Associate Director, Information Architecture
Otsuka Pharmaceutical Companies (U.S.)
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Job summary
Otsuka Pharmaceutical Companies (U.S.) is seeking an Associate Director, Information Architecture to define and evolve the enterprise information architecture that underpins data, analytics, and AI initiatives across R&D, Clinical, Commercial, and Compliance domains.
The role requires deep pharma data knowledge, experience with CDISC/HL7/FHIR, and the ability to lead cross‑functional teams. Travel up to 10–15% may be required, with a focus on scalable, governed data assets.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree or higher in a relevant field is required or preferred.
- Deep expertise with pharma data standards and biological/pharmaceutical data practices.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management capabilities.
Responsibilities
- Define enterprise information architecture strategy and standards across R&D, Clinical, Commercial, and Compliance domains.
- Design and govern taxonomies, ontologies, and semantic layers to enable AI and data discoverability.
- Lead knowledge graphs design and semantic layer grounding for retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).
- Partner with data stewards/owners to ensure architecture adoption and governance.
Skills
Education
Tools
Job description
We are seeking an experienced Associate Director, Information Architecture to join our IT Data and AI Platform organization and shape the foundation upon which Otsuka's Information Governance Program will be built. In this pivotal role, you will define the guidelines, standards, and reference architectures that govern how data is structured, described, and connected across the enterprise- making information discoverable, trusted, and ready to fuel analytics, AI, and business decision‑making. This role is anchored by three strategic pillars: (1) establishing enterprise-wide information architecture standards that align data structures across domains with business processes; (2) enabling semantic understanding and findability through taxonomies, ontologies, knowledge graphs, and AI context layers; and (3) partnering with data domain teams and stewards to ensure the architecture is adopted, evolves with the business, and delivers measurable value. At Otsuka, we defy limitation, so that others can too. We have an unwavering belief in doing more. In transcending expectations. In going above and beyond-under any circumstances-for patients, families, providers, and for each other. It's this deep-rooted dedication that drives us to uncover answers to complex, underserved medical needs, so that patients can push past the limitations of their disease and achieve more than they thought was possible each and every day. We believe that the bigger the challenge, the bigger the opportunity. We are doing everything in our power to live up to our mission of creating new products for better health worldwide in two important therapeutic categories: neuroscience and nephrology.
The Associate Director, Information Architecture will be a key member of the Information Governance leadership team, responsible for designing and evolving the information architecture that supports Otsuka's data, analytics, and AI ambitions. The Associate Director will collaborate with Data Stewards, Data Owners, Data Product Owners, Platform Owners, and business stakeholders to translate business processes into well-structured, semantically rich, and interoperable data assets.
- Define and maintain the enterprise information architecture strategy, principles, and reference models that guide how data is structured across data domains (R&D, Clinical, Commercial, Compliance/Security, Corporate).
- Establish enterprise standards for data modeling, taxonomies, ontologies, controlled vocabularies, and semantic layers.
- Ensure alignment with industry standards relevant to pharmaceutical and healthcare data, including CDISC (SDTM, ADaM, CDASH), HL7 / FHIR, OMOP, IDMP, and other applicable frameworks.
- Develop the roadmap for evolving Otsuka's information architecture in support of AI, GenAI, and advanced analytics use cases.
- Partner with Data Stewards and Data Owners to define conceptual, logical, and physical data models across domains.
- Map data assets to business processes and business capabilities, providing end-to-end visibility of data lifecycle from creation to consumption.
- Identify and drive resolution of structural gaps, redundancies, and inconsistencies across data domains.
- Collaborate with Solution Architects and Platform Leads to ensure that solution designs align with enterprise information architecture standards.
- Design and govern enterprise taxonomies and ontologies that enable consistent classification, tagging, and semantic interoperability of information assets.
- Lead the design and evolution of enterprise knowledge graphs to connect entities, relationships, and business context across data assets.
- Define the metadata framework required to support knowledge graph population, curation, and evolution.
- Partner with the Enterprise Data Catalogue Platform Owner to operationalize taxonomies, ontologies, and semantic assets in tools such as Atlan and integrate them across the data ecosystem.
- Define and evolve the AI Context Layer - the semantic layer that enables Large Language Models (LLMs), agents, and RAG pipelines to reliably access, interpret, and reason over enterprise data.
- Establish standards for structured context, prompt-grounding metadata, and semantic annotations required by AI applications.
- Collaborate with the AI Platform Lead, AI Engineers, and Data Scientists to ensure that AI solutions are grounded in accurate, well-described, and governed data.
- Contribute to the responsible AI framework by ensuring explainability, provenance, and traceability of AI-consumed data assets.
- Partner with Data Stewards, Data Owners, and Data Product Owners to embed information architecture standards into their day-to-day practices.
- Develop training, playbooks, and reference implementations to accelerate adoption of information architecture standards across the enterprise.
- Coach and mentor the Information Architect(s) and provide technical guidance to domain-aligned modelers.
- Serve as a trusted advisor to business and IT stakeholders on all matters of information structure, semantics, and interoperability.
