Director, Digital Standards Business Unit and Engagement

Who is USP?

The U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) is an independent scientific organization that collaborates with the world’s leading health and science experts to develop rigorous quality standards for medicines, dietary supplements, and food ingredients. At USP, we believe that scientific excellence is driven by a commitment to fairness, integrity, and global collaboration. This belief is embedded in our core value of Passion for Quality and is demonstrated through the contributions of more than 1,300 professionals across twenty global locations, working to strengthen the supply of safe, high-quality medicines worldwide.

At USP, we value inclusive scientific collaboration and recognize that attracting diverse expertise strengthens our ability to develop trusted public health standards. We foster an organizational culture that supports equitable access to mentorship, professional development, and leadership opportunities. Our partnerships, standards, and research reflect our belief that ensuring broad participation in scientific leadership results in stronger, more impactful outcomes for global health.

USP is proud to be an equal employment opportunity employer (EEOE) and is committed to ensuring fair, merit-based selection processes that enable the best scientific minds—regardless of background—to contribute to advancing public health solutions worldwide. We provide reasonable accommodations to individuals with disabilities and uphold policies that create an inclusive and collaborative work environment.

Brief Job Overview
The Director leads USP’s Digital Standards Business Unit and is accountable for defining the scientific framework for USP’s Digital Standards and building the coalition of regulators, government stakeholders, and industry partners required to champion and adopt it. Success in Year 1 will include establishing the scientific principles, governance, structure, workflows, SOPs, and policy foundations that govern how USP develops and delivers Digital Standards, securing internal alignment and building engagement with regulators, standards bodies, and pharmaceutical manufacturers to align the field behind that framework and its implementation.

This individual will represent USP in high‑stakes external scientific and regulatory forums and serve as a visible thought leader on the future of digital pharmacopeial quality standards. The Director works highly cross‑functionally with USP’s Science, Quality, Lab Operations, digital products, IT, Commercial, and other teams to ensure Digital Standards are deeply anchored in USP’s compendial and commercial processes. The Director will also have functional oversight of the portfolio of digital standards products, including USP‑ID and MethodConnect, ensuring product direction aligns to the scientific framework. Commercial scale‑up and market adoption are priorities in subsequent years that will follow framework and stakeholder alignment.

This role requires scientific rigor and skills in both internal change management and external stakeholder alignment within the scientific realm.

Impact at USP
As part of our mission to advance scientific rigor and public health standards, you will play a vital role in increasing global access to high-quality medicines through public standards and related programs. USP prioritizes scientific integrity, regulatory excellence, and evidence-based decision‑making to ensure health systems worldwide can rely on strong, tested, and globally relevant quality standards.

Additionally, USP’s People & Culture division, in partnership with the Equity Office, invests in leadership and workforce development to equip all employees with the skills to create high-performing, inclusive teams. This includes training in equitable management practices and tools to promote engaged, collaborative, and results-driven work environments.

You will strengthen trust and usability of standards in digital workflows—helping scientists, regulators, and industry teams adopt rigorous, structured, and interoperable quality standards faster and with less friction. You will also ensure USP’s Digital Standards and related digital offerings are delivered with appropriate rigor, validation strategy, and secure‑by‑design practices.

Responsibilities

Scientific Framework, Enterprise Strategy & Governance

Define the scientific framework governing USP’s Digital Standards including scientific principles, structure, validation & traceability requirements, and lifecycle approach, in close collaboration with USP’s Science and Quality teams, and translate that framework into the enterprise strategy, operating model, and SOPs required to scale Digital Standards across USP operations.

Oversee Digital Standards lifecycle governance, ensuring scientific rigor on par with traditional USP Standards and consistent application of the scientific framework across product lines.

Ensure Digital Standards integrate with and support USP documentary standards and scientific development processes as the enterprise evolves.

Establish and continuously improve cross-functional governance (decision rights, portfolio prioritization, metrics, escalation) to balance speed, rigor, and compliance.

Provide executive‑level updates, options, and recommendations to the Digital Standards steering committee and senior stakeholders.

Regulatory, Scientific & Industry Engagement

Own development and execution of the regulator, government, and industry engagement strategy required to appropriately shape the scientific framework and then to build alignment and cultivate champions for it across the pharmaceutical ecosystem.

Develop and oversee scientific and policy partnerships; collaborate with relevant departments and stakeholders, such as Legal, Science, and External Affairs to structure pilots and collaboration agreements with regulators, standards bodies, and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

Lead high‑stakes external engagement with regulators, government agencies, standards bodies, scientific societies, and pharmaceutical manufacturers to align the field behind USP’s Digital Standards scientific framework and cultivate external champions.

