Program & Portfolio Management — M5

RDPROG.PROGRAMPED7E.M5

M5M5 — Senior Directorhigh0.90approvedglobalv1

Program & Portfolio Management (PPM) — leading cross-functional R&D program execution and managing the multi-asset portfolio through stage-gate governance, resource/capacity planning, portfolio analytics, and Go/No-Go capital-allocation decisions. Distinct from single-project Project Management (focuses on one project's timeline/risk/budget) and from Alliance Management (focuses on partner/contractual relationships): this focus owns the integrated view across many research programs and the methods that prioritize them.

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Level

M5 · M5 — Senior Director · 12–18 yrs

Function · Focus

R&D Program & Project Management · Program & Portfolio Management

Market pay (median)

$188k ($148k–$240k)

Pay basis

function-anchored · wide bars

Focus — Program & Portfolio Management

Material PAY and SKILL differential vs the function baseline.

Responsibilities by level

What this person actually does at each level on the management track — escalating scope, not one generic blob. Your level is highlighted.

Supervises a unit of associate project managers/coordinators, owning meeting cadence, agendas, workflows and the 'single source of truth' for assigned research programs
Ensures documentation of meeting notes, key decisions and lessons learned is consistently maintained across the team's projects
Oversees supervised ownership of low/mid complexity projects across assigned client/research accounts, redistributing day-to-day work among unit staff
Coordinates cross-functional project team meetings, serving as the operational bridge between scientific, computational and business units to ensure seamless handoffs
Supports financial processes within the unit — estimating work, monitoring budgets and feeding agency financial processes for assigned projects

Leads a skilled team of project managers (or junior managers) owning tactical execution of a defined set of research programs end-to-end
Drives and manages timelines across the team's portfolio, proactively identifying issues and generating solutions with reduced oversight
Owns risk and issue management for assigned programs — mitigating, preventing and resolving risks, and escalating items needing management or Governance Board resolution
Monitors and records progress of the team's portfolio against milestones and forecasts, and periodically reports status to management
Drives cross-functional cooperation among scientific, computational and business stakeholders to keep tactical handoffs and deliverables on track

Manages a department/team of program and project managers, responsible for operations and budgets across a portfolio of research programs
Evaluates diverse program issues and emerging trends to adjust execution plans and resourcing across the managed portfolio
Develops and delivers program and portfolio status reviews and dashboards to functional management and business partners
Owns risk and issue governance across the team, deciding which items to resolve directly versus escalate to the Governance Board
Partners with functional leaders to ensure data-enabled, timely program-level decision making and consistent stage-gate documentation

Manages multiple PPM teams or a critical portfolio function, aligning execution plans with R&D business objectives where slippage could jeopardize key programs
In partnership with the Research Project Director, develops team strategy and ensures aligned execution across multiple research projects
Serves as operational leader of assigned research assets and teams, integrating the development portfolio of post-research assets through lifecycle management
Engages senior leaders on functional PPM strategy, resource/capacity planning and stage-gate readiness across the managed area
Establishes and enforces strategic policies for portfolio reporting, PTRS-weighted prioritization and decision-analysis standards

M5this profile

Directs strategic PPM areas through subordinate managers, with decisions impacting overall division/R&D operations
Partners with Global Program Heads and key functional leaders to ensure data-enabled, timely portfolio and asset-level decision making across the division
Develops and delivers dashboards and program/portfolio reviews to Clinical Development Unit Heads, business partners and the Board of Directors
Defines portfolio-analytics methods, capacity-planning models and value/risk-estimation frameworks used to prioritize the division's portfolio
Influences executives and major partners on key portfolio trade-offs, capital reallocation and multi-year resourcing decisions

Leads the Program & Portfolio Management department across R&D through senior managers, with long-term effect on company success
Owns research annual planning, pre-clinical stage-gate processes, and reporting of progress on portfolio goals and resourcing
Owns the P&L for the R&D portfolio, manages the budget, and approves major expenditures across functions/divisions
Leads regular Go/No-Go gate reviews — making decisions on funding, pivots and stopping projects through ruthless, PTRS-informed prioritization and capital allocation
Builds and mentors a team of program and senior project managers, and represents the R&D portfolio to executive leadership including VPs and C-suite

Level guidelines

The universal leveling rubric applied to this function — how scope, complexity, collaboration, and experience step up across levels.

