21GRAMS- Director of Transformation

At Real Chemistry, making the world a healthier place isn’t just an aspiration—it’s our everyday reality. Our drive to transform healthcare is informed by our blend of deep scientific expertise, human-centred creativity, and AI-driven insights, fostering a unique environment where innovation thrives and our people are impact-obsessed. As a global agency, we provide a full suite of services across healthcare communications and marketing to our clients, including top players in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries.

Our #LifeatRealChem culture is rooted in our people—we believe we are best together and are committed to excellence for both our clients and colleagues. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting your career, if you share our passion for healthcare and connection, we invite you to explore our opportunities.

Discover your purpose. Embrace innovation. Experience #LifeatRealChem.

Job Summary:

Real Chemistry is looking for a Director of Transformation to join our growing team!

21GRAMS seeks a confident, empathetic, and highly organized Director of Transformation to partner with department leads within 21GRAMS and Room42 to drive operational change that sticks. In this role, you will work side by side with leadership to orchestrate improvement plans and follow through on the initiatives that bring agency excellence to life, from how we staff and scope projects to how creative work gets made to how AI and technology are adopted and how work flows across the agency.

This position is integral to 21GRAMS, part of Real Chemistry, a healthcare advertising and communications firm dedicated to making healthcare more human through innovative, client-centered work conducted with integrity and excellence. You will build the plans, hold the timelines, manage the pilots, and check in with teams along the way so that change is not just announced but adopted. You will represent leadership in rooms they cannot be in, carrying their intent forward with clear communication, confidence, and teamwork. Success in this role looks like real, lasting change across the agency, not initiatives that fade once the initial excitement wears off.

This role can be remote within the United States or based in any of our U.S. office locations, including New York City, Boston, Chicago, Lambertville, NJ, San Francisco, or Carmel, IN.

What you’ll do:

Cross-Departmental Partnership

• Build trusted, collaborative relationships with leaders and teams across every department, serving as a consistent and credible partner throughout periods of change
• Translate leadership's vision and priorities into clear, actionable plans that department leads and their teams can understand and rally around
• Facilitate alignment across departments when an initiative touches multiple teams, ensuring no group is caught off guard or left out of the process
• Bring a point of view grounded in what is realistic and sustainable for teams, balancing leadership's ambitions with the day-to-day realities of the work

Initiative Orchestration & Implementation

• Orchestrate change initiatives end to end, from initial planning through implementation, adoption, and long-term reinforcement
• Build clear project plans, timelines, and milestones for each initiative, and hold department leads and teams accountable to them
• Check in regularly on active initiatives to monitor progress, troubleshoot obstacles, and course-correct before momentum stalls
• Establish feedback loops that surface what is working and what is not, and adjust plans based on real input from the teams living the change
• Know when to push forward and when to pause, recalibrate, or bring in leadership for additional support

Operational Focus: Staffing, Scoping, Creative Process & Flow of Work

• Support initiatives that improve how the agency staffs projects, helping ensure the right people and mix of talent are in place from the start
• Help roll out scoping processes and tools that create clearer, more consistent project setups across departments
• Partner with Creative and Project Management leadership to improve creative process and the flow of work, reducing friction and rework
• Identify where current ways of working are creating bottlenecks, confusion, or inconsistency, and design practical solutions in partnership with the teams affected
• Ensure new processes and tools, including AI and other technology, are documented, communicated clearly, and easy for teams to adopt

Leadership Representation & Communication

• Communicate plans, decisions, and changes clearly and consistently across departments, adapting the message for different audiences and levels
• Serve as a calm, credible voice during periods of change, helping teams understand the reasoning behind new ways of working
• Escalate risks, roadblocks, and team concerns to leadership proactively, along with recommendations for how to address them

Adoption & Organizational Sustainment

• Monitor adoption of new processes and initiatives over time, distinguishing between change that has stuck and change that is at risk of reverting
• Recognize when teams are overwhelmed or resistant, and adjust pacing, support, or communication to help change take hold
• Champion a culture of continuous improvement, empathy, and teamwork throughout every initiative
• Measure and report on the impact of change initiatives, using both team feedback and operational data
• Build long-term organizational muscle for change by equipping department leads with the tools and confidence to sustain new ways of working independently

This position is a perfect fit for you if:

