Director, Program Management

About Absci

Absci is a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing novel therapeutics using generative AI. Our Integrated Drug Creation™ platform combines cutting-edge AI models with a synthetic biology data engine, enabling the rapid design of innovative therapeutics that address challenging therapeutic targets.

Absci is a global company headquartered in Vancouver, WA, and maintains offices in New York City, Switzerland, and Serbia. Learn more at www.absci.com or follow us on LinkedIn (@absci), X (@Abscibio), and YouTube.

Absci is seeking a Director, Program Management to drive the planning and execution of our most complex and strategically important therapeutic programs, from discovery through IND and into the clinic. As our most senior individual-contributor program manager, you will serve as the dedicated program management partner to a program leader across a portfolio of assets, taking on the programs where execution risk is highest — IND-enabling work, first-in-human transitions, and programs advancing without an established precedent.

This is a hands-on ownership role, not a coordination role. You will own the integrated development plan and the single source of truth for status, drive resource and budget commitments with functional leaders, manage external partners, and ensure programs arrive at stage-gate decisions fully prepared. You will partner across AI, Discovery, Protein Engineering, Bioassays, Translational Studies, CMC, Clinical Development, Clinical Operations, Regulatory, Finance, and Alliance Management teams.

Success in this role depends on building trust across the organization. You will bring clarity and integrity to how programs are planned and represented — proactively identifying risks and interdependencies, developing mitigation strategies before they affect the critical path, and giving leadership a clear, well-reasoned view of program status and options so decisions can be made with confidence and programs deliver with quality.

This role is built for a self-starter who is comfortable navigating ambiguity — bringing structure to loosely defined problems, making sound calls with incomplete information, and moving work forward without waiting for direction. You will engage regularly with senior stakeholders, including executive leadership, governance committees, and alliance partners, building alignment and driving decisions through influence rather than authority. Because agentic AI is at the core of how Absci discovers and designs medicines, we expect you to bring the same approach to how programs are run — using agentic tools and multi-agent workflows to accelerate planning, analysis, and reporting.

Beyond your own programs, you will help define how program management is practiced at Absci — setting standards, mentoring other program managers, and raising the bar for the craft across the function.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Program partnership: Serve as the dedicated program management partner to a program leader across a portfolio of assets, from discovery through IND and clinical entry — including the most complex, highest-risk, or IND-enabling programs, partnered with our most senior program leaders.

• Integrated planning & execution: Build and maintain the integrated, cross-functional development plan, serving as the single source of truth for critical path, scope, timeline, and budget. Apply disciplined, data-driven planning methods to translate the design-build-test-learn cadence of our AI-driven platform into executable, resourced plans and extend them into novel space, such as new modalities, bespoke IND paths, and first-in-human transitions, where no established template applies.

• Resource management: Partner with functional leaders to forecast and align program resources and to shape development strategy through scenario modeling, milestone forecasting, and resource trade-off analysis. Manage multiple CROs, CDMOs, and other external partners in parallel against agreed scope, schedule, budget, and quality standards.

• Risk, escalation & resilience: Maintain a defined set of escalation criteria and early-warning thresholds, raising risks early with proposed mitigations. Adapt quickly when programs are reprioritized, data turn negative, or timelines and resources shift without warning, treating a well-reasoned decision to stop as a good outcome.

• Governance & decision discipline: Prepare programs for stage-gate and governance review; represent programs directly to the executive team, governance committees, and alliance partners; and support disciplined, evidence-based decisions, including recommendations to discontinue.

• Transparency & communication: Maintain portfolio dashboards and provide regular program updates that give leadership real-time visibility into status, spend, and cycle-time metrics, flagging issues early — together with a proposed path forward — so decisions are made with full information.

• Program management excellence: Continuously improve program management standards, tools, and planning disciplines across the organization; mentor program managers across the function; and serve as a change agent for new planning and governance practices.

QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in a scientific, engineering, or technical discipline; advanced degree (MS, PhD, MBA) a plus.

• 10+ years of professional experience in fast-paced biotech environments, including 5+ years leading drug development programs. Equivalent combinations with an advanced degree will be considered.

• A demonstrated track record of success in fast-paced biotech organizations with a high performance bar, reflecting the ability to deliver with rigor, speed, and accountability expectations such organizations require.

• Demonstrated experience managing drug development programs across discovery, preclinical, and IND-enabling stages; exposure to clinical trial execution and regulatory submissions strongly preferred.

• Hands-on ownership of integrated development plans, critical-path management, budgets, and cross-functional resource planning across concurrent programs.

• Direct experience managing CRO and CDMO execution to schedule, budget, and quality.

• Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and manage senior stakeholders — including executive leadership, governance committees, and alliance partners — driving alignment and decisions without direct authority.

• Strong command of program management tools and practices (e.g., MS Project, Smartsheet, portfolio dashboards, scenario planning) and of drug development processes and milestones.

• Hands-on experience with agentic AI tools, including leveraging AI agents and multi-agent workflows to streamline program planning, analysis, and reporting.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to distill complexity for senior leadership.

• A self-starter with sound judgment who thrives in ambiguity and operates with a high degree of autonomy in a fast-paced, evolving environment.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience advancing antibody or other biologics programs from discovery through IND.

• Experience partnering with AI, machine learning, or computational platform teams in a drug discovery setting.

• Experience in a small- to mid-cap or clinical-stage biotech, or in a rapidly scaling organization.

• PMP, PgMP, or equivalent project/program management certification; Lean / Six Sigma a plus.

• Familiarity with GxP requirements and clinical-stage quality expectations.

• Direct experience managing clinical-stage programs.

Legal authorization to work in the United States is required. Absci is committed to equal employment opportunity and non-discrimination for all employees and qualified applicants without regard to a person's race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, religion, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, disability, veteran status, genetic information, marital status, or any characteristic protected under applicable law. Any applicant requiring an accommodation in connection with the hiring process and/or to perform the essential functions of the position for which they have applied should make a request to the recruiter or hiring manager, or contact [email protected].