Advisor, R&D Portfolio Strategy & Management

elanco; Indianapolis (IN); Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Elanco is seeking an Advisor, R&D Portfolio Management to drive transformation of portfolio processes, data systems, and governance across Global R&D. This role partners with finance, strategy, and project leadership to guide prioritization and optimize resource allocation.

The position emphasizes strong financial acumen, experience with BI tools, and a track record of portfolio strategy and change management within pharma or animal health. Hybrid work in Indianapolis, IN is offered.

Qualifications

• Strong financial acumen with expertise in large datasets and quantitative modeling.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills across R&D, Finance, Commercial and Strategy.
• Experience guiding portfolio transformation and continuous improvement initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Portfolio Management Transformation: Enhance processes, tools, and evaluation capabilities; support data improvements and live insight generation.
• Strategic Liaison: Partner with SPMO and Portfolio Leads to translate strategy into actionable priorities and adapt models accordingly.
• Portfolio Strategy: Synthesize inputs to identify opportunities and allocate resources aligned with strategic goals.
• Prioritization & Resource Allocation: Perform portfolio-wide assessments to enable dynamic resource allocation and inform leadership decisions.
• Governance & Cross-Functional Collaboration: Develop KPIs and dashboards; present insights to governance committees and align cross-functional teams.

Skills

Financial analysis

Data visualization

Stakeholder communication

Portfolio management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance

Tools

Planisware

Tableau

Power BI

Advanced Excel

Job description

At Elanco (NYSE: ELAN) - it all starts with animals! As a global leader in animal health, we are dedicated to innovation and delivering products and services to prevent and treat disease in farm animals and pets. At Elanco, we are driven by our vision of Food and Companionship Enriching Life and our purpose - all to Go Beyond for Animals, Customers, Society and Our People.

At Elanco, we pride ourselves on fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. We believe that diversity is the driving force behind innovation, creativity, and overall business success. Here, you'll be part of a company that values and champions new ways of thinking, work with dynamic individuals, and acquire new skills and experiences that will propel your career to new heights.

Making animals' lives better makes life better - join our team today!

Your Role: Advisor, R&D Portfolio Management

As Advisor, R&D Portfolio Management, you will serve as a key catalyst of the transformation journey within Elanco's Global R&D organization, playing a pivotal role in shaping Elanco's pipeline and portfolio decisions. In this dual-function role, you will modernize how Elanco manages its R&D portfolio by enhancing systems and processes-transitioning static reporting toward live, insight-guided evaluations-while partnering across the innovation community to bridge project execution with executive governance.

Your Responsibilities

• Portfolio Management Transformation (50%): Continuously identify opportunities to enhance portfolio management processes, tools, and evaluation capabilities; champion the journey toward a single source of truth within the PPM ecosystem; guide the design and implementation of PPM data improvements in partnership with R&D and IT; and support the rollout of a PPM Intelligence solution that connects foundational data with real-time proactive insights and AI capabilities.
• Strategic Liaison (20%): Serve as an embedded strategic partner with the SPMO and Strategic Portfolio Leads, translating portfolio-level strategic intent into actionable project priorities while ensuring project milestone shifts, resource constraints, and risk changes are rapidly reflected in valuation and prioritization models to bridge project execution with executive governance.
• Portfolio Strategy (10%): Synthesize diverse inputs from Corporate Strategy, Innovation Strategy, and R&D into a holistic view of portfolio opportunities; ideate, develop, and implement evaluation frameworks to assess R&D pipelines and recommend optimal resource allocations aligned with corporate strategic goals.
• Prioritization & Resource Allocation Support ( Perform portfolio-wide prioritization and trade-off assessments to enable dynamic resource allocation across the R&D pipeline, delivering clear recommendations to senior leadership to optimize the portfolio mix against clinical, commercial, and market shifts.
• Performance Monitoring, Governance & Cross-Functional Collaboration ( Establish and maintain R&D portfolio health KPIs and executive dashboards; synthesize decision-ready insights for the R&D Portfolio Governance Committee (PGC); and translate complex quantitative findings into compelling strategic recommendations while fostering seamless cross-functional alignment across R&D project teams, Finance, Commercial, and Corporate Strategy.

What You Need to Succeed (minimum qualifications)

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, Business Administration, Life Sciences, or a related field (or equivalent level of experience).
• Required Experience: Minimum of 8-10+ years of progressive experience in R&D Project Management within the pharmaceutical or animal health industry.
• Demonstrated experience in R&D Operations Portfolio Management or Strategic Planning within the life sciences sector.
• Demonstrated experience guiding process improvement, capability-building, or transformation initiatives.
• Top Skills: Strong financial acumen with proven expertise in large datasets, quantitative modeling, and business case formation, paired with strong communication skills and proficiency with portfolio management and BI tools (e.g., Planisware, Tableau, Power BI, Advanced Excel).

What will give you a competitive edge (preferred qualifications)

• Master's degree or MBA.
• Experience managing global R&D portfolios with strong familiarity in drug development processes and regulatory landscapes.
• Experience with enterprise PPM platforms (e.g., Fluid, MS Project Online, EPPM) and emerging AI/advanced evaluation tools applied to portfolio decision-making.
• Proven track record in change management, stakeholder partnership, and driving broad organizational adoption of new processes and systems.

Additional Information

• Travel: 10% (or as required for business needs)
• Location: Global Elanco Headquarters - Indianapolis, IN - Hybrid Work Environment

Don't meet every single requirement? Studies have shown underrecognized groups are less likely to apply to jobs unless they meet every si