Senior Director, Preclinical Research Program Management

At Insmed, every moment and every patient counts — and so does every person who joins in. As a global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to transforming the lives of patients with serious and rare diseases, you’ll be part of a community that prioritizes the human experience, celebrates curiosity, and values every person’s contributions to meaningful progress. That commitment has earned us recognition as Science magazine’s No. 1 Top Employer for five consecutive years, certification as a Great Place to Work® in the U.S., and a place on The Sunday Times Best Places to Work list in the UK.

For patients, for each other, and for the future of science, we’re in. Are you?

About the Role:

We're looking for a Senior Director, Research Program Management on the Program Management team to help us expand what's possible for patients with serious and rare diseases. Reporting to the Executive Director, Research & Respiratory Disease Program Management, you'll provide strategic and program management leadership across Insmed's early research portfolio - from target identification through development candidate selection.
Operating at the intersection of scientific strategy and operational rigor, this role serves as the senior operational backbone of research program teams at Insmed's NJ and NH sites, enabling scientific leaders to focus on discovery while ensuring programs advance with speed, clarity, and accountability. While primarily focused on NJ/NH programs, this role will interact and collaborate with program management counterparts across Insmed's broader global research network as needed.
This position requires flexibility for on-site presence across NJ and NH research sites.

What You'll Do:

In this role, you'll build and maintain integrated, milestone-driven program plans from discovery through candidate selection, including critical path, key decision points, and success criteria - ensuring plans are grounded in modality-appropriate benchmarks for small molecule, biologics, and gene therapy programs.

You'll also:

• Establish clear, stage-appropriate deliverables (e.g., target validation, lead optimization, developability, candidate nomination) aligned to industry benchmarks, proactively challenging planning assumptions before they are embedded in program baselines

• Maintain a real-time portfolio view across NJ/NH programs, driving consistency in how programs are planned, tracked, and reported — enabling leadership visibility into progress, risks, timelines, and trade-offs

• Partner with Program/Project Leaders and functional scientists to translate strategy into clear execution plans and priorities, facilitating effective team operating cadence (core team meetings, deep dives, decision forums) with clear objectives, documented decisions, and strong accountability

• Act as a cross-functional connector across biology, protein engineering, immunology, translational, and CMC interfaces to resolve dependencies, remove bottlenecks, and ensure inter-program and cross-site interactions are visible and well-managed

• Proactively identify scientific, technical, and execution risks; drive mitigation planning and support data-driven decision making by framing options, trade-offs, and scenario analyses for program advancement

• Challenge teams to focus on critical experiments and minimal data packages required for decisions, and identify opportunities to accelerate timelines through parallelization, externalization, manufacturing sourcing optimization, or scope prioritization

• Ensure clear documentation of program decisions, risks, and assumptions — maintaining decision logs and version-controlled program records with rigor and discipline

• Lead preparation of portfolio updates and materials for senior leadership and quarterly reviews, owning the narrative, ensuring executive summaries accurately reflect material risks and timeline changes, and driving post-review action tracking

• Drive adoption of fit-for-purpose program management tools and templates tailored to early research, including modality-specific planning templates for small molecule, biologics, and gene therapy programs

• Contribute to building a scalable research operating model, including standard milestone frameworks, portfolio tracking approaches, and ways of working that reinforce accountability, speed, and cross-site collaboration

Who You Are:

You have a Bachelor's degree in a scientific discipline along with 12+ years of experience in biotech/pharma R&D, including significant experience in drug discovery and early development, and 10+ years in program/project management within a matrixed R&D environment.

