Senior Program Manager
Operations · Full-time
Ann Arbor, MI, USA
Posted on Aug 10, 2026
Title: Senior Program Manager
1 Role Summary
The Senior Project Manager directs iReprogram's funded research projects from planning through close-out and manages several concurrent projects. The role covers both external and internal project management, with primary emphasis on external management: partner institutions, industry collaborators, funders, and laboratory teams that iReprogram does not employ. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, this position owns the plan, the schedule, budget tracking, vendor agreements, and the reporting cadence for each project, and holds all contributors to their commitments. Formal authority over external contributors is limited, so the position requires a manager who is organized, direct, and persistent. As a small and fast-paced company, iReprogram expects the scope of this role to change as the company grows.
2 Core Responsibilities
2.1 External Project Management
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Partner accountability — holds academic and industry partners to defined deliverables, formats, and dates.
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Governance — establishes and maintains a documented decision structure for each project, covering who decides, who executes, and who is informed.
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Escalation — raises deficiencies in external performance promptly and directly to the responsible parties.
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Standardization — requires all participating organizations to work from common templates, methods, and reporting formats.
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Vendor administration — negotiates and administers vendor contracts and pricing agreements across all participating sites.
2.2 Internal Project Management
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Cross-team coordination — coordinates laboratory, software, data, and operations teams so that project demands do not displace internal commitments.
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Resource planning — identifies staffing, materials, and equipment requirements in advance of need.
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Executive reporting — reports project status on a fixed cadence, covering progress, spend, risks, and decisions required.
2.3 Planning, Budget, and Records
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Project planning — converts proposals and awards into a working plan with tasks, owners, dependencies, and dates.
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Schedule ownership — maintains a single schedule of record for each project and manages performance against it.
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Budget tracking — tracks committed and remaining balances, invoices, and payments against each project budget.
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Risk and issue management — identifies risks early, escalates with a recommended course of action, and closes issues.
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Documentation — records decisions, commitments, and changes in writing.
3 Qualifications
3.1 Required
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Project management experience — complex projects involving multiple external organizations, from planning through close-out. Depth of skill is weighted above years of service.
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Concurrent projects — demonstrated capacity to manage several substantial projects simultaneously.
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External partner management — demonstrated ability to manage both academic and industry partners.
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Budget tracking — direct experience tracking and reporting against a project budget.
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Laboratory and experimental knowledge — working knowledge of laboratory research and experimental design, sufficient to coordinate bench scientists.
3.2 Preferred
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Biotechnology industry — prior work in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, or life science research organizations.
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Funded research — experience with grant- or contract-funded programs and their reporting requirements.
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Certification — project management certification, such as PMP.
3.3 Professional Attributes
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Assertive — maintains position with parties of greater seniority, funding, or institutional standing.
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Prepared — anticipates requirements and closes open items without prompting.
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High capacity — sustains a heavy and continuous workload.
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Methodical — works from written plans, checklists, and records.
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Candid — reports status accurately, including unfavorable status.
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Accountable — treats project outcomes as a personal responsibility.
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Adaptable — adjusts to shifts in priority and scope.
4 Position Details
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Location — Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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Work arrangement — on-site. This is not a remote position.
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Reporting line — Vice President of Operations.
iReprogram is an equal opportunity employer.