Associate Director, Project Manager - Regulatory Affairs
Summary
This role involves leading regulatory project management for global rare disease development programs, coordinating cross-functional teams, and managing submission timelines. The position requires expertise in regulatory affairs and project management tools like Smartsheet or Microsoft Project to ensure compliance and strategic alignment.
This position is listed on behalf of a partner company, who manages all applications and next steps. Our partner is looking for an Associate Director, Project Manager - Regulatory Affairs based in United States.
This is a strategic regulatory project management leadership role supporting global development programs in the rare disease space. You will coordinate complex regulatory activities across multiple functions, ensuring submissions, milestones, and commitments remain aligned with program strategy. The role combines hands-on project management with cross-functional leadership and executive visibility. You will work closely with Regulatory Affairs, Clinical, CMC, Quality, Medical Writing, Operations, and external partners. A key focus will be building scalable timelines, dashboards, processes, and governance practices that improve regulatory execution. The position offers the opportunity to influence how global regulatory programs are planned, monitored, and delivered. You’ll join a collaborative, fast-paced environment where your work directly contributes to advancing therapies for patients with significant unmet needs.
Accountabilities:
- Lead regulatory project management activities across one or more global development programs, ensuring regulatory plans, timelines, deliverables, and submission activities align with program strategy and organizational priorities.
- Partner with Regulatory Leads to coordinate global regulatory team meetings, including agendas, decisions, documentation, action tracking, and follow-up on commitments.
- Develop and maintain integrated regulatory project plans and timelines covering health authority milestones, cross-functional dependencies, submission deliverables, and key program decisions.
- Plan and track major regulatory submissions and maintenance activities, including INDs, NDAs, BLAs, supplements, annual reports, DSURs, post-marketing commitments, health authority responses, and other regulatory deliverables.
- Coordinate with Regulatory Operations, Clinical Development, Clinical Operations, CMC, Biostatistics, Medical Writing, Quality, Commercial teams, and external vendors to ensure timely and high-quality execution.
- Support submission readiness by coordinating content plans, document ownership, review cycles, submission timelines, and regulatory information management activities.
- Create dashboards, milestone trackers, and status reports that provide leadership and program teams with clear visibility into progress, risks, dependencies, and upcoming deliverables.
- Identify and communicate regulatory project risks, resource constraints, timeline challenges, and cross-functional dependencies, helping teams develop mitigation strategies.
- Coordinate preparation for health authority interactions, advisory committees, inspections, audits, and regulatory responses, including timelines, materials, contributors, and follow-up actions.
- Drive continuous improvement of regulatory project management processes, tools, templates, meeting practices, dashboards, and operating models to increase consistency and scalability.
- Maintain accurate regulatory project documentation, including decisions, action items, submission plans, timelines, and key deliverables within designated systems and repositories.
- Provide leadership, mentoring, and guidance to regulatory project management colleagues and cross-functional partners, with potential responsibility for direct reports or resource planning as the function develops.
- Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences or a related discipline is required; a Master’s degree, PharmD, or PhD is preferred. Equivalent combinations of education and relevant professional experience may be considered.
- 8+ years of project management experience within the biotechnology or pharmaceutical industry, with regulatory project management experience strongly preferred.
- Strong understanding of global regulatory affairs, submission requirements, compliance processes, and the development of therapies for rare diseases.
- Proven experience creating and managing complex project plans, integrated timelines, critical paths, budgets, milestones, and cross-functional dependencies.
- Demonstrated expertise with timeline and project management tools such as Smartsheet or Microsoft Project.
- PMP certification is strongly preferred.
- Strong stakeholder management skills and the ability to collaborate effectively with Regulatory Affairs, Clinical, CMC, Quality, Operations, Medical Writing, Commercial, and external partners.
- Excellent organizational, analytical, communication, facilitation, and problem-solving abilities, with a proven capacity to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic environment.
- Ability to identify risks, adapt project plans, respond to changing priorities, and implement practical strategies to maintain program momentum.
- Strong executive communication skills, including the ability to translate complex project information into concise status updates, dashboards, and actionable recommendations.
- Demonstrated ability to influence and coordinate stakeholders across functions, with or without direct authority.
- A collaborative, patient-focused mindset combined with sound judgment, accountability, flexibility, and attention to detail.
- Willingness and ability to travel less than 10% domestically and internationally.
- Ability to participate in face-to-face collaboration and occasional onsite work in San Diego; the role is not expected to be 100% remote.
- Target base salary range of $150,000–$195,000 USD, with actual compensation determined by experience, education, skills, and location.
- Short-term incentive compensation and long-term incentive opportunities through company equity.
- Comprehensive health, financial, work-life, and well-being benefits for eligible employees and dependents.
- Medical and wellness programs, employee support resources, life insurance, and disability coverage.
- Retirement plans with employer contributions/match.
- Generous paid time off.
- Collaborative, people-focused environment centered on professional growth and meaningful patient impact.
- Opportunity to contribute to global regulatory programs supporting therapies for rare diseases.
- Flexible work arrangement with remote eligibility while maintaining opportunities for in-person collaboration in San Diego.
- Ongoing opportunities to develop leadership, regulatory project management, and cross-functional capabilities.
Requirements:
Benefits:
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