Group Project Director (Pharma)

Job Overview:
The Group Project Director (GPD) is an expert project management and people leader who provides senior portfolio leadership across multiple complex client businesses. The GPD owns and is accountable for the overall delivery, financial health, staffing strategy, operating maturity, and project management leadership of the assigned portfolio group. This role leads and develops the day-to-day PM leads, makes tradeoffs across businesses, drives operating-model improvements, and provides decisive senior leadership when complex client, cross-functional, staffing, financial, or delivery issues arise. Primarily an oversight and support role with selective hands-on engagement where needed, the GPD partners closely with the VP, Integrated Delivery and cross-functional leadership to strengthen sustainable account operations, protect profitability, support growth, and build stronger senior PM leadership.
Key Responsibilities, including but not limited to:
Tactical Plans, Implementation, & Project Facilitation
Provide senior project management leadership across multiple large, complex client accounts or portfolios, maintaining accountability for the health of tactical planning, implementation, and project facilitation across the assigned portfolio group.
Lead and develop the day-to-day PM leads across assigned businesses, ensuring each portfolio has a clear operating model, governance structure, decision paths, and accountability for execution.
Balance immediate portfolio needs with longer-term operating-model improvements that create more sustainable, proactive delivery across businesses.
Make cross-portfolio tradeoffs and prioritization decisions when business needs, resources, timing, or delivery risks compete.
Provide senior oversight and support when standing up new clients or business, addressing highly complex delivery needs, or providing critical project support and backfill.
Rapidly assess complex and unfamiliar situations, align the right leaders, and drive clear decisions and next steps across teams and functions.
Own senior-level resolution of complex client, cross-functional, staffing, financial, and delivery issues across the assigned portfolio group, ensuring clear decisions, accountability, and follow-through.
Project Schedule, Scope, Budget, Forecasting, & Resourcing Health
Maintain senior accountability for project schedule, scope, budget, forecasting, and resourcing health across multiple complex client portfolios.
Ensure each portfolio is appropriately staffed and supported, with delivery, financial, capacity, and resourcing risks surfaced early and driven to clear resolution.
Oversee financial health across the portfolio group, including forecasting accuracy, proactive overage mitigation, margin protection, revenue reconciliation, and clear ownership of corrective actions.
Lead cross-portfolio capacity planning and resource tradeoffs, partnering with Resourcing and account leadership to align talent to the highest-priority business needs.
Establish consistent standards for estimating, scope management, budget governance, forecasting, and project health across senior project management teams.
Ensure material delivery and financial risks have clear ownership, timely decisions, and effective resolution, with appropriate visibility to department and executive leadership when needed.
Support assigned portfolios in achieving established gross margin, revenue, forecasting, and delivery targets.
Internal Team Relationships & Communication
Maintain accountability for the health of internal team relationships and communication across the assigned portfolio group.
Champion healthy team dynamics across businesses and use expert judgment to motivate teams, resolve friction, and address risks that extend beyond an individual account.
Partner with Client Services, Strategy, Technical, Creative, Resourcing, Finance, and other functional leaders to align priorities, remove organizational blockers, and support effective cross-functional delivery.
Lead strategic internal communications and presentations with senior and executive stakeholders, particularly as they relate to portfolio health, financial performance, staffing, risk, and operational priorities.
Demonstrate expert-level communication, adapting style and level of detail based on audience, individual needs, context, and organizational impact.
Coach day-to-day PM leads to independently navigate team dynamics and communication challenges, providing senior guidance and support when needed.
Client Relationships & Communication
Maintain senior oversight of project management-to-client relationship health across multiple complex client portfolios.
Serve as a senior face of delivery across key client relationships, strengthening client confidence in project management leadership and supporting a consistent experience across portfolios.
Frequently lead or support strategic and executive-level client communications, presentations, recommendations, and recovery plans when senior intervention is needed.
Proactively identify and mitigate client relationship risks, partnering with day-to-day PM leads and cross-functional account leadership to drive resolution.
Play a key role in new business pitches, growth opportunities, and standing up new client accounts or books of business.
Support revenue retention and growth by strengthening delivery quality, operating maturity, financial discipline, and senior leadership across assigned portfolios.
Ensure assigned portfolios meet or exceed target Client Satisfaction Scores.
Process & Efficiencies
Drive operating-model maturity across assigned portfolios by strengthening governance, workflows, forecasting, resource management, financial discipline, and decision pathways.
Establish consistent portfolio governance, clear decision rights, and strong accountability, with day-to-day PM leads empowered to lead their businesses and the Group Project Director accountable for overall portfolio health and performance.
Identify successful account practices and scale them across portfolios in partnership with Sr Project Directors, Project Directors, and department leadership.
Partner with the VP, Integrated Delivery on broader project management and Integrated Delivery improvements, contributing portfolio insights and helping translate department priorities into practice.
Serve as a trusted internal process expert, ensuring improvements are scalable, adopted consistently, and aligned with broader agency needs and business objectives.
Project Management Team Leadership
Lead the performance, growth, and development of the senior project management leaders across the assigned portfolio group.
Directly coach and develop day-to-day PM leads, strengthening their independence, consistency, financial discipline, strategic judgment, and senior-level accountability.
Own senior-level staffing recommendations, team assignments, and succession planning across assigned portfolios in partnership with the VP, Integrated Delivery and Resourcing leadership.
Serve as an internal subject matter expert on project management best practices, processes, and principles, setting a high standard for operational excellence.
Build a strong Project Director and Sr Project Director bench through coaching, performance management, succession planning, and targeted development opportunities.
Model the highest level of professional judgment and leadership behavior, and actively cultivate those expectations in others.
Contribute to department strategy, capability development, organizational planning, and the continued evolution of Integrated Delivery by bringing senior portfolio insights and helping translate department priorities into practice.
People Management
Effectively manage, guide, and coach senior direct reports, with a focus on leadership development, performance, succession, and business impact.
Develop Sr Project Directors, Project Directors, and other day-to-day PM leads so they can independently manage complex client portfolios, teams, financials, risks, and senior-level decisions.
Provide strategic guidance and decision support to PM leads across assigned portfolios on complex client, delivery, financial, staffing, and cross-functional issues, while maintaining accountability for overall portfolio outcomes.
Partner with department leadership on staffing strategy, succession planning, hiring priorities, and long-term capability needs across the assigned portfolio group.
Reduce key-person dependency by building stronger senior leaders, clear ownership, and durable operating models across the portfolio.
Qualifications and Skills:
12+ years of project management experience, with 7+ years of agency and/or pharma experience preferred.
5+ years of management experience with a proven track record of hiring, coaching, and developing senior staff required.
Experience working with AOR and D/AOR clients within pharma.
Proven expertise in multi-channel marketing, including media planning and execution.
Proven financial accountability for managing up to $1M in revenue directly and providing oversight for up to $30M in revenue.
Proven ability to lead senior project management across multi