Executive Director, Product Management

About Certara

Certara is a growing company that provides a dynamic and exciting place to work. We aspire to accelerate the development of meaningful medicines that make an impact on our society and the people that need them most. Innovation and creativity are highly valued, and everyone is given the opportunity for training and continuous development. Our portfolio spans the discovery, preclinical, clinical and post-marketing phases of drug development, working with 1,200 commercial companies, 250 academic institutions, and numerous regulatory agencies.

Executive Director, Product Management is a senior leadership role in the Certara Predictive Technologies division. This role is part of a functional team whose work encompasses product strategy, product delivery, product management & product operations.

The successful candidate for this role will have extensive prior experience in leading a product team. They will possess strong leadership and interpersonal skills to collaborate effectively with internal and external stakeholders and customers from sponsor organizations, CROs, and regulatory bodies. The individual will be a visionary who is passionate about addressing pharmaceutical challenges at the preclinical phase including implementation of AI tools and other emerging trends and innovation.

Responsibilities and Expectations include:

• Providing supervision and direction to product team of 8-12 members including developers, testers, product leaders, and contracted resources
• Targeting R&D investments towards maximum value for customers and business ROI
• Being accountable for decision-making, problem selection, and business outcomes
• Guiding product lifecycle from ideation to development to go-to-market
• Understanding the drug development pipeline
• Working with subject matter experts for the product to gather and articulate new requirements
• Managing interactions with major client accounts and areas of business
• Working with team members to coordinate and deliver customer-specific projects requiring consulting services and/or custom development
• Reviewing contracts and financial reports
• Understanding the business goals, budgets, reporting, project completion, and profitability metrics required for successful project delivery and implementing corrective action as needed
• Updating and implementing a consistent, scalable pricing strategy
• Understanding required processes and ensure the team adheres to them
• Driving market analysis activities associated with new development opportunities
• Interacting with Certara management on behalf of the team and product
• Ensuring new development activities are appropriately capitalized
• Promoting new business opportunities

This role requires skillsets, experience, and competencies in:

• Execution & Delivery: Cross-team Collaboration, Judgement & Decision Making, Responsibility for Outcomes
• Research & Strategy: Stakeholder Engagement, Data & Market Analysis, Thought Leadership
• Organization & People Development: People Management, Organizational Leadership, Vision

Education, Experience, Training, and Knowledge:

• Bachelor's degree +20 years of experience
• Advanced degree in relevant field preferred (e.g. MS, MPH, MBA, etc.)
• Extensive experience working on a product team in the Pharmaceutical industry
• Extensive understanding of the data challenges faced by nonclinical and clinical scientists in confirming the safety and efficacy of new medicines
• Familiarity with Oracle and related querying tools preferred

Skills & Abilities:

• Effectively communicate complex concepts/ideas through verbal and written communications
• Consistently pushes self and team for top results
• Has expert industry knowledge and represents the company in a leadership capacity externally and internally
• Understands complexities and nuances of the entire drug development process so as to be able to provide solutions consulting support to customers
• Understanding of Pharmaceutical industry, GLP, 21 CFR Part 11, Computer Systems Validation, Regulatory requirements.
• Ability to successfully serve as coach/people manager, trainer, and mentor on relevant skills and concepts
• Has high awareness and understands impact of actions as it relates to business operations

Certara bases all employment-related decision on merit, taking into consideration qualifications, skills, achievement, and performance. We treat all applicants and employees without regard to personal characteristics such as race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, nationality, marital status, pregnancy, physical or mental condition, genetic information, military service, or other characteristic protected by law.