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PROJECT MANAGEMENT MANUFACTURING LIFESCIENCELEADER.COM THE CMO LEADERSHIP AWARDS 2016 30 By L. Garguilo AH, TO BE A PROJECT MANAGER IN 2016! pharmaceutical companies Sanofi- Aventis and Johnson & Johnson. "We have project managers at Agilent serving in that role of scientist-manag- er for several of our clients," he says. "We use them as an important tactical window, meaning that they are on the front lines, and their reporting flows up to a more senior management level. These front-line managers say things such as, 'Here's what we're seeing, what's working, and what's not working.' They are the ones actually interacting with the CMO and know whether the relationship within their individual project is going well. But their role more or less starts and ends there. These PMs need to be able to solve many of the day-to-day challenges themselves." The more senior management stra- tum Guiles just mentioned is, of course, the "Alliance Management" function and/or steering committees, often set up by larger sponsors like an Agilent or pharma company. "This next level up is the venue for the more strategic discussions," notes Guiles, who then adds: "A pet peeve of mine is when these strategic discussions are not productive because we get bogged down in tactical PM dialogue." Unfortunately, we won't be able to dive into this second level of project, relationship, or alliance management in today's investigation. The point here is that both Guiles and Hoffmann, as well as so many others in the industry, agree (or simply don't challenge) the fundamental role and type of individual still needed as project manager in today's outsourc- ing (or internally, for that matter) hasn't really changed. These managers are the scientific versions of the factory- floor foremen, advanced tacticians able to keep people, equipment, and schedules humming … and with the knowledge to hit the reset or stop button when necessary. Ultimately, today's increased outsourc- ing, complex projects, new business models, advanced technologies and platforms, and faster timelines, all seem to add up to a simple need for more project managers in their current shape and form. While this has been a limited thought experiment, we have been able to demonstrate an industry mostly satis- fied with the current roles of its project managers. I, for one, sit surprised at this result. Or perhaps we've missed something here. Maybe some readers have more to add. Please let us know. In the meantime, I'll let you know we will further pursue this topic of project management at OutsourcedPharma. com , as well as in Life Science Leader magazine. L I've found that 'professional' project managers, often with less science background, don't know when to say, 'Wait a minute, that doesn't sound right. I'd better check on that.' H E I D I H O F F M A N N Senior Director for Manufacturing, Sutro BioPharma A pet peeve of mine is when … strategic discussions are not productive because we get bogged down in tactical PM dialogue. J O E G U I L E S Head of development, Agilent Technologies' Nucleic Acid Solutions Division