Level	Knowledge & Application	Complexity & Problem Solving	Collaboration & Interaction	Typical Degree & Years
M1	Functional PPM expert applying established practices and templates (single-source-of-truth, meeting governance, budget tracking) to supervise daily operations of a coordination unit.	Limited scope; resolves routine scheduling, documentation and handoff issues using established practices, escalating anything ambiguous.	Daily interactions with unit staff and peers across scientific, computational and business teams to coordinate handoffs.	Functional expert with some leadership exposure; prior associate/project coordination experience.
M2	Applies judgment within known factors to lead a skilled team owning tactical execution of timelines, risk and forecasts across a program set.	Resolves issues within known parameters; identifies and mitigates project risks and decides what needs escalation to management or the Governance Board.	Cross-functional cooperation; coordinates and aligns scientific, computational and business stakeholders on tactical outcomes.	2–5 yrs in team leadership or specialist PPM roles; 5+ years project experience.
M3	Evaluates diverse program issues and trends; manages department operations, budgets and portfolio reporting standards.	Diverse issues requiring trend evaluation across a portfolio; balances resourcing, timelines and risk trade-offs across multiple programs.	Leads functional and customer/partner teams; engages functional management and business partners on portfolio status.	5–7+ yrs managing professionals and budgets in program/portfolio management.
M4	Sets strategic PPM policies (PTRS weighting, decision-analysis standards) aligned with R&D business objectives across multiple teams/sections.	Strategic issues where program slippage could jeopardize key activities; integrates post-research assets through lifecycle management.	Engages senior leaders on functional strategy; partners with Research Project Directors on team strategy and execution alignment.	8–10+ yrs; complex multi-team/organizational PPM leadership.
M5	Defines portfolio-analytics, capacity-planning and value/risk-estimation methods with division/company-wide implications.	Complex org-wide portfolio issues; defines methods for prioritization, capital reallocation and multi-year resourcing.	Influences executives and major partners; presents portfolio reviews to Unit Heads and the Board of Directors.	10–12+ yrs, including second-level management and portfolio strategy work.
M6	Defines long-term R&D portfolio strategy, annual planning and stage-gate processes, owning P&L and capital allocation across functions/divisions.	Abstract, cross-functional portfolio issues; makes Go/No-Go funding, pivot and stop decisions through ruthless PTRS-informed prioritization.	Negotiates with executives (VPs, C-suite) on critical portfolio matters; influences enterprise R&D policy.	12–15+ yrs; deep PPM leadership across departments or divisions.

Skills

Focus-specific skills the role applies — the relevance layer beyond the occupational base.

Stage-gate governance: Manages structured decision points and gate reviews in regulated (cGMP) environments to advance, pivot, or stop programs.
Resource and capacity planning: Forecasts and allocates staffing and resources across a portfolio of projects to meet demands over multi-year horizons.
Portfolio analytics and decision analysis: Develops portfolio reporting, benchmarking, analytics, data visualization, decision analysis, and prioritization deliverables.
Drug-development lifecycle fluency: Applies a thorough understanding of the tasks, people, processes, and infrastructure required across all stages of drug development.
Value and risk estimation frameworks: Estimates business impact of projects and builds frameworks of value estimation and rationalization based on business value, including probability-of-success weighting.
Risk and issue management: Proactively identifies, mitigates, prevents, and resolves project risks and issues, escalating to governance when needed.
Capital allocation: Optimizes investment across a portfolio, reallocating resources from underperforming projects to higher-potential ones.
Probability of success (PTRS) weighting: Defines a probability-of-success factor at each decision point, applied to resources and costs to produce attrition-adjusted portfolio views.
Planisware: Uses this tool/technology effectively during the delivery of day-to-day tasks.
Smartsheet: Uses this tool/technology effectively during the delivery of day-to-day tasks.
Planview Advisor: Uses this tool/technology effectively during the delivery of day-to-day tasks.
Oracle Primavera P6: Uses this tool/technology effectively during the delivery of day-to-day tasks.
Tableau: Uses this tool/technology effectively during the delivery of day-to-day tasks.

Provenance

The evidence base behind this profile — every layer is sourced; quality is scored by an adversarial review panel (1–5; passes at ≥4 on the minimum dimension).

Level differentiation4.5Focus specificity5.0Concreteness4.5Factual accuracy4.5Real-world coverage4.5

10 sources

Level — M5 — Senior Director

Leads multiple functions or a large department; drives multi-year strategy.

Scope: Multiple functions or a large department
Autonomy: Owns multi-year strategy for the area
Complexity: Org-level trade-offs and investment
Impact: Multi-function results
Decision rights: Owns investment and org design across functions
Leadership: Leads directors and managers
Typical experience: 12–18 yrs

Adjacent roles

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