Back to jobs
New

Senior Director, Program Management

Waltham, Massachusetts, United States
Nearly 37 million Americans are currently affected by Chronic Kidney Disease. 37 million. At Akebia we take that number very seriously and every day we come to work, with the purpose of bettering the lives of each person impacted by kidney disease and the renal community that serves them.
Our tenacious, passionate employees’ challenge the status quo and work to develop unique therapeutics that have the potential to set new standards of care for people living with kidney disease.
 
This is life-changing work, and we are all in, are you?
Please note that our offices have recently relocated to Waltham, MA. We follow a flexible, “magnet not mandate” approach to in-office work, encouraging in-person collaboration and onsite engagement while supporting hybrid flexibility based on role and business needs.
 
Job Summary:  

The Senior Director, R&D Program Lead will lead the cross-functional development program for ebribafusp alfa (AKB-097), currently in Phase 2, and may assume responsibility for additional early-stage Akebia programs as they advance from research. This individual will set program strategy, align functional plans with corporate and portfolio objectives, and drive execution through key development milestones and decisions. The role requires strong drug-development expertise, strategic judgment, and the ability to lead and influence high-performing teams in a matrix environment.

Essential Functions & Duties:
  • Lead the cross-functional program team for ebribafusp alfa and other development programs as assigned, establishing clear objectives, priorities, responsibilities, and decision-making processes
  • Develop and drive the integrated program strategy, including the target product profile, development plan, key milestones, decision points, and value-creation opportunities
  • Translate corporate and portfolio priorities into executable cross-functional integrated development plans, timelines, and budgets
  • Integrate scientific, clinical, regulatory, CMC, commercial, operational, and competitive perspectives into program strategy and decision-making
  • Ensure program teams and functional subteams deliver high-quality work against agreed objectives, timelines, budgets, and corporate commitments
  • Lead scenario planning and proactively identify program risks, dependencies, and trade-offs; develop mitigation and contingency plans and escalate significant issues as appropriate
  • Guide the program through critical development milestones, including clinical data readouts, regulatory interactions, indication prioritization, and advancement decisions
  • Serve as the primary program representative to R&D, portfolio, and executive governance bodies, presenting program status, strategic options, risks, and recommendations
  • Maintain an integrated program plan and appropriate documentation, including milestones, decision logs, risk registers, budgets, and governance records
  • Promote accountability, scientific rigor, collaboration, and timely decision-making across program teams; coach and develop team members and direct reports, as applicable
  • Perform other program and portfolio leadership responsibilities as assigned
Skills & Experience:
  • Advanced degree required (i.e., PhD, PharmD, MD) and 10-15+ years of Program Leadership experience in the Biotech/Pharmaceutical industry.
  • Thorough understanding of the Program Lead discipline and drug development at all stages
  • Demonstrated ability to lead the development of complex drug development project strategy and deliver on project plans, timelines, progress, and outcomes.
  • Demonstrated experience leading and motivating cross-functional teams and managing direct reports
  • Outstanding leadership skills including excellent verbal and written communication skills, an innovative approach to problem-solving, and an integrated view of business and scientific issues.
  • Strong knowledge of Microsoft Project and Microsoft PowerPoint.

Base Compensation for this role will depend on a number of factors including a candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience, and may fall outside of the range shown. Base pay is only one component of the company’s total rewards package, all regular employees are also eligible for the corporate bonus program or the incentive compensation program (if applicable), as well as equity. Additional benefits include health care, vision, dental, retirement, PTO, etc.

Targeted Base Salary

$249,811 - $308,590 USD

Are you an Akebian?
 
An Akebian is curious, empathetic, and values making connections to people and ideas. Akebian’s aren’t afraid of diving in and owning a process or a problem, because we all want to deliver a great solution. Akebian’s believe that we are better together because we are all working toward a common purpose – to better the life of each person impacted by kidney disease. Want to learn more about what it means to be an Akebian? Visit our website: www.akebia.com
 
Akebia is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes all job applicants.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other factors prohibited by law.

Create a Job Alert

Interested in building your career at Akebia Therapeutics? Get future opportunities sent straight to your email.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Education

Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...

By submitting my application, I acknowledge that I have read and understand the Akebia's Privacy Policy. If I am a California resident, I also acknowledge that I have read and understand the California Privacy Notice for Job Applicants and Employees.

Select...

Note: Selecting “no” will not eliminate you from consideration for this role.

Message and data rates may apply, depending on your mobile phone service plan. At any time you can get more help by replying HELP to these texts, or you can opt out completely by replying STOP.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Akebia Therapeutics’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

We use Greenhouse’s AI-powered Talent Matching tool to compare your application against our job requirements.


Click 'Learn More' to learn about our AI tool and/or to opt out the use of the AI- talent matching tool with your application.

Learn more