Sushil Kumar, PMP®

PMP®-certified professional with experience across program management, healthcare strategy, business development, market intelligence, and knowledge management, including leading complex, multi-stakeholder initiatives. Experienced in translating strategic objectives into executable programs through structured planning, cross-functional coordination, risk and dependency management, monitoring and evaluation, impact assessment, partnerships, and executive reporting. Worked with global industries, academia, Government of India agencies, startups, and hospitals across healthcare, biomedical R&D, and biotechnological innovation ecosystems.

• Program & Project Management Professional: 7+ years leading healthcare and life sciences programs, including the National Biopharma Mission (NBM), AIIMS Delhi reforms, AMR initiatives, and National HIV Cohort work.
• Program Planning & Hybrid Delivery: Led end-to-end delivery across multiple workstreams, using predictive governance for NBM program support and iterative, feedback-driven development for the NBM and AIIMS Impact Reports.
• PMO, Governance & Controls: Established delivery cadence, work-plans, reporting, stakeholder reviews, and risk, issue, dependency, and change tracking for NBM, translational research initiatives, and AIIMS reform projects.
• Stakeholder & Partnership Management: Worked with BIRAC-DBT, AIIMS New Delhi, Government of India stakeholders, Global PDPs like BMGF, USAID, Indian industry, academia, startups and scientific experts to align priorities and convert strategy into executable plans.
• Data-Driven Delivery, MEL & Impact: Led the NBM Impact Report 2022-24, completed the AIIMS Impact Report in three weeks, and developed dashboards, assessments, and executive presentations supporting evidence-based decisions and course correction.
• Cross-Functional Team Leadership: Led a mid-sized team and coordinated internal specialists, external experts, grantees, and senior stakeholders across research, interviews, proposal development, analysis, quality review, and delivery.
• Commercial & Business Program Experience: 9+ years across market development, product management, go-to-market execution, and partnerships; delivered 112% sales growth at Premas and led nationwide portfolio initiatives at Merck and Thermo Fisher.

Manager, Country & Regional Programs at IAVI (2021-01 – 2025-05)

• Led end-to-end planning and coordination of multi-stakeholder initiatives across pharma, vaccines, biotherapeutics, diagnostics and medical devices, aligning workstreams in Oncology, CVRM, AMR, Dengue, Chikungunya and Nipah with Government of India priorities and population-health needs.
• Managed parallel program, research and ecosystem workstreams, including the NBM Impact Report 2024, AIIMS New Delhi Impact Report, National HIV Cohort materials, AMR burden modelling, vaccine and biosimilar raw-material gap assessments, technology benchmarking, market landscaping and proposal development.
• Led a four-member team and coordinated DBT, BIRAC, ICMR, AIIMS, industry, academia, startups, hospitals and scientific experts; managed workplans, timelines, risks, dependencies, stakeholder reviews, dashboards and iterative delivery of decision-support outputs.

Manager, Resource Mobilization at IAVI (2019-11 – 2020-12)

• Led planning and coordination of partnership and resource-mobilization initiatives, working with senior stakeholders to expand strategic alliances, diversify funding sources, and support long-term program sustainability.

Market Development Manager at Premas Life Sciences Pvt Ltd. (2018-07 – 2019-05)

• Pioneered the clinical instrument market expansion for NGS-based applications in Oncology, Rare Diseases, and Genetic Disorders on the Illumina platform, collaborating closely with principal product management teams, regional stakeholders, and senior leadership to architect and execute high-impact market development strategies aligned with Fluidigm's core business objectives.
• Orchestrated end-to-end commercial initiatives encompassing lead generation, bid management, pre-sales strategy formulation, territory mapping, and prospect engagement, coupled with digital marketing campaigns, pricing strategies and KOL engagement.
• Expanded clinical instrument market presence for NGS-based oncology and rare disease applications on the Illumina platform in North and West India, achieving a remarkable 112% increase in sales revenue.

Senior Product Manager at Merck Life Science (2017-01 – 2018-06)

• Spearheaded the strategic planning and execution of nationwide marketing initiatives for Merck's Proteomics division, driving the Pan India business portfolio across diverse product verticals including Antibodies, Small Molecules, Enzymes, and Mass Spec consumables, while ensuring alignment with corporate growth objectives and market dynamics.
• Championed high-impact demand generation programs through data-driven marketing tactics, meticulous budget oversight, and deep domain expertise in Proteomics, significantly accelerating business growth and strengthening Merck's market penetration and brand presence in the evolving Indian life sciences landscape.
• Directed over 1,000 workshops, CMEs, UGMs, seminars, and roadshows across India and South Asia to build stakeholder capacity and facilitate scientific knowledge exchange, including participation in marquee events.
• Developed and implemented business strategies for product management including go-to-market planning, pricing strategies, and brand repositioning of antibody verticals, resulting in enhanced profitability and inventory optimization.
• Earned global recognition for strategic marketing leadership through successful execution of an Antibody Marketing Campaign that revitalized a dead product inventory, establishing a new benchmark in biologics brand management.

Territory Manager at Merck Life Science (2015-08 – 2016-12)

• Engineered and executed dynamic B2B and B2C sales strategies across the comprehensive Sigma Aldrich product portfolio, driving revenue growth and market share expansion through innovative project planning and new business promotions.
• Strategically managed financial budgeting and forecasting for marquee academic institutions such as IGIB, NII, ICGEB, UDSC, and JNU, while leveraging SAP-based CRM systems to optimize client relationship management, streamline sales operations, and implement performance and process enhancement initiatives.

Technical Sales Specialist at Thermo Fisher Scientific (2011-12 – 2015-08)

• Performed consultative selling for high-value capital equipment, including Flow Cytometers, Real-Time PCR systems, High Throughput Nucleic Acid Isolation platforms, and Laser Capture Microdissection systems, by aligning technical capabilities with end-user needs to drive solution-based selling and customer retention.
• Adeptly positioned a wide range of benchtop instruments and consumables across genomics and proteomics verticals, leveraging in-depth product knowledge and market intelligence to influence purchasing decisions, accelerate sales cycles, and enhance portfolio penetration across diverse research and clinical segments.
• Delivered over 1,000 hands-on trainings across India on advanced biomedical instruments such as confocal microscopes, TLDA readers, Next-Gen Sequencers, and 10X platforms to strengthen technical capabilities across research institutions.

Application Scientist at iLife Discoveries (2010-08 – 2011-08)

• Performed end-to-end scientific project workflows for Affymetrix Microarray platforms, ensuring seamless project delivery through strategic planning, experimental design, data interpretation, and timely execution aligned with research objectives.
• Orchestrated specialized workshops and delivered hands-on expert training to researchers and scientists, while concurrently providing high-level technical support to facilitate service adoption and optimize research outcomes across academic and clinical settings.

Senior Scientist R&D at Genotypic Technology (2010-04 – 2010-08)

Research Fellow, Malaria Group at ICGEB (2009-01 – 2010-12)

Junior Research Fellow at NII - National Institute of Immunology (2007-01 – 2009-12)

Master of Science in Biotechnology – Jawaharlal Nehru University (2007)