Senior Project Manager – Life Sciences (AI & Digital Transformation)
Job Title: Senior Project Manager
Location: Hyderabad, India – Onsite
Experience: 12–18+ years / Higher experience can be considered based on fit
Employment Type: Full-time
Role Overview
We are seeking an experienced Senior Project Manager / IT Project Manager to lead large-scale AI, Data, Cloud, and Digital Transformation initiatives for a global Life Sciences client.
The ideal candidate will have a strong track record of delivering complex enterprise technology programs while collaborating with business stakeholders, engineering teams, product owners, architecture, data/AI teams, vendors, and external partners.
The role requires strong project governance, executive reporting, cross-workstream coordination, stakeholder management, financial management, risk management, and execution capabilities within a regulated Life Sciences environment.
The candidate should also have a strong technical understanding of AI and enterprise cloud technologies, even if not hands-on coding.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead end-to-end delivery of multiple strategic technology programs from initiation through production deployment.
- Develop and manage project plans, milestones, budgets, resource allocation, dependencies, and delivery schedules.
- Coordinate cross-functional teams including Product Management, Architecture, Engineering, Data, AI, QA, Infrastructure, Security, and Operations.
- Drive Agile delivery using Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, or hybrid methodologies.
- Establish and maintain project/program governance frameworks.
- Prepare and present Steering Committee packs, executive dashboards, governance reports, status reports, RAID logs, and management updates.
- Provide clear reporting on project health, milestones, risks, issues, dependencies, financials, resource utilization, and delivery status.
- Manage multiple workstreams and dependencies across a matrix organizational structure.
- Drive cross-workstream coordination and ensure alignment between business and technology teams.
- Identify, track, escalate, and mitigate project risks, issues, assumptions, and dependencies.
- Manage project finances including budget management, forecasting, actuals tracking, variance analysis, cost reporting, and financial governance.
- Manage vendor and partner engagements, ensuring delivery commitments, SLAs, budgets, and timelines are met.
- Collaborate with business stakeholders to define scope, priorities, success metrics, and business outcomes.
- Ensure compliance with organizational quality standards and Life Sciences regulatory requirements.
- Drive change management, user adoption, and successful business transition.
- Manage resource planning, utilization, capacity, and allocation across workstreams.
- Promote continuous improvement through delivery best practices, lessons learned, and process optimization.
Mandatory / Must-Have Requirements
Project & Program Management
- 12+ years of IT Project / Program Management experience.
- Proven experience managing complex enterprise technology projects/programs involving multiple workstreams.
- Strong experience managing cross-functional teams in a matrix organization.
- Proven ability to manage dependencies across multiple technology and business workstreams.
- Strong understanding of SDLC and Agile delivery methodologies.
- Experience managing globally distributed teams.
Executive Governance & Stakeholder Management
- Proven track record of preparing executive governance materials, including Steering Committee packs.
- Strong experience preparing executive-level status reports, dashboards, presentations, RAID reports, and decision papers.
- Excellent stakeholder management across business, technology, senior leadership, vendors, and external partners.
- Ability to communicate project health, risks, financial status, dependencies, and key decisions to senior/executive stakeholders.
- Strong negotiation, influencing, escalation, and conflict-resolution skills.
Financial / Budget Management
- Hands-on experience managing program/project finances.
- Experience with:
- Budget management
- Financial forecasting
- Actual vs. budget tracking
- Cost reporting
- Variance analysis
- Resource cost management
- Financial status reporting
- Ability to manage projects within approved budgets and proactively identify financial risks.
Project Planning & Tools
- Hands-on experience with Smartsheet, MS Project, or equivalent enterprise project planning tools.
- Strong experience developing and maintaining:
- Integrated project plans
- Milestone plans
- Resource plans
- Dependency plans
- Critical paths
- Delivery schedules
- Workstream plans
- Experience with tools such as Jira, Confluence, Azure DevOps, ServiceNow, Smartsheet, MS Project, or equivalent is preferred.
AI & Cloud
- Strong technical understanding of AI/GenAI architecture, even if not hands-on coding.
- Experience managing AI, GenAI, Data, Cloud, or Digital Transformation programs.
- Understanding of technologies such as:
- Generative AI
- LLMs
- RAG
- Agentic AI
- AI/ML platforms
- AI governance
- MLOps / LLMOps
- Experience with enterprise cloud AI platforms such as Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud.
- Ability to work effectively with architects, AI/ML engineers, data engineers, developers, and infrastructure teams.
Life Sciences
- Minimum 5 years of experience managing enterprise programs for Pharmaceutical, Healthcare, or Life Sciences organizations.
- Knowledge of Life Sciences business processes including Clinical, Regulatory, Pharmacovigilance, Commercial, Manufacturing, or Medical Affairs is preferred.
- Familiarity with:
- GxP
- CSV
- 21 CFR Part 11
- GDPR
- HIPAA
- Relevant Life Sciences compliance standards
Preferred Experience
- Experience with Generative AI or Agentic AI initiatives.
- Experience leading enterprise AI transformation programs.
- Experience with AI governance, MLOps, LLMOps, or enterprise AI platforms.
- Experience working with global pharmaceutical organizations such as Novartis, Roche, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, GSK, or similar.
- Experience with Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud environments.
- Exposure to enterprise platforms such as:
- ServiceNow
- Salesforce
- SAP
- Veeva
- Microsoft Power Platform
- Experience leading multi-vendor and multi-geography delivery programs.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
Desired Skills
- Program & Portfolio Management
- Project Governance
- Steering Committee Management
- Executive Stakeholder Management
- Cross-Workstream Management
- Matrix Organization Management
- Risk & Dependency Management
- Budget & Financial Management
- Forecasting & Cost Reporting
- Resource Planning
- Vendor Management
- Change Management
- AI & Digital Transformation
- Enterprise Cloud
- Enterprise Delivery Governance
- Agile / Scrum / SAFe
- Excellent communication and negotiation skills
Preferred Certifications
- PMP (Project Management Professional)
- PRINCE2 Practitioner
- PMI-ACP
- Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)
- SAFe Agilist
- ITIL Foundation – Optional
Success Measures
- On-time and on-budget project delivery
- Accurate project financial forecasting and cost reporting
- High stakeholder and executive satisfaction
- Effective Steering Committee and governance management
- Successful coordination across multiple workstreams
- Effective risk and dependency management
- Successful adoption of delivered solutions
- Compliance with quality and regulatory standards
- Delivery of measurable business value and operational improvements
Nice to Have
- Experience working with global pharmaceutical organizations such as Novartis, Roche, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, GSK, or similar.
- Exposure to Enterprise AI Platforms, Agentic AI, MLOps/LLMOps, or AI governance.
- Experience leading multi-vendor, multi-geography delivery programs.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving capabilities.
- Experience managing large transformation budgets and complex financial governance.
