Principal IT Program Manager - RD

Neurocrine Biosciences is a leading biopharmaceutical company with a simple purpose: to relieve suffering for people with great needs. We are dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing life-changing treatments for patients with under-addressed neurological, psychiatric, endocrine and immunological disorders. The company's diverse portfolio includes FDA-approved treatments for tardive dyskinesia, chorea associated with Huntington's disease, classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia, hyperphagia in Prader-Willi syndrome, endometriosis and uterine fibroids, as well as a robust pipeline including multiple compounds in mid- to late-phase clinical development across our core therapeutic areas. For more than three decades, we have applied our unique insight into neuroscience and the interconnections between brain and body systems to treat complex conditions. We relentlessly pursue medicines to ease the burden of debilitating diseases and disorders, because you deserve brave science. For more information, visit neurocrine.com, and follow the company on LinkedIn, X, Facebook and YouTube. ( in collaboration with AbbVie )

The Principal IT Program Manager - R&D is accountable for the successful delivery of multiple complex, cross-functional IT programs and initiatives supporting R&D technology solutions, data platforms, and products that enable Neurocrine’s R&D strategy and our ability to reach patients with few treatment options. Serving as the critical bridge between IT teams and R&D business stakeholders, this role ensures initiatives are planned, governed, and delivered with discipline, transparency, and measurable value. Operating with a high degree of autonomy, this individual leads multiple concurrent programs of moderate-to-high complexity while providing IT product ownership, program and project management, and agile leadership across multiple teams. The role combines technical program management with product delivery planning and execution in alignment with established R&D and IT priorities, including collaborating with stakeholders to define platform features, managing feature backlogs, coordinating dependencies across developers, external vendors, and distributed product owners and project managers, and facilitating the agile ceremonies to support timely delivery of R&D data solutions. As a developing subject matter expert in IT program management and R&D technology delivery, the Principal IT Program Manager - R&D influences decision-making, contributes to and implements best practices, and serves as a key resource to R&D and IT stakeholders. The role requires exceptional communication and organizational skills and the ability to navigate diverse perspectives and personalities while maintaining focus on urgent deliverables, so that R&D data platforms continue to evolve to meet business needs. Reporting Structure: Reports to the Manager, IT Program Management, with dotted-line support to the Informatics & Business Insights team and the IT R&D Business Partner.

Program Leadership & Delivery

Lead multiple concurrent R&D IT programs, data platforms, and products of moderate-to-high complexity with cross-functional scope and impact across R&D and related IT functions

Own end-to-end program delivery, ensuring alignment to R&D business objectives, timelines, scope, and quality expectations

Develop and manage integrated program plans and roadmaps (e.g., Gantt charts), including milestones, dependencies, and deliverables

Strategic Alignment & R&D Stakeholder Partnership

Partner with R&D business stakeholders, the IT R&D Business Partner, and IT leaders to develop program delivery plans, roadmaps, and success metrics aligned with established business priorities and ensure successful execution

Translate technical concepts into business impact, risks, and decision-ready insights for R&D and IT leadership

Drive alignment across diverse perspectives, personalities, and competing priorities to ensure clarity of priorities and outcomes, including urgent deliverables

Product Ownership & Platform Feature Definition

Provide IT product ownership for R&D data platforms and products, supporting established product vision and objectives and managing feature backlogs and prioritization in collaboration with business and technical stakeholders

Drive clear definition of platform features; elicit R&D user requirements and translate them into functional specifications for Engineering

Identify and communicate product feature dependencies across developers and stakeholders

Agile Leadership & Execution Excellence

Facilitate agile ceremonies for IT teams, including backlog grooming, sprint planning, kickoff, and product showcases

Coordinate and respond to fast-moving clarifications and changes across developers, external vendors, and distributed product owners or other project managers

Select, apply and recommend improvements to delivery methodologies (Agile, hybrid, or waterfall) to support program outcomes

Collect and review customer feedback, and partner with delivery teams to identify and implement improvements to processes and data products to enhance efficiency, scalability, and delivery performance

Cross-Functional Coordination

Coordinate activities across engineering, architecture, data, informatics and business insights, operations, cybersecurity, and R&D business teams

Manage interdependencies across programs, R&D scientific systems and platforms (e.g., Benchling, Core LIMS), and vendors

Influence and align stakeholders in a highly matrixed environment without direct authority

Governance, Risk & Compliance

Implement and maintain program-level governance practices, including status reporting, executive updates, and communication cadence

Identify, assess, and mitigate risks across technical, operational, and regulatory domains

Ensure adherence to applicable compliance, validation, and security requirements

Communication, Reporting & Portfolio Management

Provide clear, concise communication to technical and non-technical stakeholders, including R&D scientists and executive leadership

Deliver structured reporting on program status, risks, issues, and value realization, and facilitate decision-making through data-driven insights and effective storytelling

Coordinate program and product updates in the Atlassian product suite (Jira Product Discovery, Jira, Confluence)

Coordinate updates to the IT Project Portfolio within ServiceNow

Vendor, Financial & Resource Management

Coordinate with external vendors and partners to ensure accountability and performance

Support budget tracking, forecasting, and resource planning

Monitor program execution against approved budgets, resource plans, and expected business outcomes, escalating variances and recommending corrective actions as needed