Program Director - Governance Forums

Join us as we transform immunology and deliver medicines that help autoimmune patients get their lives back. argenx is preparing for multi-dimensional expansion to reach more patients through a rich pipeline of differentiated assets, led by VYVGART, our first-in-class neonatal Fc receptor blocker approved for the treatment of gMG, and with the potential to treat patients across dozens of severe autoimmune diseases.

We are building a new kind of biotech company, one that maintains its roots as a science-based start-up and pushes our commitment to innovate across all corners of our business. We strive to inspire and grow our company, our partnerships, our science, and our people, because when we do, we deliver more for patients. 

About the job
The Program Director, Governance Forums is a role that creates and maintains the operating structure for three of argenx’s most senior governance forums — the Senior Leadership Team, the Operations Committee, and the Portfolio Committee. Sitting within the Office of the CEO, the Program Director exists to protect and prioritize these leaders’ collective time — making sure it is spent on the highest-impact topics that only these groups can address, and that every discussion lands on clear, owned actions.

The premise is simple: senior leadership time is one of argenx’s scarcest resource. The role is a ruthless prioritizer of the strategic agenda — filtering out anything that can be decided closer to the work, and reserving the room for the cross-asset, cross-capability, and company-wide decisions that genuinely require this level of leadership.   The intent is to continuously improve the enterprise decision-making system that enables argenx's most senior leaders to focus on the decisions that create the greatest value for patients and the company.  A central goal is less meeting time, not more — fewer, sharper topics, each ending in a clear decision or next step.

We are seeking a person that lives in the Ghent, Belgium OR Boston, Massachusetts and must be able to travel about 25% for this role. 

Roles And Responsibilities

1. Prioritize the agenda for highest impact

• Prioritize each forum’s agenda ruthlessly — reserving the room for the cross-asset, cross-capability, and company-wide strategic topics that only these groups can decide, and steering everything else to the right owner closer to the work.

• Test proposed topics against a clear bar: does this genuinely require this group, at this level, now? Protect senior leaders’ time from status updates, FYIs, and decisions that belong elsewhere.

• Curate agendas that are realistic, sequenced by impact, and sized to the time available — fewer, sharper topics rather than a crowded list.

2. Structure & operating rhythm

• Build and maintain a clear, formalized structure for each forum — charters, decision rights, membership, and a consistent operating model — creating what does not yet exist and documenting what does.

• Own the meeting cadence and calendar across the three forums, protecting senior leaders’ time and keeping the groups aligned without overlap (e.g., a weekly SLT block with the Operations and Portfolio Committees alternating).

• Maintain a single, connected view across all three forums so structure, terminology, and ways of working stay consistent.

3. Preparation & pre-reads

• Ensure high-impact prework and pre-reads so members arrive prepared and meeting time goes to judgment and decisions, not background or status updates.

• Partner with decision owners ahead of each session to frame each topic clearly — what is being decided, who decides, what advice is needed, and what a good outcome looks like.

4. Facilitation toward clear actions

• Drive every meeting toward clear, owned actions — keeping discussion focused, on time, and ending each topic with a decision, an owner, and a next step.

• Ensure that no topic leaves the room ambiguous: capture the decision, who is accountable, and the deadline in real time.

• Embed the forums’ decision principles into practice (clarity before action, advice over consensus, decision closest to the work, bias toward action, “one and done,” close the loop).

5. Information sharing & follow-through

• Ensure clear, transparent information sharing after every meeting — publishing agendas, decisions, and action items to the right people and teams so decisions are understood and information flows.

• Close the loop — ensure that every decision and action is shared back with the people who gave advice and those who will be impacted, and track actions through to completion.

• Act as the connective tissue between these and other forums (eg SMC, DMC, GPC), sharing relevant context, so the groups operate as one coherent system.

6. Strategic planning & adaptability

• Set a strategic plan for the year across the three forums — anticipating the major decisions and milestones each group needs to work through.

• Adjust the plan as priorities shift, flexing the agenda and cadence to address new and urgent needs as they arise.

7. Capability building & ways of working

• Help members and teams to learn and apply new skills — with particular focus on AI and digital tools to increase decision quality, reduce administrative work, improve organizational learning, and create a scalable governance model.

• Introduce and embed practices drawn from scrum / agile teams (e.g., clear cadences, prioritization, iteration, and continuous improvement) into how the forums operate.

• Watch-building not time-telling — build decision-making and structuring capability in others rather than doing it all centrally.

Skills And Competencies

• Senior project / program management experience, ideally supporting executive or governance forums.

• Sharp prioritization judgment — able to tell what truly needs senior leadership and what does not, and comfortable pushing topics to the right level.

• Strong facilitation and meeting-design skills, with a track record of making senior leaders’ time more productive and driving discussions to clear actions.

• Strong connector skills – able to navigate and engage across all parts of the organization to keep momentum between meetings

• Excellent written communication — able to produce crisp pre-reads, agendas, and decision summaries.

• Proven ability to manage information flow, follow-through, and accountability across multiple stakeholders.

Ways of working

• Comfort applying agile / scrum practices and adapting them to a leadership-governance context.

• Fluency — or strong enthusiasm — for using technology and AI tools to streamline preparation and follow-up.

• High discretion and sound judgment when handling confidential, high-stakes information.

• A coaching, capability-building mindset — builds skill in others rather than creating dependency.

Education, Experience And Qualifications

• Advanced degree (Master or PhD) in health-related discipline or equal by experience.

• At least 10 years of drug development/commercialization experience in relevant disease areas.

• At least 5 years of Program Management experience in a Pharmaceutical or Biotech environment, preferably cross-cultural.

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For applicants in the United States: The annual base salary hiring range for this position is $212,000.00 - $291,500.00 USD. This range reflects our good faith estimate at the time of posting. Individual compensation is determined using objective, inclusive, and job-related criteria such as relevant experience, skills, demonstrated competencies and internal equity. This means actual pay may differ from the posted range when justified by these factors. Because market conditions evolve, pay ranges are reviewed regularly and may be adjusted to remain aligned with external benchmarks.

Note: If the posted hiring range does not apply to your work location, the recruiter will share the locally applicable annual base salary hiring range, provided in your country's currency, during the recruitment process. This information will reflect market conditions, role scope, and internal guidelines specific to your location.

This job is eligible to participate in our short-term and long-term incentive programs, subject to the terms and conditions of those plans and applicable policies. It also includes a comprehensive benefits package, including but not limited to retirement savings plans, health benefits and other benefits subject to the terms of the applicable plans and program guidelines.

At argenx, all applicants are welcomed in an inclusive environment. They will receive equal consideration for employment without discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other applicable legally protected characteristics. argenx is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

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