Head of Research Excellence

Job Title: Head of Research Excellence

Location:  Cambridge, MA

About the Job

Are you ready to shape the future of medicine? The race is on to speed up drug discovery and development to find answers for patients and their families. Your skills could be critical in helping our teams accelerate progress. 

Pioneering industry-setting scientific innovation and excellence in discovering transformational medicines. To achieve this, we must elevate our scientific rigor, embrace cutting-edge innovation without borders, and ensure sustained high productivity.  Flawless pipeline execution and thoughtful, disciplined decision-making are crucial.  The Head of Research Excellence, within the Research Execution and Excellence team, will lead a team of experts and be the key driver to foster interdisciplinary collaboration, and to strengthen and cultivate a culture of Research excellence.

We are an innovative global healthcare company with one purpose: to chase the miracles of science to improve people’s lives. We’re also a company where you can flourish and grow your career, with countless opportunities to explore, make connections with people, and stretch the limits of what you thought was possible. Ready to get started?

Main Responsibilities:

Leadership governance management:

• Leadership Support: Lead Research Management Office activities in support of the Global Research Leaders.  Serves as primary liaison for information exchange with Corporate, P&C, and other business units.  Ensure key communications are disseminated to relevant Research stakeholders.

• Research Operating Model and Culture: Evolve and optimize the Research operating model while cultivating a biotech-like, thoughtful risk-taking, and agile culture.

• Leadership Governance Meetings: Act as secretary of the extended Research leadership governance meetings.

• Research Priorities and Issue Escalation: Propose and monitor annual Research objectives to ensure the right priority setting to maximize Research value delivery, identify roadblocks, and coordinate mitigation strategies. Escalate major risks to Research Leadership.

Research Excellence:

• Transversal Initiatives: Drive Research transversal and transformation-related activities.  Collaborate with key stakeholders to advance Research Excellence and continuously evolve the Research operating model for greater impact and efficiency.  Represent Research as Research Business Owner in key R&D forums and transversal operational excellence, engagement, and transformation initiatives. Ensure information flow and alignment.  Serve as central partner to R&D and Business Partners and ensuring Research needs are represented in cross functional initiatives.  Foster strong collaboration with Research and R&D stakeholders.

Research Operational Performance:

• Escalation: Provide support to Research leaders and scientists to resolve escalated challenges.        

• CAPEX: Manage CAPEX planning, evaluate and prioritize equipment requests and submission to CAPEX committee review, ensuring alignment with research and business needs.  Ensure Research footprint and lab requirements are met to support evolving scientific priorities.

• Compliance: Represent Research as needed for relevant HSE audit, internal audit and internal control assessment and remediation plans.    

• Digital: Collaborate with Digital business partner and Pre-clinical Computational Innovation Strategy to foster a culture of innovation by integrating AI and digital solutions into research practices.

• Budget Allocation: Partner with the Finance BP for non-portfolio resource allocation.

• Research Function: Support to Research and Research Functions at request of Research leaders

Communication:

• Connectivity: Enhance connectivity within Research, across R&D, and to the external scientific community. 

• Communication: Drive internal and external stakeholder communication and community engagement strategies/plans for Global Research.  Leading global event contents (e.g. Science Hour, Global Research Awards, All hands, engagement sessions) with R&D Communications and R&D Operation support.  Strive to improve Research communication through existing and novel channels.

• Onboarding: Build foundational materials to support seamless entry into Research.  Equip new Research colleagues with onboarding tools for success.

• Site visits: Lead the development of scientific narratives and key content to represent Research during site visits.

• Upskilling and Talent Development: Collaborate with P&C partner and Sanofi U to manage the Research domain expertise and digital upskilling, learning, and talent development/skills mapping initiatives.

About You

Qualifications:

• PhD or Master’s degree in life sciences or engineering or equivalent

• +10 years drug discovery and development experience in pharmaceutical/ biotechnology  with deep understanding of Research processes and general business processes

• +5 years in Research transversal management preferred

• Experience in budget planning and financial management

Competencies:

• Proven leadership and management capability.

• Excellent problem-solving, analytical, strategic, and project management skills, and ability to lead change.

• Strong interpersonal skills, communication (verbal and written) with ability to listen and influence stakeholders at all levels including senior leaders, scientists, and business partners

• Ability to engage effectively with colleagues and senior leaders

• Ability to prioritize in complex situations, simplify and execute.

• Analytical mindset with ability to challenge the status quo and identify improvement opportunities

• Exceptional attention to detail, and a high level of organization skills

Why Choose Us?

• Bring the miracles of science to life alongside a supportive, future-focused team.

• Discover endless opportunities to grow your talent and drive your career, whether it’s through a promotion or lateral move, at home or internationally.

• Enjoy a thoughtful, well-crafted rewards package that recognizes your contribution and amplifies your impact.

• Take good care of yourself and your family, with a wide range of health and wellbeing benefits including high-quality healthcare, prevention and wellness programs and at least 14 weeks’ gender-neutral parental leave.

Sanofi Inc. and its U.S. affiliates are Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employers committed to a culturally diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race; color; creed; religion; national origin; age; ancestry; nationality; marital, domestic partnership or civil union status; sex, gender, gender identity or expression; affectional or sexual orientation; disability; veteran or military status or liability for military status; domestic violence victim status; atypical cellular or blood trait; genetic information (including the refusal to submit to genetic testing) or any other characteristic protected by law.

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