Director, AI & Technology Transformation

GlaxoSmithKline plc; Stevenage; Hybrid; GBP 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Annual bonus based on company perfomrn

Healthcare and wellbeing programmes

Pension plan membership

Shares and savings programme

Hybrid working model

Job summary

GlaxoSmithKline plc seeks a Director, R&D AI & Technology Transformation to lead diagnostics and design for R&D data foundations, spanning data quality, ontology, governance, and platforms. The role collaborates with leaders to align and drive measurable outcomes, balancing strategic oversight with hands-on delivery.

You will manage cross-functional workshops, build prioritized interventions, and own implementation end-to-end, influencing governance, data access, and platform decisions with

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading data strategy or governance in pharmaceutical R&D.
• Proven track record taking strategy from design to delivery.
• Experience designing and facilitating workshops for senior stakeholders.
• Experience developing change plans including communications and capability building.

Responsibilities

• Lead diagnostics of R&D data journeys and seven data elements.
• Synthesize pain points and articulate prioritized interventions.
• Engage 50+ SMEs across Research, Development, Tech, and AI/ML.
• Develop business cases with expected impact and feasibility.

Skills

Data strategy

Data governance

R&D digital transformation

Stakeholder engagement

Workshop design & facilitation

Change management

Strategic leadership

Analytical thinking

Business case development

Delivery leadership

Tools

R&D data platforms

Job description

We create a place where people can grow, be their best, be safe, and feel welcome, valued and included. We offer a competitive salary, an annual bonus based on company performance, healthcare and wellbeing programmes, pension plan membership, and shares and savings programme. We embrace modern work practises; our Performance with Choice programme offers a hybrid working model, empowering you to find the optimal balance between remote and in-office work. Discover more about our company wide benefits and life at GSK on our webpage Life at GSK | GSK

Director, R&D AI & Technology Transformation R&D Tech Transformation & Operations connects strategy, investment and delivery across priority R&D technology programmes. The team works with scientific, technology and business leaders to strengthen decisions, accelerate value and support consistent adoption across R&D.

The Director, R&D AI & Technology role leads the diagnosis, design and implementation of R&D's data foundations across its seven core elements – data quality, ontology, governance and ownership, data discovery, access and authorization, data integration and platforms, and data products. You will map end-to-end data journeys, identify systemic pain points, and translate findings into a prioritized set of interventions with clear business cases. You will run sessions with a broad set of R&D leadership, design and run cross-functional workshops to build alignment on the future state, report progress at RDLT level, take direct ownership of implementation and delivery through to measurable outcomes. This is a role for someone who can bring a top-down, strategic picture of R&D's data landscape while staying hands-on through delivery, combining structured diagnostic thinking with strong stakeholder influence and execution rigor.

For candidates seeking to be located at our Stevenage site, this role will temporarily be based at Stevenage. However, the Company plans to relocate its offices to Cambridge, UK. The location of this role will therefore subsequently change to Cambridge, UK in accordance with timelines to be set by the Company. The relocation is currently proposed to take effect by early 2029.

• Lead comprehensive diagnostics of R&D data journeys, reconstructing end-to-end flows from scientific question to data-driven decision across systems, users, and data.
• Identify and synthesize pain points across all seven data elements, distinguishing journey-specific issues from systemic, enterprise-wide gaps.
• Engage 50+ subject matter experts (SMEs) and core team members across Research, Development, Tech, and AI/ML to ground findings in real user experience.
• Define a future-state ambition for priority data-management capabilities.
• Run sessions with a broad set of R&D leadership, and design and facilitate cross-functional workshops to align stakeholders on the future state and foundational interventions.
• Develop and prioritize interventions based on R&D impact, breadth of reuse, and organizational feasibility, focusing on cross-cutting strategic moves.
• Build supporting business cases for priority interventions, including expected impact, effort/cost, and implementation considerations.
• Report progress and recommendations at RDLT level, securing leadership endorsement for the roadmap.
• Take direct ownership of implementation, leading delivery of prioritized interventions end to end through to measurable outcomes.
• Establish workstreams, governance, and ownership structures needed to move interventions.
• Identify where existing platforms or initiatives can be leveraged versus where new capabilities are required.

