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Job description
Position summary
The Associate Project Director, GRAPS is a senior project-management professional who translates GRAPS priorities into disciplined execution across Global Regulatory Affairs, Global Patient Safety, and enterprise partners. The role establishes fit-for-purpose governance, integrated plans, decision pathways, performance reporting, and risk management for a portfolio of strategic and operational initiatives.
Working with the Chief Regulatory & Safety Officer, GRAPS Leadership Team, functional leaders, and cross-functional stakeholders, this individual will lead small-to-medium, complex projects and selected larger workstreams that require coordination across functions, geographies, vendors, and systems. The role combines strategic perspective with hands‑on delivery and is expected to influence without authority, improve ways of working, and strengthen quality, compliance, predictability, and organizational scalability.
Key responsibilities
Strategic portfolio and project leadership
Lead assigned GRAPS projects and programs from definition through closeout, with clear charters, scope, objectives, outcomes, milestones, owners, dependencies, and success measures
Partner with GRAPS leaders to translate strategic priorities into integrated roadmaps and sequenced execution plans aligned with portfolio and enterprise objectives
Maintain a consolidated view of the GRAPS project portfolio, distinguishing project work from base‑business activity and highlighting capacity constraints, interdependencies, and decisions required
Facilitate project initiation, prioritization, stage reviews, lessons learned, and benefits realization
Governance, planning, and delivery
Establish and run proportionate governance, including core teams, steering forums, agendas, decision logs, action tracking, and escalation pathways.
Develop and maintain integrated project plans, critical paths, resource assumptions, budgets, RAID (Risks, Assumptions, Issues, and Dependencies or Decisions) logs, and change controls
Monitor execution against scope, schedule, quality, cost, and expected outcomes; identify emerging issues early and drive recovery plans
Prepare concise executive dashboards, status reports, decision memos, and recommendations for the GRAPS Leadership Team and other governance bodies
Cross-functional collaboration and communication
Coordinate stakeholders across Regulatory Affairs, Patient Safety, Clinical Development, Medical Affairs, Quality, IT, Finance, HR, Legal, Procurement, and external partners, as applicable
Create clarity on roles, accountabilities, interfaces, and handoffs, using fit-for-purpose RACI or equivalent tools
Facilitate complex workshops and working sessions that align stakeholders, resolve ambiguity, and convert discussion into decisions and accountable actions
Communicate proactively and tailor content for executive, technical, and operational audiences across cultures and time zones
Operational excellence, quality, and compliance
Identify opportunities to standardize, simplify, and scale GRAPS processes, templates, tools, and operating practices
Partner with process owners and Quality to ensure project deliverables support applicable GxP, regulatory, pharmacovigilance, documentation, training, inspection‑readiness, and records‑management requirements
Use data and trend analysis to monitor performance, identify root causes, and recommend sustainable improvements
Support adoption of digital project‑management, collaboration, dashboarding, workflow, and knowledge‑management capabilities
Resource, vendor, and change management
Coordinate resource planning for assigned initiatives and surface trade‑offs requiring leadership action
Support vendor selection, statements of work, onboarding, purchase‑order coordination, deliverable oversight, and performance monitoring in partnership with Procurement and Finance
Develop stakeholder and change‑impact assessments, communication plans, readiness activities, and adoption measures for new processes, systems, and operating models
Provide direction, coaching, and project‑methodology support to workstream leads and more junior project‑management colleagues; may lead contractors or matrixed team members
Requirements
Professional qualifications
Bachelor's degree in life sciences, business, project management, engineering, or a related discipline; advanced degree is preferred
Typically 8 or more years of relevant experience in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or other highly regulated industry, including substantial responsibility for cross‑functional project or program delivery
Demonstrated experience leading small‑to‑medium complex projects or major workstreams with functional‑management stakeholders and limited day‑to‑day supervision
Working knowledge of drug development and commercialization, with experience in Regulatory Affairs, Pharmacovigilance/Patient Safety, Quality, Regulatory Operations, or adjacent functions strongly preferred
Demonstrated command of project and program management practices, including scope, schedule, resource, budget, dependency, risk, issue, change, governance, and benefits management
Experience preparing executive‑ready dashboards, status reports, decision materials, and presentations using Microsoft 365 and relevant project‑management or reporting tools
Project‑management certification such as PMP, PRINCE2, or equivalent is preferred; Agile or change‑management training is an advantage
Leadership capabilities and personal attributes
Enterprise mindset and patient focus, with sound judgment about business, quality, compliance, and reputational risk
Advanced stakeholder‑management and influencing skills, including the ability to establish alignment and accountability without formal authority
Highly structured, analytical, and detail‑oriented while maintaining focus on strategic intent and outcomes
Able to simplify complexity, frame options, recommend a path forward, and communicate decisions clearly
Comfortable operating in ambiguity, managing competing priorities, and adapting plans as conditions change
Collaborative, inclusive, culturally aware, and effective in a global matrix environment
High integrity, discretion, ownership, and commitment to transparent communication and follow‑through
Key interfaces
Primary - Chief Regulatory & Safety Officer; GRAPS Leadership Team; GRAPS Enablement & Insights
Functional - Global Regulatory Affairs; Global Patient Safety; Regulatory Operations; Quality and Compliance
Enterprise - Clinical Development; Medical Affairs; IT; Finance; HR; Legal; Procurement; Communications
External - Consultants, CROs, technology providers, and other vendors, as required
Measures of success
Projects have agreed scope, governance, accountabilities, milestones, risk controls, and measurable outcomes
Leadership receives timely, decision‑ready visibility into progress, dependencies, resource needs, risks, and trade‑offs
Priority deliverables are completed to agreed quality and timelines, with issues escalated early and recovery actions documented
Ways of working become more consistent, efficient, scalable, and inspection‑ready across GRAPS
Stakeholders understand decisions, responsibilities, and next steps, and demonstrate sustained adoption of implemented changes
Additional information
Travel: Ability to travel domestically and internationally up to approximately 10%, based on business needs
Location: Proposed as a US or EU remote or hybrid role, with travel to Ascendis locations and business‑critical meetings as needed
This description summarizes the principal responsibilities of the role and may be adjusted as organizational priorities evolve
The estimated salary range for this position is $180k - $190k.Actual salary determination is dependent on a variety of factors some of which include: experience, qualifications, and geographic location. This position may be eligible for a discretionary annual bonus or an incentive compensation plan (eligibility varies based on role and position level), discretionary stock‑based long‑term incentives, paid time off, and a comprehensive benefits package.
Benefits
401(k) plan with company match
Medical, dental, and vision plans
Company‑offered Life and Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) insurance
Company‑provided short and long‑term disability benefits
Unique offerings of Pet Insurance and Legal Insurance
Employee Assistance Program
Employee Discounts
Professional Development
Health Saving Account (HSA)
Flexible Spending Accounts
Various incentive compensation plans
Accident, Critical Illness, and Hospital Indemnity Insurance
Mental Health resources
Paid leave benefits for new parents
Ascendis Pharma is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
A note to recruiters:
We do not allow external search party solicitation. Presentation of candidates without written permission from the Ascendis Pharma Inc Human Resources team (specifically from: Talent Acquisition Partner or Human Resources Director) is not allowed. If this occurs your ownership of these candidates will not be acknowledged.
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Worksite address
princeton, NJ, 08543, US
Who can apply
Review the original listing for work authorization, qualifications and employer requirements.