Strategic Portfolio Lead: Growth Execution
Join Biovac as Strategic Portfolio Lead and drive cross-functional execution of our growth strategy, expanding access to life-saving vaccines across Africa and beyond.
Job Purpose
Lead the establishment and execution of Biovac’s delivery of its 10-year (defined from 2025) growth (primarily commercial and manufacturing targets) to drive the successful delivery of Biovac’s strategic growth journey. The role is accountable for translating the 10-year minimum strategic growth targets into disciplined execution by building and leading a high-performance strategic coordination infrastructure, governance model, reporting mechanisms, and enterprise delivery capability that ensures on-time, in-full and in-budget execution and achievement of strategic priorities.
The incumbent will work closely with the CEO, Exco, and senior leadership team to actively matrix manage, coordinate and accelerate the 2035 commercial and manufacturing initiatives and targets, manage interdependencies, proactively mitigate delivery risks, and provide strategic insights that enable effective executive planning and decision-making. This role will ensure Biovac successfully delivers its growth ambitions through sleek, disciplined, high-performance execution, while avoiding bureaucracy and duplication with technical & operational project teams.
The role carries a primary clear, measurable outcome: delivering Biovac’s growth target to 2035 on time, in full, and in budget, achieved by driving disciplined cross-functional execution across Biovac’s identified workstreams, as applicable —that agitates for delivery and risk mitigation while working collaboratively across functions, without assuming ownership of the underlying functions themselves. The secondary outcome of the role is to develop tools and governance frameworks that will aim for all four workstreams to work independently but synergistically.
Minimum qualifications(s)
Required:
Postgraduate qualification in Business, Engineering, Strategy, Project Management, or related field
Preferred:
MBA and/ or Programme/portfolio certifications like Programme Management Professional (PgMP), Managing Successful Programmes (MSP), Projects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE2), Agile transformation certification advantageous /
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) will be considered for extensive practical experience.
Experience, Knowledge and Skills Required for success:
10 - 15+ years senior programme, transformation, or programme leadership experience within Biotech, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, or aggressively scaling complex industries, as well as:
Proven success building strategic execution programme offices & capability from scratch
Strong experience up to C-suite, and working directly with Exco / relevant senior structures would be advantageous
Demonstrated strategy-to-execution capability through matrix managing clear deliverables
Experience managing cross-functional strategic portfolios
Strategy Execution & Portfolio Management
GMP & Regulatory Environment Awareness
Manufacturing & Supply Chain Value Chain
Governance & Risk Management
Data Analytics & Performance Management
Well established knowledge across the full office 365 suite
Key Duties and Responsibilities
Strategic Integrated Leadership
Lead the execution of Biovac’s targeted 2035 years portfolio to support the company’s growth ambition to 2035:
Translate enterprise strategy into integrated execution plans
Drive enterprise-wide delivery related to Biovac’s strategic 2035 growth and execution initiatives.
Coordinate defined 2035 target growth execution priorities across Exco portfolios.
Ensure core focus remains on critical strategic initiatives that are in scope
Act as a trusted advisor to the CBO and Exco on 2035 targets delivery risks and execution priorities.
Act as an activist integration leader — agitating for delivery and holding the pace, while working collaboratively across functions rather than directing functional teams directly.
Convene regular forum of workstream chairs across Biovac’s strategic workstreams (Manufacturing Readiness & Execution; Commercial & Market Access; Institutional Strengthening, Innovation & Pipeline) to track progress against each workstream’s agreed deliverables.
Identify cross-workstream resourcing and capacity conflicts and escalate these to Exco for prioritisation decisions, without taking on delivery responsibility that sits within the functions.
Strategic Integration Design & Infrastructure Development
Work with Exco and service providers to design and implement a best-in-class strategic integrated plan capability. Build integrated plan (akin to a PMO infrastructure) including:
Governance
Enterprise delivery governance framework
Decision-rights architecture
Steering committee structures
Stage-gate methodology
Delivery Management
Strategic execution initiative prioritisation methodology
Portfolio/workstream management framework
Critical path dependency management
Enterprise RAID (Risk, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies) management
Reporting
Executive dashboards
2035 Growth execution scorecards
KPI and OKR tracking systems
Benefits realization frameworks
Predictive risk indicators
Cadence
Weekly growth execution reviews
Monthly Exco portfolio reviews
Quarterly strategic execution sessions
The role must create a sleek, efficient 2035 related growth execution programme focused on workstream delivery excellence.
