Position summaryThe Associate Project Director, GRAPS is a senior project-management professional who translates GRAPS priorities into disciplined execution across Global Regulatory Affairs, Global Patient Safety, and enterprise partners. The role establishes fit-for-purpose governance, integrated plans, decision pathways, performance reporting, and risk management for a portfolio of strategic and operational initiatives.
Working with the Chief Regulatory & Safety Officer, GRAPS Leadership Team, functional leaders, and cross-functional stakeholders, this individual will lead small-to-medium, complex projects and selected larger workstreams that require coordination across functions, geographies, vendors, and systems. The role combines strategic perspective with hands-on delivery and is expected to influence without authority, improve ways of working, and strengthen quality, compliance, predictability, and organizational scalability.
Key responsibilitiesStrategic portfolio and project leadership- Lead assigned GRAPS projects and programs from definition through closeout, with clear charters, scope, objectives, outcomes, milestones, owners, dependencies, and success measures.
- Partner with GRAPS leaders to translate strategic priorities into integrated roadmaps and sequenced execution plans aligned with portfolio and enterprise objectives.
- Maintain a consolidated view of the GRAPS project portfolio, distinguishing project work from base-business activity and highlighting capacity constraints, interdependencies, and decisions required.
- Facilitate project initiation, prioritization, stage reviews, lessons learned, and benefits realization.
Governance, planning, and delivery- Establish and run proportionate governance, including core teams, steering forums, agendas, decision logs, action tracking, and escalation pathways.
- Develop and maintain integrated project plans, critical paths, resource assumptions, budgets, RAID (Risks, Assumptions, Issues, and Dependencies or Decisions) logs, and change controls.
- Monitor execution against scope, schedule, quality, cost, and expected outcomes; identify emerging issues early and drive recovery plans.
- Prepare concise executive dashboards, status reports, decision memos, and recommendations for the GRAPS Leadership Team and other governance bodies.
Cross-functional collaboration and communication- Coordinate stakeholders across Regulatory Affairs, Patient Safety, Clinical Development, Medical Affairs, Quality, IT, Finance, HR, Legal, Procurement, and external partners, as applicable.
- Create clarity on roles, accountabilities, interfaces, and handoffs, using fit-for-purpose RACI or equivalent tools.
- Facilitate complex workshops and working sessions that align stakeholders, resolve ambiguity, and convert discussion into decisions and accountable actions.
- Communicate proactively and tailor content for executive, technical, and operational audiences across cultures and time zones.
Operational excellence, quality, and compliance- Identify opportunities to standardize, simplify, and scale GRAPS processes, templates, tools, and operating practices.
- Partner with process owners and Quality to ensure project deliverables support applicable GxP, regulatory, pharmacovigilance, documentation, training, inspection-readiness, and records-management requirements.
- Use data and trend analysis to monitor performance, identify root causes, and recommend sustainable improvements.
- Support adoption of digital project-management, collaboration, dashboarding, workflow, and knowledge-management capabilities.
Resource, vendor, and change management- Coordinate resource planning for assigned initiatives and surface trade-offs requiring leadership action.
- Support vendor selection, statements of work, onboarding, purchase-order coordination, deliverable oversight, and performance monitoring in partnership with Procurement and Finance.
- Develop stakeholder and change-impact assessments, communication plans, readiness activities, and adoption measures for new processes, systems, and operating models.
- Provide direction, coaching, and project-methodology support to workstream leads and more junior project-management colleagues; may lead contractors or matrixed team members.
RequirementsProfessional qualifications- Bachelor's degree in life sciences, business, project management, engineering, or a related discipline; advanced degree is preferred.
- Typically 8 or more years of relevant experience in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or other highly regulated industry, including substantial responsibility for cross-functional project or program delivery.
- Demonstrated experience leading small-to-medium complex projects or major workstreams with functional-management stakeholders and limited day-to-day supervision.
- Working knowledge of drug development and commercialization, with experience in Regulatory Affairs, Pharmacovigilance/Patient Safety, Quality, Regulatory Operations, or adjacent functions strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated command of project and program management practices, including scope, schedule, resource, budget, dependency, risk, issue, change, governance, and benefits management.
- Experience preparing executive-ready dashboards, status reports, decision materials, and presentations using Microsoft 365 and relevant project-management or reporting tools.
- Project-management certification such as PMP, PRINCE2, or equivalent is preferred; Agile or change-management training is an advantage.
Leadership capabilities and personal attributes- Enterprise mindset and patient focus, with sound judgment about business, quality, compliance, and reputational risk.
- Advanced stakeholder-management and influencing skills, including the ability to establish alignment and accountability without formal authority.
- Highly structured, analytical, and detail-oriented while maintaining focus on strategic intent and outcomes.
- Able to simplify complexity, frame options, recommend a path forward, and communicate decisions clearly.
- Comfortable operating in ambiguity, managing competing priorities, and adapting plans as conditions change.
- Collaborative, inclusive, culturally aware, and effective in a global matrix environment.
- High integrity, discretion, ownership, and commitment to transparent communication and follow-through.
Key interfacesPrimary - Chief Regulatory & Safety Officer; GRAPS Leadership Team; GRAPS Enablement & Insights
Functional - Global Regulatory Affairs; Global Patient Safety; Regulatory Operations; Quality and Compliance
Enterprise - Clinical Development; Medical Affairs; IT; Finance; HR; Legal; Procurement; Communications
External - Consultants, CROs, technology providers, and other vendors, as required
Measures of success- Projects have agreed scope, governance, accountabilities, milestones, risk controls, and measurable outcomes.
- Leadership receives timely, decision-ready visibility into progress, dependencies, resource needs, risks, and trade-offs.
- Priority deliverables are completed to agreed quality and timelines, with issues escalated early and recovery actions documented.
- Ways of working become more consistent, efficient, scalable, and inspection-ready across GRAPS.
- Stakeholders understand decisions, responsibilities, and next steps, and demonstrate sustained adoption of implemented changes.
Additional information- Travel: Ability to travel domestically and internationally up to approximately 10%, based on business needs.
- Location: Proposed as a US or EU remote or hybrid role, with travel to Ascendis locations and business-critical meetings as needed.
- This description summarizes the principal responsibilities of the role and may be adjusted as organizational priorities evolve.
The estimated salary range for this position is $180k - $190k. Actual salary determination is dependent on a variety of factors some of which include: experience, qualifications, and geographic location. This position may be eligible for a discretionary annual bonus or an incentive compensation plan (eligibility varies based on role and position level), discretionary stock-based long-term incentives, paid time off, and a comprehensive benefits package.
Benefits- 401(k) plan with company match
- Medical, dental, and vision plans
- Company-offered Life and Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) insurance
- Company-provided short and long-term disability benefits
- Unique offerings of Pet Insurance and Legal Insurance
- Employee Assistance Program
- Employee Discounts
- Professional Development
- Health Saving Account (HSA)
- Flexible Spending Accounts
- Various incentive compensation plans
- Accident, Critical Illness, and Hospital Indemnity Insurance
- Mental Health resources
- Paid leave benefits for new parents