You are or you also have:

• Demonstrated track record of advancing programs to development candidate selection or IND-enabling stage, with strong understanding of drug discovery workflows including target validation, hit/lead identification and optimization, developability, candidate selection criteria, and translational and preclinical considerations

• Ability to interpret scientific data and connect it to program-level decisions and risks, with experience identifying when cross-modality assumptions are being misapplied and driving course correction

• Experience with integrated planning, scenario analysis, attrition modeling, and risk management frameworks, with proficiency in program management tools: MS Project, Smartsheet, SharePoint, Excel, and PowerPoint

• Demonstrated ability to identify and resolve systemic cross-program bottlenecks, engaging cross-functional partners (CMC, Development, Finance, Regulatory) as structural contributors to program planning

• Proven ability to lead through influence in a cross-functional, matrixed environment — without formal authority over scientific teams — navigating ambiguity and evolving data in a fast-moving discovery setting

• Highly structured and organized, with the ability to manage multiple complex programs simultaneously while maintaining execution rigor without slowing scientific creativity

• Excellent communicator, able to distill complexity into clear, actionable insights for leadership, with a strong problem-solving mindset and collaborative, low-ego approach that builds trust with scientific and functional partners

• Models Insmed's Program-First culture — prioritizing program outcomes, reinforcing shared accountability, and enabling cross-functional alignment across all levels of the organization

• Ability to work across NJ and NH research sites, with flexibility for on-site presence as needed

Nice to have (but not required):

• PhD or advanced degree strongly preferred - consistent with the scientific depth needed to challenge modality-specific planning assumptions, engage credibly with research leadership, and apply modality-appropriate benchmarks across small molecule, biologics, and gene therapy programs

Where You’ll Work

This is a hybrid role based out of our Bridgewater, NJ office. You’ll have the option to work remotely most of the time, with in-person collaboration when it matters most.

Travel Requirements

This role requires occasional travel (approximately 5%–10%)

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Pay Range:

$214,000.00-292,000.00 Annual

Life at Insmed
 

At Insmed, you’ll find a culture as human as our mission—intentionally designed for the people behind it. You deserve a workplace that reflects the same care you bring to your work each day, with support for how you work, how you grow, and how you show up for patients, your team, and yourself.

Highlights of our U.S. offerings include:

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage and mental health support, annual wellbeing reimbursement, and access to our Employee Assistance Program (EAP)

• Generous paid time off policies, fertility and family-forming benefits, caregiver support, and flexible work schedules with purposeful in-person collaboration

• 401(k) plan with a competitive company match, annual equity awards, and participation in our Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP), and company-paid life and disability insurance

• Company Learning Institute providing access to LinkedIn Learning, skill building workshops, leadership programs, mentorship connections, and networking opportunities

• Employee resource groups, service and recognition programs, and meaningful opportunities to connect, volunteer, and give back

Eligibility for specific programs may vary and is subject to the terms and conditions of each plan. 

Current Insmed Employees: Please apply via the Jobs Hub in Workday.

Insmed Incorporated is an Equal Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in hiring on the basis of physical or mental disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, color, religion, national origin, disability, protected Veteran status, age, or any other characteristic protected by law.

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Unsolicited resumes from agencies should not be forwarded to Insmed. Insmed will not be responsible for any fees arising from the use of resumes through this source. Insmed will only pay a fee to agencies if a formal agreement between Insmed and the agency has been established. The Human Resources department is responsible for all recruitment activities; please contact us directly to be considered for a formal agreement.

Insmed is committed to providing access, equal opportunity, and reasonable accommodation for individuals with disabilities in employment, its services, programs, and activities. To request reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application   or interview process, please contact us by email at TotalRewards@insmed.com  and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Requests for accommodation will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Please note that only inquiries concerning a request for reasonable accommodation will be responded to from this email address.

Applications are accepted for 5 calendar days from the date posted or until the position is filled.

For New York City Residents:

To assist in identifying candidates with qualifications matching those required and/or preferred for this role, Insmed uses an Automated Employment Decision Tool (“AEDT”) that employs artificial intelligence to analyze and score information provided in resumes and application materials including, but not limited to, skills, work experience, education, and job-related qualifications. The AEDT does not make final hiring decisions and all final hiring decisions are subject to human oversight and/or review.

If you are an applicant for this role and a New York City resident, you have the right to request:

 

• A reasonable accommodation, if one is available under applicable law, by emailing TotalRewards@insmed.com; and/or

• An alternative selection process by emailing Privacy@insmed.com.

• Information about the type of data collected, the source of that data, and data retention practices related to the AEDT by emailing us at Privacy@insmed.com.