Associate Director, Resource Forecasting and Analytics Capability Lead

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Job Description

Objective / Purpose:

This role owns the resource demand forecasting, availability and capacity planning capability delivered through CAPTIVATE, Takeda R&D's Planisware platform. It combines hands-on ownership of the Planisware resource management modules - configuration, release testing, data integrity and ongoing maintenance - with the process leadership required to turn platform data into portfolio-level resourcing decisions. The role is the connective tissue between the functions that supply resource data, the Therapeutic Area Units and Business Units that consume it, and the governance bodies that act on it. Key objectives of the role are:

• Own the design, implementation and continuous improvement of the Planisware resource management capability within CAPTIVATE, covering demand forecasting, resource availability and capacity analytics across R&D.
• Lead the integrated resourcing process end to end - demand, supply and capacity - so that long-term portfolio objectives, scenario planning and trade-off decisions are supported with a single, trusted source of resource data.
• Serve as the resource management subject matter expert and thought partner for R&D, ensuring common process, consistent system utilization, accurate data aggregation and decision-ready reporting from Planisware.
• Partner across Therapeutic Area Units, Business Units, Research, Finance and line functions to pressure-test resourcing assumptions, develop and refine functional algorithms and standard resource profiles, and align on common planning practices.
• Empowers functions and leadership to make sound, data-driven resource decisions at the portfolio level.
• Act as a leader in digital dexterity, building Planisware and analytics capability into the everyday ways of working of project managers, functional resource managers and planning subject matter experts.

Accountabilities:

Planisware Platform Implementation and Maintenance

• Own the functional design, configuration and lifecycle maintenance of the Planisware resource management modules, including resource breakdown structures, role and skill taxonomies, cost and effort attributes, calendars, and demand and capacity views.
• In collaboration with the business administrator and other capability leads, translate business resourcing requirements into system requirements and user stories; partner with Digital, Data & Technology (DD&T) and the vendor on solution design, build, release planning and defect resolution.
• Lead user acceptance testing, regression testing and validation for each Planisware release and configuration change affecting resource management; document test evidence and secure business sign-off.
• Maintain data integrity across integrations and interfaces between Planisware, project schedules, HR and finance data sources; define and monitor data quality rules, reconciliation checks and exception handling.
• Own the operational support model for the resource management capability - triage and resolution of user issues, maintenance of configuration and process documentation, change control, and the enhancement backlog and roadmap.

Resource Demand Forecasting

• Lead the recurring resource demand forecasting cycle in Planisware, including the planning calendar, submission windows, data readiness checks and close-out communications for functions and program teams.
• Develop, maintain and pressure-test functional algorithms, standard resource profiles and driver-based assumptions used to generate demand for studies, programs and platform activities.
• Ensure demand is captured consistently across the portfolio - unfunded, planned and approved work - and that it remains aligned to project schedules, milestones and Portfolio Review Committee approvals.
• Analyze forecast accuracy over time, quantify variance between forecast and actual effort, and drive corrective actions with functions to improve forecast reliability.
• Partner with Finance to reconcile resource demand with budget, headcount and external spend assumptions so that operational and financial plans tell the same story.

Resource Availability and Supply

• Maintain the supply side of the resource model in Planisware - available capacity by function, role and location, including internal headcount, vacancies, contingent workers and outsourced capacity.
• Define and govern the standards for availability data: full-time equivalent conventions, productive-time factors, allocation rules and the treatment of non-project time.
• Work with functional resource managers to keep availability current through the planning cycle, and surface gaps, over-allocations and data staleness for resolution.

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