Associate Director, Project Management (Market Access)

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.

Real Chemistry is looking for an Associate Director, Project Management (Market Access) to join our growing team! 21GRAMS, part of Real Chemistry, takes an innovative approach to advertising, focusing on making healthcare more human. It’s a place where people subscribe to the adage, “Be good to each other, but hard on the work.” A place where people are not just in it for the paycheck, but to make a dent in the universe.

At 21GRAMS, we set the benchmark for excellence in healthcare project management. As trusted leaders, we build confidence through teamwork, ownership, and proactive risk management. We uphold our processes with accountability, deliver with precision, and communicate with clarity. Creative problem‑solving, adaptability, and integrity define our work. Guided by purpose and collaboration, we inspire our teams to achieve best‑in‑class outcomes for every project.

The Associate Director oversees delivery across a portfolio of brands and serves as deputy to the Director. This leader manages project managers, sets delivery plans, and drives consistent process use and quality. This is a hybrid role, based in any of our US offices—including New York City, Boston, Chicago, Carmel, Lambertville, or San Francisco—or remotely within the US, depending on team and business needs.

What you’ll do:

• Manage and mentor PM staff. Balance workloads, priorities, and growth plans.
• Oversee timelines, scopes, budgets, and risk plans across multiple accounts.
• Coordinate cross‑functional resourcing with discipline leads and recruitment.
• Lead first‑round development of new business scopes and delivery plans.
• Establish delivery standards for the portfolio and ensure compliance with SOPs.
• Own brand‑level Gantts and integrated calendars.

Portfolio Management:

• Oversight of approximately 7.5 million dollars in revenue.
• Administrative involvement in new business and first‑round scope development.

Resource Management:

• Maintain a macro view of resourcing gaps and needs. Conduct candidate interviews.
• Own brand Gantt charts and cross‑functional resourcing communications.

Client and Vendor Relationship Management:

• Act as launch leader with clients.
• Manage vendor relationships.
• Provide delivery leadership in key meetings.

Training, Growth, Reporting:

• Foster prioritization and time management across the team.
• Build people‑manager skills.

Admin Operations:

• Oversee day‑to‑day task management. Collaborate with Client Services on reporting.
• Maintain topline oversight across OpenAir and PowerBI and escalate issues.

Execution:

• Manage multiple brands or larger budgets. Flex up or down based on need. Drive process improvements.

Finance:

• Develop and review scopes, change orders, and staff plans across more than one brand.
• Lead client‑facing finance communications for assigned portfolio.

Culture, Comms and Collaboration:

• Develop action and investment plans.
• Build cross‑functional culture on the brand team.

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” – really speak to you. You are adaptable, resilient, and OK with adjusting your scope, responsibilities, and focus as we grow. When things change, so do we. We’re always evolving. You are proactive, driven, and resourceful with strong prioritization skills and a desire to dive into the data. You are a highly organized self‑starter, able to work independently and under tight deadlines.

What you should have:

• Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• Proven leadership and people management skills.
• Strong cross‑functional collaboration and negotiation skills.
• Advanced proficiency with Workfront, Microsoft365, and portfolio reporting tools.
• 7 to 8 years of project management experience with supervisory responsibilities.
• Healthcare or pharma agency experience strongly preferred.

Pay Range: $135,000 - $150,000. This is the pay range the Company believes it will pay for this position at the time of this posting. Consistent with applicable law, compensation will be determined based on job‑related, non‑discriminatory factors including but not limited to work experience, skills, certifications, and geographical location. The Company reserves the right to modify this pay range at any time.

Real Chemistry offers a comprehensive benefit program and perks tailored to your region. Benefits include free snacks, generous holiday and paid time off, options for private medical, dental, and vision 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.

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 or 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.