Why you?

Basic qualifications

We are looking for professionals with these required skills to achieve our goals:

• Significant experience leading data strategy, data governance, or R&D digital transformation initiatives in a pharmaceutical R&D environment.
• Demonstrated experience conducting organizational diagnostics – mapping processes or data journeys, synthesizing pain points, and translating findings into actionable recommendations.
• Proven track record of taking a strategy from design through to implementation and delivery.
• Experience designing and facilitating workshops or working sessions that build alignment across senior stakeholders and subject matter experts (SMEs).
• Experience developing and delivering change plans that include stakeholder engagement, readiness, communications and capability building.
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to assess complex, cross-functional problems and develop a structured, prioritized path forward.
• Ability to analyse complex issues, develop practical recommendations and follow through to implementation.
• Experience developing business cases, including articulating impact, effort, and feasibility trade-offs.
• Working knowledge of data management concepts across data quality, ontology, governance and ownership, data discovery, access and authorization, data integration and platforms, and data products.
• Strong communication, facilitation and influencing skills across technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Ability to work independently, manage ambiguity and contribute beyond a narrowly defined change-management remit.
• Experience defining measures for adoption, outcomes or value realisation and using data to inform decisions.

Preferred Qualifications & Skills

Please note the following skills are not necessary, just preferred, if you do not have them, please still apply:

• Experience with R&D data platforms.
• Background in management consulting combined with in-house strategy and transformation delivery implementation.
• Change‑management, project‑management or related professional certification.
• Experience building and leading cross‑functional core teams or workstreams through to delivery.
• Familiarity with data governance frameworks, IHD/consent‑related data access processes, or regulatory data considerations.
• Experience managing delivery‑focused teams or programs with direct accountability for outcomes.
• Learning, capability‑building or workforce upskilling experience.

Closing Date for Applications – 25th November 2026

GSK is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This ensures that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), military service or any basis prohibited under federal, state or local law.

We believe in an agile working culture for all our roles. If flexibility is important to you, we encourage you to explore with our hiring team what the opportunities are. Should you require any adjustments to our process to assist you in demonstrating your strengths and capabilities contact us at [e-mail] where you can also request a call. Please note should your enquiry not relate to adjustments, we will not be able to support you through these channels. However, we have created a Recruitment FAQ guide.

We are a global biopharma company with a special purpose – to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together – so we can positively impact the health of billions of people and deliver stronger, more sustainable shareholder returns – as an organisation where people can thrive. Getting ahead means preventing disease as well as treating it, and we aim to impact the health of 2.5 billion people around the world in the next 10 years. Our success absolutely depends on our people. While getting ahead of disease together is about our ambition for patients and shareholders, it’s also about making GSK a place where people can thrive.

Our culture of being ambitious for patients, accountable for impact, and committed to doing the right thing, making sure that we focus our efforts on accelerating significant assets that meet patients’ needs and have the highest probability of success. We’re uniting science, technology, and talent to get ahead of disease together. Find out more: Our approach to R&D Skills Change Management, Communication, Cross-Departmental Collaboration, Decision Making, Financial Acumen, Innovation, Leadership, Portfolio Management, Project Management, Project Management Governance, Risk Management, Stakeholder Engagement, Stakeholder Management, Strategic Leadership, Visionary Thinking.

Why GSK?

Uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. We aim to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade, as a successful, growing company where people can thrive. We get ahead of disease by preventing and treating it with innovation in specialty medicines and vaccines. We focus on four therapeutic areas: respiratory, immunology and inflammation; oncology; HIV; and infectious diseases – to impact health at scale. People and patients around the world count on the medicines and vaccines we make, so we’re committed to creating an environment where our people can thrive and focus on what matters most. Our culture of being ambitious for patients, accountable for impact and doing the right thing is the foundation for how, together, we deliver for patients, shareholders and our people.

Find out more on our career site.