Associate Director - Program Management - External Manufacturing
About this opportunity
Job Purpose -
Lead a portfolio of EM programmes from GSK's Global Capability Centre in Bengaluru, starting with Smart Manufacturing & AI. Use AI agents for reporting, minutes and RAID upkeep so the role spends its time on planning, delivery, risk judgement and benefits.
Key Responsibilities -
Plan and deliver assigned EM programmes to scope, time, budget and benefits; own the integrated plan, critical path and cross-programme dependencies.
Run programme governance (steering committees, working groups, gate reviews) using agent-drafted packs; check accuracy and sign off everything that goes to leaders.
Own RAID: assess and escalate the risks and issues that agent's surface; agree mitigations with owners and track them to closure.
Build, track and report programme benefits (cost, capacity, service, compliance) with EM Finance.
Manage delivery partners and vendors (e.g. system integrators) against statements of work, milestones and spend.
Act as owner of the programme-management agents: define prompts and rules, check output quality, log failures and drive improvements with the smart manufacturing & AI team.
Set and maintain the EM programme-management standard (templates, cadence, RAID taxonomy) so DS, DP, SM and P&OS programmes run one way.
Line-manage EM GCC colleagues (Grades 7–9) in Workday and support their onboarding, performance and development [subject to GCC HR confirmation].
Support EM's GCC presence: onboarding plans, knowledge-transfer plans and readiness reviews for work moving to the hub.
Experience and Education Required-
Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Science, Supply Chain, Business or a related discipline, or equivalent experience. A Master's degree or MBA is preferred, along with a formal programme management qualification. Strong understanding of manufacturing and supply-chain operations, finance and programme governance is essential.
15+ years of programme/project management experience, preferably within the pharmaceutical, manufacturing or supply chain industry, with exposure to External Manufacturing, CMO management or Digital Manufacturing (Industry 4.0).
Proven experience delivering complex, multi-site, cross-functional programmes in collaboration with external partners, managing end-to-end programme delivery, governance and execution.
Strong expertise in benefits management, business-case development, budget management and establishing portfolio management standards or PMO frameworks.
Knowledge of formal programme management methodologies such as PMP, PRINCE2, MSP or equivalent, with hands-on experience in hybrid Agile/Waterfall delivery models.
Strong senior stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate with global leadership teams across geographies and time zones.
Practical experience leveraging AI and automation tools (e.g., Microsoft Copilot and workflow agents) to enhance programme delivery, reporting and governance.
Prior people management experience or demonstrated readiness to lead, develop and manage teams.
Skills
Communication, Cross-Departmental Collaboration, Decision Making, Financial Acumen, Innovation, Leadership, Project Controls, Project Management, Project Management Governance, Project Planning, Project Tracking, Risk Management, Stakeholder Engagement, Stakeholder Management, Strategic Leadership
Why GSK?
Uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together.
GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. We aim to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade, as a successful, growing company where people can thrive. We get ahead of disease by preventing and treating it with innovation in specialty medicines and vaccines. We focus on four therapeutic areas: respiratory, immunology and inflammation; oncology; HIV; and infectious diseases – to impact health at scale.
People and patients around the world count on the medicines and vaccines we make, so we’re committed to creating an environment where our people can thrive and focus on what matters most. Our culture of being ambitious for patients, accountable for impact and doing the right thing is the foundation for how, together, we deliver for patients, shareholders and our people.
Inclusion at GSK:
As an employer committed to Inclusion, we encourage you to reach out if you need any adjustments during the recruitment process.
Please contact our Recruitment Team at IN.recruitment-adjustments@gsk.com to discuss your needs.
Important notice to Employment businesses/ Agencies
GSK does not accept referrals from employment businesses and/or employment agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site. All employment businesses/agencies are required to contact GSK's commercial and general procurement/human resources department to obtain prior written authorization before referring any candidates to GSK. The obtaining of prior written authorization is a condition precedent to any agreement (verbal or written) between the employment business/ agency and GSK. In the absence of such written authorization being obtained any actions undertaken by the employment business/agency shall be deemed to have been performed without the consent or contractual agreement of GSK. GSK shall therefore not be liable for any fees arising from such actions or any fees arising from any referrals by employment businesses/agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site.
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Job details
How this role compares
Computed from every other active Manufacturing & CMC role in our database, not just this employer's listings.
We currently track 857 comparable Associate Director Manufacturing & CMC roles across 112 biopharma companies.
Salary context
249 of 857 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)
Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.
Where these roles are based
Top locations among the 857 comparable roles
+ 34 more countries
Seniority mix
857 of 857 peers have a known seniority level
Therapeutic area mix
6 of 857 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden
Similar opportunities
The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.
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How we calculate "similar"
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Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.
0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.