• Our Company values, Best Together, Impact Obsessed, Excellence Expected, Evolve Always, and Accountability with an "I", genuinely resonate with how you work and lead.
• You demonstrate the Real Chemistry Can mindset by approaching challenges with optimism, accountability, creativity, and a solutions-oriented attitude, always looking for ways to make a meaningful impact for our clients, colleagues, and communities.
• You are adaptable, resilient, and comfortable adjusting your scope, responsibilities, and priorities in a fast-paced, evolving environment. As our business grows and changes, so do we.
• You are proactive, driven, and resourceful, with strong prioritization skills, intellectual curiosity, and a desire to leverage data to inform decisions and drive outcomes.
• You are energized by innovation and the transformative potential of AI, actively exploring new technologies, identifying opportunities to work smarter, and championing practical, responsible AI adoption that drives meaningful business impact.

What you should have:

• Bachelor's Degree from an accredited institution, or equivalent professional experience

• 8+ years of progressive experience in operations, change management, program or project management, or organizational effectiveness within an agency, consulting, or professional services environment
• Minimum 3+ years leading cross-functional change initiatives or operational programs
• Demonstrated experience partnering with senior department leaders across functions such as Account, Strategy, Creative, or Project Management to design and implement change
• Track record of implementing initiatives that measurably changed how teams work, and sustaining that change over time

Industry & Technical Knowledge

• Strong understanding of agency operating models, including how Account, Strategy, Creative, Project Management, and studio or production functions work together
• Familiarity with staffing, scoping, and creative workflow processes within an agency environment
• Proficiency with project and program management tools such as Workfront, Smartsheet, or equivalent
• Working knowledge of change management frameworks and methodologies, such as ADKAR or Kotter's model, preferred
• Comfort evaluating AI tools and agents to improve team efficiency

Leadership & Communication

• Confident and buttoned-up communicator, able to represent leadership credibly and clearly in their absence
• Empathetic listener who can hold space for team concerns while still moving initiatives forward
• Strong facilitation and relationship-building skills, with the ability to earn trust across departments without direct authority
• Comfortable pushing for progress and holding teams accountable, while remaining genuinely open to feedback and new ways of working

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience in a healthcare, pharmaceutical, or life sciences advertising or communications agency environment
• Formal change management certification, such as Prosci or ADKAR, or equivalent
• Experience partnering with internal production or studio functions similar to Room42
• Background in process improvement, organizational design, or agency operations
• Experience supporting new business transitions, account restructuring, or large-scale operational rollouts

CORE COMPETENCIES & ATTRIBUTES

Professional Competencies

• Change Leadership: Designing, orchestrating, and sustaining change initiatives that improve how the agency operates
• Cross-Departmental Partnership: Building trusted relationships with Account, Strategy, Creative, Project Management, and Room42 leadership
• Initiative Orchestration: Planning, implementing, and following through on projects from concept to adoption
• Process Improvement: Identifying and fixing friction in staffing, scoping, creative process, and flow of work
• Executive Presence: Representing leadership credibly and confidently when they cannot be present
• Clear Communication: Translating plans and decisions into messages teams can understand and act on
• Empathy & Team Orientation: Balancing accountability with genuine care for the people experiencing change
• Adoption & Sustainment: Ensuring change sticks long after the initial rollout

Required Leadership Attributes

1. Change-Positive, Growth-Oriented

You actively seek smarter, faster, and more effective ways to help the agency operate, whether that touches staffing, scoping, creative process, or the flow of work. You are not threatened by AI or new tools and new ways of working; you're energized by them. You challenge legacy processes thoughtfully, experiment with confidence, and view change as an advantage rather than a disruption. You don't defend the status quo because "it works"; you see every process and workflow as a candidate for improvement, and you stay current with better ways forward because you're genuinely curious, not because compliance requires it.

1. Confident and Buttoned Up

You show up prepared, organized, and credible in every room, including the ones where you are representing leadership. You communicate with clarity and polish, and people trust that when you say something will happen, it will. You anticipate questions before they're asked and come to every conversation with a plan, not just an update. Your confidence is earned through preparation and follow-through, not bravado, and it gives teams and leadership alike the assurance that initiatives are in capable hands.

1. Confident Driver of Progress

You embrace being a driver, not just a facilitator or administrator. You create momentum, push for clarity and decisions when you see ambiguity, hold teams accountable constructively without micromanaging, and move initiatives forward even when information is imperfect. You don't wait for consensus to act; you make smart calls and bring people along. You recognize that indecision is a decision, and you're willing to take that on.

