechnology, Engineering, or related field
Matrix Management
- Ability to engage with individuals over whom you have no direct control, to form a cohesive team around a set of common project objectives.
- Ensure a robust project governance is in place and provide clarity of roles, responsibilities & expectations of everyone associated with the project.
- Demonstrate motivational skills and ability to build robust, long-lasting relationships, developing rapport and trust within the project teams.
- Demonstrate a positive attitude fostering open dialogue and two-way communication within the team.
- Lead cross-functional teams across Cell and Gene Therapy development, clinical operations, process development, manufacturing, Quality Assurance, Quality Control, Regulatory Affairs, Supply Chain, and commercial functions.
- Drive alignment between clinical development objectives and manufacturing execution, ensuring clinical supply requirements, production schedules, technical milestones, and quality deliverables are effectively coordinated.
- Partner with manufacturing leadership and technical teams to ensure program commitments are aligned with production capacity, resource availability, equipment readiness, and operational priorities.
Organization Skills
- Ability to successfully plan, organize and control all activities and processes which form part of the project plan.
- Effectively manages the project plan via Planview in terms of timeline, risks, issues, OTIF and any other project related deliverables.
- Ability to manage a high workload in a constantly changing environment using effective delegation, holding stakeholders and project team members accountable for their actions.
- Goes beyond conventional planning and uses their business acumen to anticipate potential issues and hazards to avoid project delays.
- Develop and manage integrated program plans spanning pre-clinical development, clinical-stage development, process and analytical development, technology transfer, GMP manufacturing, scale-up, validation, and commercial manufacturing readiness.
- Coordinate manufacturing schedules, clinical supply timelines, production campaigns, batch release activities, and material availability to support customer commitments and program milestones.
- Ensure program plans reflect manufacturing capacity, equipment availability, facility readiness, personnel requirements, raw material lead times, and dependencies across manufacturing and quality functions.
- Coordinate technology transfer and process scale-up activities from development into GMP manufacturing, ensuring alignment on technical documentation, process requirements, analytical methods, and manufacturing readiness.
- Monitor manufacturing execution against agreed timelines, including production milestones, deviations, change controls, batch disposition, and release dependencies, escalating risks that may affect clinical supply or commercial delivery.
- Maintain visibility of program performance from development through manufacturing and supply, ensuring project plans accurately reflect operational realities and customer commitments.
Issue and Risk Management
- Proactively identify potential project Risks, identify the relevant Risk owner, assign level of severity and track using Planview.
- Develop and manage a mitigation plan for all identified medium (yellow) and high level (red) Risks with the goal of preventing realization into Issues. Escalate in cases of delay or no progress.
- If an Issue does occur, the PM demonstrates a strong analytical mind-set to quickly resolve any problems or conflict that may result.
- Actively drive Issue resolution via Planview utilizing all available resources to develop a solution that is acceptable for both Lonza and the customer.
- Identify and proactively manage risks associated with CGT process development, clinical material supply, GMP manufacturing, technology transfer, scale-up, manufacturing capacity, and commercial supply readiness.
- Coordinate cross-functional resolution of manufacturing deviations, production delays, material shortages, equipment constraints, process performance concerns, and quality-related issues that may affect program delivery.
- Understand the impact of manufacturing issues on clinical trial timelines, patient material availability, product quality, batch release, and customer commitments.
- Facilitate timely escalation and mitigation planning with Manufacturing, Quality, Technical Operations, and Supply Chain to minimize disruptions and maintain program continuity.
Stakeholder Management and Situational Leadership
- Able to identify all stakeholders associated with a project, analyze their expectations, their influences and the level of support they will provide.
- Demonstrate agile leadership and communication styles and adapt accordingly to suit the stakeholders, audience or situation.
- Develop a tactical approach to engage with all stakeholders and efficiently manage any conflicts of interest that may arise.
- Continually challenge the status quo. Embrace new ways of working to ensure successful team collaboration and project execution.
Strategic Portfolio Management
- Lead the successful delivery of all products and services at the site level and be the internal customer advocate when strategic portfolio decisions are required.
- Ensure conformance to PM Standard Work at all times.
- Define portfolio KPIs to monitor progress towards strategic objectives.
- Maintain a holistic view on portfolio risk and issue profile, supporting mitigation plans to ensure effectiveness. Promote transparency in communication during the escalation process.
- Ensure Customer Lessons Learned are carried out according to plan across the portfolio with the output shared at the site and network level.
- Promote a culture of best practice and internal lessons learned sharing at the site level and distribute findings across the network.
- Ensure a high level of data quality across all PM systems and processes is maintained at all times.
- Manage a portfolio of Cell and Gene Therapy programs spanning pre-clinical development, clinical manufacturing, late-stage clinical supply, technology transfer, and commercial manufacturing.
- Evaluate manufacturing capacity, production schedules, resource utilization, facility readiness, and portfolio priorities to support operational planning and strategic business objectives.
- Partner with site leadership, Manufacturing, Technical Operations, and Supply Chain to align program commitments with manufacturing capabilities, customer forecasts, and long-term supply requirements.
- Monitor portfolio performance against manufacturing, quality, delivery, financial, and customer KPIs, proactively identifying capacity constraints and opportunities to improve operational efficiency.
- Support strategic decisions regarding manufacturing readiness, process scale-up, commercial launch preparation, and the transition from clinical-stage production to commercial supply.
Empowerment and Development
- Engage and motivate the team by advocating the discipline of a good work-life balance, nurturing strong relationships and developing trust through open communication.
- Empower the team by delegating authority and decision-making, sharing information and soliciting input.
- Enable the team to be fully accountable for their respective areas of the program whilst always displaying a customer centric mindset.
- Ensure personal development and growth opportunities within the team or in other disciplines outside of Program Management.
- Coach the team through experience, whilst fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
- Build program team capabilities in CGT manufacturing, clinical supply coordination, technology transfer, GMP operations, and commercial manufacturing readiness.
- Promote collaboration and knowledge sharing between development, clinical, manufacturing, quality, and commercial teams to strengthen end-to-end program execution.
- Coach program team members to understand manufacturing dependencies, production constraints, quality requirements, and the operational impact of program decisions.
About Lonza
At Lonza, our people are our greatest strength. With 30+ sites across five continents, our globally connected teams work together every day to manufacture the medicines of tomorrow. Our core values of Collaboration, Accountability, Excellence, Passion and Integrity reflect who we are and how we work together. Everyone’s ideas, big or small, have the potential to improve millions of lives, and that’s the kind of work we want you to be part of.
Innovation thrives when people from all backgrounds bring their unique perspectives to the table. At Lonza, we value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. If you’re ready to help turn our customers’ breakthrough ideas into viable therapies, we look forward to welcoming you on board.
Ready to shape the future of life sciences? Apply now.