Strategic Portfolio Leadership
Lead and actively manage Biovac’s portfolio of enterprise-critical initiatives, including the typical portfolio areas such as Growth and market expansion, Strategic partnerships, ERP driving:
Prioritisation of 2035 related strategic initiatives
Monitoring of milestone delivery
Identifying interdependencies
Resolving execution bottlenecks
Escalating critical decisions
Tracking strategic benefits realization
Tracking delivery against the top KPIs/deliverables agreed for each of Biovac’s four strategic workstreams (Manufacturing Readiness & Execution, Commercial & Market Access, Institutional Strengthening, Innovation & Pipeline)
Driving execution discipline
Senior Leadership Alignment & Accountability
Drive execution through Biovac’s senior leadership team. The role will influence, requiring exceptional executive presence and stakeholder management capability to achieve:
Establishment of clear accountability mechanisms
Holding relevant workstream leaders accountable for delivery
Facilitating enterprise alignment sessions
Ensuring clarity of ownership across strategic priorities
Supporting leaders to solve cross-functional challenges
Building execution capability across senior leadership
Executive Reporting & Strategic Insights
Enable Exco to lead proactively through high-quality reporting and strategic insights through providing the following reports that describes what matters most, what is at risk, what decisions are required, what interventions are needed:
Executive dashboards
Delivery heatmaps
Strategic risk reports
Milestone tracking
Portfolio performance reporting
Predictive delivery insights
Enterprise Risk & Delivery Mitigation
Lead proactive risk management across strategic initiatives by:
Identifying delivery risks early
Developing mitigation interventions
Escalating critical blockers
Coordinating enterprise responses
Preventing execution failure
Core Competencies required to thrive
Ability to process ambiguity and distil complex information into clear & concise communication
Strategic Execution Excellence: Converts strategy into disciplined execution.
Executive Presence & Influence: Able to challenge and influence senior leaders credibly.
Systems Thinking: Sees enterprise interdependencies.
Analytical & Commercial Acumen: Uses data to drive decisions.
Revolutionary Change Leadership: Drives critical adoption through complexity.
Governance & Portfolio Management: Creates order without bureaucracy.
Political Savvy: Navigates complexity at executive level.
High-Performance Orientation: Creates urgency and delivery discipline.
Fluency in the bio pharmaceutical industry including GMP, quality systems and regulatory submission
Strong financial acumen, capital planning, budget management, and cost-of-delay reasoning
Willingness to deliver unwelcome news early and directly, prioritizing organizational outcomes over short-term relationship comfort
Sound judgment on when to intervene directly versus when to preserve ownership and accountability with project teams
Resilience and composure when plans require repeated re-baselining due to clinical, regulatory, or supply chain shifts, without losing organizational confidence in the PMO
Results driven: Drives goals, goal refinement, risk mitigation and proactive, on-time, in-full and in budget achievement across the people operations and overall business deliverables.
Closing Date: 25 September 2026
If you do not receive a response from us within three weeks after closing date, please understand that your application was not successful.
We believe in the magic of diversity within teams and to achieve this, we do apply Employment Equity principles during our selection process where this is necessary to achieve such diversity.
Disclaimer:
Dear Applicant, we appreciate your interest in joining our organization. It is imperative for us that you understand how we handle your information. We are committed to ensuring the security and confidentiality of the information you provide. Your personal details will be collected for the sole purpose of the application process and will be used strictly for that purpose. By applying, you acknowledge and consent to the collection, use, and protection of your personal information in accordance with our privacy policy. If you have any inquiries or concerns, our Human Capital department is available to provide clarification. We look forward to reviewing your application.
- Department
- Commercial
- Locations
- Cape Town
- Remote status
- Hybrid
About Biovac
We're more than a biotechnology company, we are building Africa's vaccine manufacturing capability and contributing to a healthier, more resilient future for our continent.
Every role at Biovac, whether in science, manufacturing, quality, regulatory affairs, corporate services, or support functions, contributes to a shared mission: improving access to life-saving vaccines and strengthening health security.
Join a team of innovators, problem-solvers, and purpose-driven professionals who are passionate about making a meaningful impact.