Strategy and Project Management Lead

At Astellas, we believe that nurturing exceptional relationships with our employees delivers exceptional business results.

Everyone at Astellas has a responsibility for creating a brighter future for patients around the world. From the first moment, Astellas will inspire you to put this ethos into practice – with a positive, agile company culture and with well-defined ethical principles, values and systems.

Everything we do is led by our company values of integrity, being patient centric, taking ownership, delivering results and communicating openly. These values are essential to Astellas relationship with its employees and now is an exciting time to join us as we continue to evolve as a cutting-edge, value driven life sciences innovator.

Purpose of the Role

Lead, Strategy Project Management will support the Managing Director and leadership team in driving effective planning, governance, and execution of key strategic initiatives across the organization. The role will be responsible for establishing structured project management practices, tracking progress of cross-functional priorities, and ensuring timely delivery of business-critical initiatives. Working closely with Commercial Excellence and other functional leaders, the PMO will provide visibility on project milestones, risks, and performance metrics. The position will play a key role in improving organizational alignment and execution discipline along with providing support in forecast cycles, leadership reviews, and special projects driven by MD's office

What you will do includes:

• Establish and manage project governance frameworks to track strategic initiatives and ensure structured

execution across functions.

• Monitor progress of key business projects and strategic priorities, ensuring adherence to timelines,

milestones, and defined objectives.

• Identify project risks, bottlenecks, and dependencies, and proactively escalate issues to leadership where required.

• Coordinate with cross-functional teams to drive alignment and execution of key initiatives.

• Develop and maintain project tracking dashboards and executive reports to provide visibility to leadership on initiative progress and outcomes.

• Support preparation and coordination of leadership team meetings, business reviews, and strategic planning discussions.

• Ensure structured tracking and follow-up of action items arising from leadership forums and strategic

reviews.

• Support planning and tracking of new product launches and other major strategic initiatives in collaboration with relevant functions.

• Drive implementation of initiatives emerging from employee feedback and leadership engagement forums by coordinating across functions and tracking progress to closure.

• Plan and coordinate non-strategic initiatives led by the MD's office, aimed at strengthening organizational culture, engagement, and collaboration.

• Partner with Commercial Excellence and other teams to ensure alignment between project execution,

business priorities, and performance metrics.

• Drive consistency in project management processes, documentation standards, and reporting frameworks across initiatives.

• Coordinate with regional and global teams to ensure alignment of local initiatives with broader organizational priorities and programs.

• Support the Managing Director and leadership team in special strategic projects and high-priority business initiatives.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmacy, Life Sciences, Business, statistics, or a related discipline with an MBA in Healthcare Management, Pharmaceutical Management, or General Management
• Certification or exposure to project management methodologies will be considered a plus.

Work Experience

• 3–6 years of total professional experience, preferably within the pharmaceutical or healthcare industry.

• Prior experience in project management, PMO, strategy execution, commercial excellence, or business

operations roles will be preferred.

• Experience of working in cross-functional environments and coordinating multi-department initiatives.

• Exposure to product launches, strategic projects, or regional/global project coordination will be an

advantage.

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong project management and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously.

• Excellent stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration capabilities.

• Strong analytical and structured problem-solving skills with the ability to synthesize complex information.

• Effective communication and presentation skills, with the ability to prepare executive-level reports and updates.

• High level of ownership, accountability, and attention to detail in managing complex projects.

• Ability to navigate ambiguity and drive execution in a fast-paced, growing organization.

• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and project tracking or dashboard tools.

• Strategic mindset with strong execution discipline, capable of translating leadership priorities into actionable plans.

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