Director, Workforce Planning

Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated

$130K — $180K *
Pharmaceuticals & Biotech
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor’s degree plus advanced degree in a related field preferred
  • 10 years of experience in workforce planning or related field required
  • Proven ability to translate workforce insights into enterprise decisions
  • Strong fluency in financial mechanics of workforce planning
  • Experience with AI tools for analysis and task automation
  • Planning exposure across various labor categories
  • Background in pharmaceutical, biotech, or science-driven industry

Responsibilities

  • Lead the enterprise workforce planning cycle, including long range plan and budget
  • Develop planning assumptions and scenario models in partnership with Finance
  • Understand business context and pressure-test planning assumptions with HRBPs
  • Plan across all labor categories with consistent definitions and governance
  • Align extended workforce planning with vendor strategy in collaboration with Strategic Sourcing
  • Incorporate AI into workforce plans and capacity models
  • Automate and standardize workforce planning processes and reporting
  • Connect workforce demand to hiring plans with Talent Acquisition

Benefits

  • Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits
  • Generous paid time off including company shutdown weeks
  • Educational assistance programs and student loan repayment options
  • 401(k) plan with contributions matching
  • Commuting subsidy and matching charitable donations
Full Job Description

Job Description

General Summary:

The Workforce Planning Director will lead Vertex’s enterprise workforce planning cycle, partnering with Strategic Finance, People Analytics, HRBPs, Talent Acquisition, Strategic Sourcing, and Digital & Technology on the long range plan (LRP), annual budget, headcount forecasts, and workforce reporting. The role will plan across internal, external, and digital labor, giving Vertex a consistent view of workforce demand, supply, capacity, cost, and mix. The Director will build the planning routines, models, and decision support needed to understand capacity, affordability, risk, and workforce mix across employees, contingent workers, vendor labor, and digital labor. The Director will also be expected to use AI as a core part of how they work, improving the speed, quality, and scalability of workforce planning, analysis, and decision support.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

  • Lead Vertex’s enterprise workforce planning cycle, including the long range plan (LRP), annual budget, position management, and monthly and quarterly forecasts.
  • Partner with Finance to develop planning assumptions, scenario models, affordability guardrails, and enterprise standards for executive decision-making.
  • Partner with HRBPs and Functional Finance to deeply understand business context, pressure-test planning assumptions, and ensure workforce plans and process reflect what is happening in the business.
  • Plan across all labor categories, including employees, contingent workers, vendor labor, and digital labor, with consistent definitions, cost treatment, and governance.
  • Partner with Strategic Sourcing to align extended workforce planning with vendor strategy, contingent labor management, external capacity, and total cost of labor.
  • Translate AI-enabled work redesign, productivity assumptions, and digital labor models into workforce plans, capacity models, and planning scenarios.
  • Drive automation, standardization and continuous improvement of workforce planning processes and reporting incorporating AI where applicable.
  • Partner with Talent Acquisition and HRBPs to connect workforce demand to hiring plans, recruiting capacity, pipeline priorities, internal mobility, build/buy/borrow decisions, and workforce risk management.
  • Partner with People Analytics to build dashboards, reporting, and insights that give leaders a consistent view of workforce trends and planning choices.
  • Knowledge and Skills:

  • Strong fluency in the financial mechanics of workforce planning, including total cost of labor, position management, and budget and long-range planning cycles.
  • Strong data and analytics skills, including statistical methods, scenario modeling, and the ability to connect workforce data to business dynamics, operating realities, and decisions.
  • Proven ability to partner across functions and business leadership to translate workforce insights into enterprise decisions.
  • Practical fluency using AI tools to improve analytical work, automate repeatable tasks, synthesize complex information, quality-check outputs, and strengthen decision support.
  • Ability to translate workforce plans into staffing, organization, capacity, and labor-mix decisions with senior business leaders.
  • Planning exposure across labor categories, including employees, contingent workforce programs, vendor capacity, and early models for digital labor.
  • Experience in pharmaceutical, biotech, or science-driven industry.
  • Education and Experience:

  • Bachelor’s degree plus advanced degree in industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology or a related field (organizational behavior, labor economics, applied statistics) strongly preferred.
  • Typically requires 10 years of experience in workforce planning, people analytics, strategic finance, workforce strategy, or a related field, including responsibility for an enterprise planning process at scale or the equivalent combination of education and experience
  • Pay Range:

    $0 - $0

    Disclosure Statement:

    The range provided is based on what we believe is a reasonable estimate for the base salary pay range for this job at the time of posting. This role is eligible for an annual bonus and annual equity awards. Some roles may also be eligible for overtime pay, in accordance with federal and state requirements. Actual base salary pay will be based on a number of factors, including skills, competencies, experience, and other job-related factors permitted by law.

    At Vertex, our Total Rewards offerings also include inclusive market-leading benefits to meet our employees wherever they are in their career, financial, family and wellbeing journey while providing flexibility and resources to support their growth and aspirations.  From medical, dental and vision benefits to generous paid time off (including a week-long company shutdown in the Summer and the Winter), educational assistance programs including student loan repayment, a generous commuting subsidy, matching charitable donations, 401(k) and so much more.

    Flex Designation:

    Hybrid-Eligible Or On-Site Eligible

    Flex Eligibility Status:

    In this Hybrid-Eligible role, you can choose to be designated as: 
    1.    Hybrid: work remotely up to two days per week; or select
    2.    On-Site: work five days per week on-site with ad hoc flexibility.

    Note: The Flex status for this position is subject to Vertex’s Policy on Flex @ Vertex Program and may be changed at any time. 

    #LI-Hybrid

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