1. Empathetic Team Player

You lead with empathy without losing sight of the goal. You recognize when teams are stretched, resistant, or fatigued by change, and you adjust your pacing, tone, and support accordingly, without letting the initiative stall. You listen genuinely, make people feel heard, and build plans with input from the people who will live them day to day. You see yourself as part of the team you're helping, not above it, and you celebrate progress together rather than taking credit alone.

1. Ownership Mindset and Creative Agency

You do not wait for permission to elevate the work. You bring forward ideas on how to run initiatives better, propose smarter ways of orchestrating change, and take responsibility for improving outcomes beyond your assigned scope. You see gaps and fill them. You spot inefficiencies and fix them. You don't assume "that's someone else's problem." You own whether change sticks across Account, Strategy, Creative, Project Management, and Room42, not just whether it was announced.

1. Strong Judgment and Prioritization Instincts

You consistently make good calls under pressure and constraint. You distinguish signal from noise in a sea of competing priorities and initiatives. You make smart tradeoffs between speed, quality, and team capacity with sound instinct, not by formula. You prioritize effectively, recognizing which initiatives matter most right now and which can wait. You have good instincts about people, teams, and timing, and you trust those instincts while remaining open to new information.

1. Courage and Comfort with Productive Discomfort

You are not afraid to push when it's uncomfortable, and you challenge constructively when you see a better path, while staying genuinely open to suggestions and new ways of working. You hold tension without smoothing it away prematurely, recognizing that some of the best solutions come from sitting with hard tradeoffs rather than resolving them quickly. You make difficult calls when needed, including hard conversations about resistance, missed milestones, or unrealistic expectations, delivered with confidence rather than approval-seeking. You bring backup, such as data, reasoning, and alternatives, to every discussion, but you're also genuinely open to being wrong and course-correcting when new information warrants it.

Pay Range: $175,000-$210,000
The anticipated salary range for this position is listed above. Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on job-related, non-discriminatory factors including but not limited to experience, skills, qualifications, geographic location, and internal parity.

In addition to base salary, Real Chemistry offers a comprehensive benefits package and a variety of programs designed to support our employees' well-being, growth, and success.

Real Chemistry reserves the right to update compensation and benefits programs at any time.

Real Chemistry is proud to be Great Place to Work® certified; check out what our people shared about our culture and workplace on our Great Places to Work Profile here.

We believe we can do our best when feeling our best, which is why we’ve put together a benefits program designed to give you the support you and your family need at every stage of life. Real Chemistry offers a comprehensive benefit program and perks, tailored to your region. Globally, this includes offices in our key markets with free snacks to keep you running all day long, generous holiday and paid time off, options for private medical, dental, and vison plans, and support in saving for the future. Other perks include mental wellness coaching and support and access to more than 13,000 online classes with LinkedIn Learning.  Learn more about our great benefits and perks and search specific offerings in your region at: www.realchemistrybenefits.com.

At Real Chemistry, we believe we're at our best when we're connected. Our Real Hybrid and Regional Teams (Real HART) approach is designed to foster collaboration, learning, innovation, and meaningful relationships while providing flexibility where appropriate. Because our workforce spans multiple countries, regions, and client needs, work arrangements may vary by role and location. Some positions offer hybrid or remote flexibility, while others require regular in-office presence. For example, certain teams and regions, including some of our UK operations, have office-based requirements. Your recruiter will discuss the specific expectations for the role you're pursuing during the interview process and keep you informed throughout the hiring journey. For employees located within a one-hour commute of a Real Chemistry office, we require in-person attendance two days per week, either from a Real Chemistry office or when working onsite with clients. Employees in regions without a nearby office may work remotely and come together throughout the year for collaboration, culture-building, learning, and team connection opportunities. While these guidelines reflect our current workplace model, we understand that everyone’s circumstances are unique. If you require additional flexibility, we welcome an open conversation with your recruiter and our HR team to discuss your needs and determine what may be possible.

Real Chemistry is an Equal Opportunity employer. We continually strive to build and sustain an inclusive and equitable work environment where our employees feel empowered to leverage all they bring from their personal lived experience and professional expertise, to make our team the best in the industry. We encourage motivated and qualified applicants to apply without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, ethnic or national origin, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information, marital information, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local employment discrimination laws where Real Chemistry operates. Should you require accommodations throughout the interview process please let your recruiter know.

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