The Director will manage the meetings and events team with primary emphasis on project management and program development. The Director’s position serves a key role as the head external liaison to program planning committees and internal liaison to PDA. The Director provides enthusiastic team direction, day-to-day support, and strategic vision regarding programming and overall support during events. Position is also responsible for executing special projects as assigned by the Vice President, Programs and Meetings.

Duties & Responsibilities

The Program Director is responsible for:

• Developing and executing project management plans;
• Developing, improving upon, and maintaining department standards;
• Developing and maintaining annual program budgets;
• Managing and coordinating both pre-and post-conference correspondence with event stakeholders (e.g., planning committees, presenters, tech talk presenters, moderators, etc.);
• Onsite program management, including overseeing speaker updates, vendors management (e.g., audiovisual, etc.);
• Identifying event topics and presenters using internal and external resources;
• Developing and maintaining promotional program-related event content in partnership with the Marketing Team;
• Fostering teamwork and collaboration with all departments and PDA volunteers;
• With the Vice President, Programs and Meetings, developing and implement strategies to generate revenue and execute successful events;
• Directing and delegating program management plan and related elements (e.g., management of abstracts, speakers, deliverables, mobile app, evaluations, etc.) for all events; and
• Performing all other duties as assigned.

Education/Experience

Bachelor’s Degree in a related field and 8-10 years equivalent experience or equivalent combination of education and experience.

Travel

Must be available for travel (approximately 10%), some evenings, and weekends.

Competencies

To perform the essential functions of this position and the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:

• Creative problem solving—the individual identifies and resolves problems in a timely manner, gathers and analyzes information skillfully, maintains confidentiality, and thinks outside the box to find collaborative solutions;
• Interpersonal skills—the individual maintains confidentiality, remains positive and open to others' ideas and exhibits willingness to try new things;
• Oral communication—the individual speaks clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations and demonstrates group presentation skills;
• Written communication—the individual edits work for spelling and grammar, presents numerical data effectively and is able to read and interpret written information;
• Planning/organizing—the individual prioritizes and plans work activities and uses time efficiently;
• Quality control—the individual demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness and monitors own work to ensure quality;
• Adaptability—the individual adapts to changes in the work environment, manages competing demands and is able to deal with frequent change, delays or unexpected events;
• Dependability—the individual is consistently at work and on time, follows instructions, responds to management direction and solicits feedback to improve performance; and
• Safety and security—the individual observes safety and security procedures and uses equipment and materials properly.

Qualifications

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

• Ability to take direction, and accomplish tasks efficiently, on time and accurately;
• Ability to prioritize work and to organize an office environment;
• Ability to work independently with minimal guidance as well as within a team;
• Ability to apply sound judgment and use discretion when dealing with sensitive information;
• Excellent interpersonal, analytical and communication (both written and oral) skills;
• Ability to work in a team-oriented environment;
• Excellent organizational skills;
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams; and
• Experience with Cadmium is highly desirable.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Ability to independently ascend and descend stairs;
• Ability to independently reach, twist and bend;
• Ability to independently remain stationery for extended periods of time; and
• Ability to independently lift up to 30 pounds when required by work assignment.

*Please note: this position is hybrid and will report to the Bethesda, MD office 2-3 days per week.

About Parenteral Drug Association

The Parenteral Drug Association (PDA) is the leading global provider of science, technology and regulatory information and education for the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical community. Founded in 1946 as a nonprofit organization, PDA is committed to developing scientifically sound, practical technical information and resources to advance science and regulation through the expertise of its nearly 10,000 members worldwide.

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