Vice President Program Management

Senior Director / VP of External Partnerships Location: Toronto preferred; hybrid/remote considered with regular travel to Toronto Reports to: Co-founder & Chief Scientific Officer CDC is proud to be retained by a fast-growing, AI-enabled pharmaceutical formulation company operating at the intersection of machine learning, robotics, and deep formulation science - accelerating drug product development in partnership with biopharma and CDMO organisations. This is a role for someone who has operated in a CDMO or CRO environment and knows what it actually takes to deliver high-quality formulation development programs. This is a rare opportunity to step into a senior leadership role where science, delivery, and strategic client partnership all converge. Key Responsibilities: • Serve as the primary relationship owner for multiple external R&D partnerships. • Manage 3-4 concurrent client R&D projects, or oversee one large strategic agreement. • Lead all client communications: progress updates, technical readouts, steering discussions, and escalation management. • Own and identify project execution plans, timelines, milestones, risks and deliverables. • Understand formulation development workflows well enough to challenge assumptions, identify technical risks, and communicate trade-offs to clients. • Work with internal scientists to frame experimental design, formulation strategy, data packages, and next-step recommendations. • Present data and project outcomes to client teams with clarity, confidence, and credibility. • Manage and support a team of approximately 3-4 experimentalists and/or robotics operators. • Coach team members on project execution, communication quality, client readiness, and operational discipline. • Partner with business development and scientific leadership to expand successful client relationships into larger, longer-term collaborations. • Identify opportunities for follow-on projects, platform expansions, and strategic agreements. • Support proposal scoping, project design, and technical input for new partnership opportunities. Required Experience: • Significant CDMO experience - essential. • Strong pharmaceutical science background, ideally in OSD, modified release, biologics, injectables, or other complex formulation areas. • Experience managing technical R&D programs, client-facing projects, or complex development workstreams. • Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent projects with different stakeholders, timelines, and priorities. • Prior alliance management, program leadership, or strategic account ownership experience. • Strong client-facing presence, with the technical depth to earn credibility with formulation scientists and development leaders. • Experience presenting scientific or technical data to external customers or senior internal stakeholders. • Experience working with both emerging biotechs and large pharmaceutical companies. • Ability to manage scope, timelines, expectations, and difficult client conversations without damaging relationships. • Experience leading or coordinating technical teams, ideally including lab-based scientists, experimentalists, or automation/robotics operators. Bonus: • Exposure to AI-enabled drug development, automated experimentation, high-throughput screening, robotics, or digital formulation workflows. If you are interested in this exciting role and want to join a growing company with big ambition, then apply directly or drop me a message: harriet@cdcglobal.co.uk

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