Represent USP as a thought leader through conferences, publications, and industry forums; maintain relationships with key scientific, regulatory, and industry influencers.

Policy Frameworks & Implementation Enablement

Oversee internal and external policy frameworks for Digital Standards (structure, lifecycle, metadata, interoperability, implementation guidance) and ensure consistency across product lines.

Ensure policy is translated into practical implementation assets (schemas/specifications, guidance, training, playbooks) for industry and internal stakeholders.

Coordinate cross‑division alignment so Digital Standards policies fit within enterprise controls (quality systems, security, legal, and commercial governance).

Portfolio Oversight

Oversee portfolio‑level strategic alignment, implementation plans, annual budgets, forecasts, and KPIs for Digital Standards Business Unit.

Translate market insights and performance analytics into portfolio choices.

Prioritize development for the portfolio of compendial Digital Standards and Digital Emerging Standards.

People Leadership, Talent Strategy & Culture

Build, lead, and develop a multi‑disciplinary team spanning advocacy, strategic collaborations, scientific development, policy, and program management.

Provide functional oversight for the portfolio of digital products relating to Digital Standards to ensure alignment of product development with scientific, regulatory, and policy approaches.

Coach and develop leaders; set clear expectations and equitable performance management practices; foster an inclusive culture that supports growth and accountability.

Establish scalable operating rhythms (quarterly planning, portfolio reviews, KPI dashboards, stakeholder communications) that enable predictable delivery and learning.

Be a visible influencer for Digital Standards both internally and externally; facilitate information sharing and thought leadership through publications, presentations, discussions, and other fora.

Candidate Profile
We are looking for a leader who demonstrates a deep understanding of USP’s mission, commitment to excellence through inclusive and equitable behaviors and practices, and ability to quickly build credibility with stakeholders. The role requires the following competencies and experience:

Advanced degree (PhD, PharmD, MS, or equivalent) in a scientific, pharmaceutical, or analytical discipline, OR a comparable track record of peer‑reviewed publications, contributions to public standards development, or recognized leadership in scientific or regulatory working groups.

10+ years of progressive experience in pharmaceutical sciences, analytical chemistry, regulatory science, or a closely related scientific discipline, with demonstrated scientific credibility recognized by peers in industry, regulators, or standards bodies.

5+ years of people‑management experience, including building multi‑disciplinary teams across advocacy, scientific, policy, and program functions.

Proven ability to implement changes across a matrixed organization, including influencing senior stakeholders, and shaping governance, operating models, workflows, or policy frameworks.

Demonstrated ability to convene and align regulators, government stakeholders, standards bodies, and pharmaceutical manufacturers around a shared scientific or policy framework.

Desired Preferences

Experience operating in or adjacent to regulated digital environments, including validation strategy planning, data integrity, and quality systems.

Demonstrated change leadership experience, including implementing digital transformation at an organization‑wide level.

Familiarity with structured data standards and interoperability approaches (schemas, metadata frameworks).

Experience with scientific content workflows and analytical methods and/or digital method lifecycle frameworks.

Experience with analytical chemistry technologies, including NMR, FTIR, MassSpec, HPLC, and others.

Experience in the development of public standards.

Experience with establishing strategic collaborations, including drafting agreements with pharmaceutical or other life science organizations.

Strong strategic thinking, negotiation, communication, and stakeholder engagement skills; comfort operating with ambiguity in a fast‑evolving domain.

Supervisory Responsibilities
This is a supervisory role. The incumbent will oversee a team consisting of the following positions:

Senior Digital Standards Scientific Collaboration Manager

Senior Digital Standards Policy & Implementation Manager

Program Manager – Digital Standards

Indirect / Second-Level Reports:

Director Digital Reference Standards Development

Product Manager – USP‑ID

Senior Product Manager – MethodConnect

Marketing Specialist – Digital Standards

1‑3 Scientists – qNMR application development

Benefits
USP provides comprehensive benefits, including company‑paid time off, health care options, and retirement savings contributions to protect you and your family.

Compensation
Base Salary Range: USD $165,521.00 – $213,700.00 annually.

Target Annual Bonus: varies based on role level.

Equal Opportunity Employer
USP is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. All applicants are notified of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws.

Job Type
Full‑Time

Job Category
Sales & Marketing

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