Head, R&D Automation Platform (Director/Sr. Director)

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More about us:

At Takeda, we are transforming patient care through the development of novel specialty pharmaceuticals and best in class patient support programs. Takeda is a patient-focused company that will inspire and empower you to grow through life-changing work.

Certified as a Global Top Employer, Takeda offers stimulating careers, encourages innovation, and strives for excellence in everything we do. We foster an inclusive, collaborative workplace, in which our teams are united by an unwavering commitment to deliver Better Health and a Brighter Future to people around the world.

Objectives:

Takeda is advancing an exciting pipeline and wants to ensure that we have the infrastructure and talent in place to support it. Our overall goal is to ensure that we get our therapeutics to patients quickly by having the right operational model and technology infrastructure to support delivery.

The Head of R&D Automation platform is responsible for leading the technical design, implementation, testing and deployment of automated processes to accelerate Takeda’s portfolio starting with preclinical research and ending with submission with the objective to improve efficiency and data quality across the entire business and data flow. The R&D automation team will rely on a combination of vendor-managed systems and in-house built systems leveraging cutting-edge technologies including cloud-based services, machine learning / deep-learning, natural language processing, and large language model algorithms to enable a wide-range of use cases applications for preclinical research, clinical trial, and operations data, including high-dimensional and complex data sources such as chemical research, pharmaceutical science, genomic, imaging, digital devices, and real-world data. The R&D automation platform is inclusive of all Takeda research areas, therapeutic areas, and relevant business units. The Head of R&D Automation platform leads a group of business and technical experts and ensures partnership and linkage with all relevant business and IT functions as well as external partners and vendors.

Accountabilities:

• Lead the Research and Development  data automation efforts to support Takeda R&D’s vision to create a development engine and ecosystem that provides optimal clinical data control and quality in a predictable, automated & cost-effective way.

• In collaboration with the system and architecture team, drive decisions on end-to-end systems selection & implementation, process improvement and data standards opportunities to ensure and optimize the use of automation and AI/ML.

• Show influential strategic, execution and delivery leadership both within Takeda and outside of Takeda with vendors and partners.

• Oversee in-house built, deployment and maintenance of automated tools, scripts, and programs to increase management speed and quality of clinical trial data.

• Provide strategic vision for long-term delivery innovation.

Core Elements Related to this Role:

Strategic Planning and Execution

• Partners with relevant stakeholders within the global data program to define priority use cases and set up execution plan.

• Develop test & deploy timeline for top priority use cases.

• Define & develop Proof of Concept approach for top priority use cases; select vendors (when available), develop & test prototypes.

• Create operationalization & roll-out roadmap for prototyped use cases, including key activities, milestones, requirements for handing off integration to adjacent functions.

• Supports executive leadership to achieve the vision and direction for the global data program

• Reports on progress of projects, issues/plans, and critical path schedules to executive leadership

• Visibly engages across the organization to ensure transformational impact.

Fiscal Responsibility: Responsible for automation group operating budgets within the global data program; monitor and control expenditures; manages variance between budgeted and actual expenditures of time, dollars, and personnel while meeting overall Takeda financial objectives.

Resource and Issue Management

• Manages internal and external resources (people, information, technologies, time, and capital); allocates project resources appropriately to align with business imperatives.

• Proactively identifies project issues before they arise and develops contingency plans; communicates project-related issues to senior executive management and manages issues to resolution.

Change Management: As a leader in a large, transformational program, supports strategies for effecting change, controlling change and helping people to adapt to change.

Matrix Team Management: Provides matrix management, strategic and tactical leadership across data program.

Dimensions and Aspects:

Technical/Functional (Line) Expertise

• Experienced R&D leader with deep knowledge in clinical trial data including data sources, data models and data standards; research,/clinical data systems and platforms, software and program development and implementation; knowledge and expertise in developing AI-based algorithms.

• Ability to create and deliver technical and methodology projects and guides them to implementation across R&D.

Leadership

• Demonstrated ability to work across functions, regions and cultures

• Functional level leadership with the ability to inspire, motivate and drive results

• Excellent communicator, able to persuasively convey both ideas and data, verbally and in writing

• Proven skills as an effective team player who can engender credibility and confidence within and outside the company

• Ability to distil complex issues and ideas down to simple comprehensible terms

• Demonstrates leadership presence and confidence

• Embraces and demonstrates a diversity and inclusion mindset and role models these behaviors for the organization

• Builds teams across functions and geographies with individuals who have the right skills and experience to deliver on key organizational initiatives.

• Invests time in helping others to enhance their skills and perform at a higher level

Decision-making and Autonomy

• Accountable for providing input to and implementing vision and strategy for designated scope

• Decision making responsibilities:

  • Provide input to highly complex decisions that impact the functional area

  • Accountable for decision making for designated function

  • Ability to seek diverse input from multiple constituents and stakeholders to drive innovative solutions

  • Ability to incorporate feedback and ensure decisions are implemented swiftly to yield flawless execution

Interaction

• Effectively navigates the changing external and internal environment and leads others through change by creating and inspiring and engaging workplace

• Cultivates a broad network of relationships throughout Takeda, with affiliates and external partners, in the industry and area of expertise.

• Effectively represents function in negotiations with the ability to resolve conflict in a constructive manner

• Ability to build strong relationships and collaborate effectively with other interfacing Takeda functions

Innovation

• Forward thinking with the ability to recommend, influence and implement organizational change and continuous innovation

• Comfortable challenging the status quo and bringing forward innovative solutions

• Ability to take risks implementing innovative solutions, accelerating time to market

• Identifies opportunities and anticipates changes in the business landscape through an understanding and ongoing assessment of the environment affecting the business.

• Role models respect and inclusion, creating a culture that fosters innovation

Complexity

• Ability to work in a global ecosystem (internal and external) with a high degree of complexity

• Ability to see and understand broader, enterprise level perspective

Education, Behavioral Competencies and Skills:

• MD, PharmD and/or PhD with 8-12+ years experience or MS with 12-15 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry or healthcare sector, with joint experience / degree in Computer Science, Medical Informatics or Bioinformatics.

• Previous experience leading a medium to large organization and influencing senior-level management and key stakeholders is a plus

• Proven track record of leading and driving business process transformation and organizational culture change as well as delivering on programs with complex business deliverables

• Track record of successful leadership, management, and development of large, multi-disciplinary globally dispersed teams. Strong judge of talent with the ability to make tough talent decisions.

• Health care business acumen with a comprehensive understanding of the pharmaceutical industry

• Experience building/maintaining ETL pipelines, data architecture solutions and data engineering pipelines

• Experience with modern data technologies/stack such as cloud services (AWS, Azure, GCP), Containerization (Docker, Kubernetes), Databases (Redshift, Snowflake), Programing languages (R, Python, SAS), VCS and CICD (GitHub, GitLab, CodeCommit, Jenkins, CodePipeline)

• Experience in machine learning workload and AI powered products 

• Passionate to keep up with the industry trends and approaches to solve technical problems 

This position is currently classified as “hybrid” in accordance with Takeda’s Hybrid and Remote Work policy.

Takeda is proud in its commitment of creating a diverse workforce and providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, parental status, national origin, age, disability, citizenship status, genetic information or characteristics, marital status, status as a Vietnam era veteran, special disabled veteran, or other protected veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws, and any other characteristic protected by law.

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EEO Statement

Takeda is proud in its commitment to creating a diverse workforce and providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, parental status, national origin, age, disability, citizenship status, genetic information or characteristics, marital status, status as a Vietnam era veteran, special disabled veteran, or other protected veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws, and any other characteristic protected by law.

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