- Collaborate with the Data Quality & Metadata Lead to ensure that architectural standards are supported by quality controls and metadata practices.
- Partner with the Data and Analytics Service Delivery Leads to ensure solution delivery aligns with enterprise information architecture.
- Engage with Information Security, Legal, and Compliance to embed classification, sensitivity, and regulatory dimensions into the information architecture.
- Represent Information Architecture in enterprise architecture forums, data governance councils, and cross-functional working groups.
- Minimum of 8+ years of progressive experience in Information Architecture, Data Architecture, or Enterprise Data Modeling, with at least 3 years in a senior/lead capacity.
- Demonstrated experience working in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or life sciences industry, with deep knowledge of pharma data, data flows, and business processes across R&D, Clinical, Commercial, and/or compliance/security domain.
- Hands‑on expertise with pharmaceutical and healthcare data standards, including CDISC (SDTM, ADaM, CDASH), HL7 / FHIR, OMOP, IDMP, and other regulatory data standards.
- Deep expertise in conceptual, logical, and physical data modeling across relational, dimensional, and graph paradigms.
- Strong experience in defining and governing taxonomies, ontologies, controlled vocabularies, and semantic layers (RDF, OWL, SKOS).
- Hands‑on experience designing and operationalizing knowledge graphs and semantic technologies for enterprise use cases.
- Familiarity with AI Context Layers, semantic layers for GenAI/LLM applications, and grounding techniques for retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG).
- Experience with enterprise data cataloging and metadata management platforms (e.g., Atlan, Collibra, Alation, Informatica).
- Understanding of data governance operating models and the interplay between architecture, stewardship, and quality.
- Working knowledge of cloud data platforms (AWS, Azure, Snowflake) and their information architecture implications.
- Excellent communication and influencing skills with the ability to translate complex architectural concepts for technical and non‑technical audiences.
- Experience leading cross‑functional initiatives and managing stakeholder relationships at all organizational levels.
- Strong analytical, conceptual, and systematic problem‑solving abilities.
- Customer‑Focused: Anticipates user needs and delivers practical, value‑driven solutions.
- Accountable: Owns technical deliverables and outcomes.
- Innovative: Challenges the status quo and champions new ideas.
- Collaborative: Builds strong partnerships across disciplines and cultures.
- Ethical: Demonstrates integrity and aligns with Otsuka's corporate values.
- Resilient: Adapts quickly to new challenges and shifting priorities.
- People Leadership: Ability to lead, coach, and mentor Information Architects and domain‑aligned data modelers.
- Up to 10-15% travel is required, based upon business needs.
- Bachelor's degree in Information Science, Computer Science, Data Management, Library Science, or a related field (required).
- Master's degree in Information Architecture, Data Science, Health Informatics, or a related discipline (preferred).
- CDMP (Certified Data Management Professional) – DAMA International
- TOGAF – The Open Group Architecture Framework
- CBIP (Certified Business Intelligence Professional) – TDWI
- Certifications in ontology engineering, knowledge graphs, or semantic web technologies
- Cloud data certifications (AWS, Azure, Snowflake)
- ITIL Foundation or comparable IT service management certification
This job description is intended to describe the general nature and level of the work being performed by the people assigned to this position. It is not intended to include every job duty and responsibility specific to the position. Otsuka reserves the right to amend and change responsibilities to meet business and organizational needs as necessary.
Otsuka is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to their protected veteran or disabled status, or any protected status.
The Associate Director, Information Architecture is a senior technical leadership role responsible for defining and evolving the information architecture that underpins Otsuka's data, analytics, and AI capabilities. The Associate Director will drive the design of the data structures, semantic layers, and knowledge assets required to make information trusted, findable, and AI‑ready across the enterprise.
Accountability for Results - Stay focused on key strategic objectives, be accountable for high standards of performance, and take an active role in leading change.
Strategic Thinking & Problem Solving - Make decisions considering the long-term impact to customers, patients, employees, and the business.
Patient & Customer Centricity - Maintain an ongoing focus on the needs of our customers and/or key stakeholders.
Impactful Communication - Communicate with logic, clarity, and respect. Influence at all levels to achieve the best results for Otsuka.
Respectful Collaboration - Seek and value others’ perspectives and strive for diverse partnerships to enhance work toward common goals.
Empowered Development - Play an active role in professional development as a business imperative.
Minimum $169,222.00 - Maximum $253,000.00, plus incentive opportunity: The range shown represents a typical pay range or starting pay for individuals who are hired in the role to perform in the United States. Other elements may be used to determine actual pay such as the candidate’s job experience, specific skills, and comparison to internal incumbents currently in role. Typically, actual pay will be positioned within the established range, rather than at its minimum or maximum.
- Comprehensive medical
- dental
- vision
- prescription drug coverage
- company provided basic life
- accidental death & dismemberment
- short-term and long-term disability insurance
- tuition reimbursement
- student loan assistance
- a generous 401(k) match
- flexible time off
- paid holidays
- paid leave programs
- other company provided benefits
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