Business Lead, AI-native Discovery Automation & Robotics

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 210,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited in Boston seeks a Business Lead for AI-native Discovery Automation & Robotics to own the orchestration software product family spanning automation, data, and workflows in a 24/7 lab setting.

You will shape the strategic vision, align Research, Digital Data & Technology, and external partners, and drive adoption and measurable scientific and business value through collaboration with technical leads and SME teams.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in engineering, chemistry, biology or related field with 10+ years in pharma/biotech R&D.
• Owns product/portfolio from roadmap to adoption.
• Sets strategic direction and aligns cross-functional teams.
• Combines lab automation, computation, and data fluency.

Responsibilities

• Lead the orchestration software product suite for AI-native labs.
• Partner with technical leads on scope, sequencing, and outcomes.
• Define KPIs and measure adoption and value realization.
• Align across Research, Digital Data & Technology, and external partners.
• Drive 24/7 lab operation readiness and scalable workflows.

Skills

PhD required

Product ownership

Cross-functional leadership

Strategic portfolio leadership

Hands-on coding

Education

PhD in engineering/chemistry/biology

Tools

Python

AI/ML familiarity

Lab automation systems

Job description

Job Description

Business Lead, AI-native Discovery Automation & Robotics

Takeda is transforming how medicines are discovered by building a new Research engine where AI, advanced data platforms, and laboratory automation are embedded directly into how scientists design and discover molecules, run experiments, and make decisions. Our Labs of Tomorrow vision connects computational science, scientific data, and automated experimental workflows into a closed-loop discovery engine that will enable us to design smarter studies, shorten learning cycles, and deliver clearer evidence earlier in discovery with the ultimate goal of discovering differentiated medicines for patients.

Purpose

TheBusinessLead, AI-native Discovery Automation & Robotics is a foundational leadership role, acting as theasthe owner and of Takeda's Discovery Automation & Robotics product family, an integrated family of capabilities that connects the instrument-level scheduling and control systems already running Takeda's automated work cells into a single operating layer spanning the manual work, sample logistics, handoffs, and exception handling that surround them, with 24/7 laboratory operation as the target state. The role refines the strategic vision for future-state AI-native Labs of Tomorrow capabilities in the physical laboratory and drives its translation into AI-enabled experimental workflows, product direction, adoption, and measurable scientific and business value by working with both relevant internal and external stakeholders.

Thesuccessful candidate will lead this portfolio as a business owner on the side of the internal customer, combining deep laboratory automation and experimental operations expertise with computational, data, and technology fluency to ensure that the products built are science-first, grounded in the physical reality of laboratory work, and capable of sustaining 24/7 laboratory operation with meaningful gains in data quality, throughput, and cycle times. Your customers will be Takeda's automation engineers, laboratory operations and platform scientists, medicinal chemists, molecule designers, assay designers, biologists running assays at scale, and the scientists whose experiments depend on work being executed reliably overnight. The role carries sufficient technical fluency to provide informed direction on the strategic technology choices underpinning the product family, at the level of intent and trade‑off rather than detailed evaluation or execution.

This is aunique opportunity for an exceptional leader who can combine deep understanding ofautomated laboratory operations with strong computational, data, and technology fluency, and who will ensure that the applications developed are scientifically grounded, technically actionable, adoptable by end users, and aligned with Takeda's business priorities.

This role operates at the program leadership level, collaborating directly with Takeda's "Labs of Tomorrow" leadership team to shape portfolio priorities, resolve strategic tradeoffs, and ensure future-state laboratory orchestration capabilities advance from vision to measurable scientific and business impact. The role provides day-to-day direction to the technical leads and development squads working on the Discovery Automation & Robotics product family, and is interacting closely with the SME leads. The role will also interface with the other Product Leads to ensure extensibility across the suites of products.

Accountabilities

• Own and refine the strategic vision for the orchestration software product suite to enable the future-state Discovery Automation & Robotics. Define the orchestration engine that powers an AI-native, increasingly automated 24/7 drug discovery laboratory, and translate that vision into underlying capabilities delivered under a single mandate and aligned with overall Research strategy.
• Deliver against that vision by providing business leadership, partnering with technical leads and development squads on scope, sequencing, and priority, and holding product teams accountable for outcomes, adoption, and measurable scientific and business impact.
• Define, track, and own KPIs, business value, adoption, and scientific impact across the product family, maintaining the integrated portfolio view that gives Research leadership a consolidated perspective on progress, dependencies, risks, and opportunities.
• Deeply understand the customer, the re‑imagined AI-native Discovery Automation & Robotics workflows, the decisions they make, and unmet needs and represent them throughout development, working closely with the lead Subject Matter Experts to define target scientist and operator experiences and to keep development anchored on laboratory science needs and on the priority capabilities that improve how experimental work actually gets executed.
• Set business priorities and direction across Research, Digital Data & Technology (DD&T), Computational Science, and external build partners, driving the cross-functional alignment needed to resolve risks, dependencies, and blockers across the product family.
• Work with the broader "Labs of Tomorrow" leadership team to set the digital product roadmap, scope, requirements, and investment priorities, balancing scientific value, strategic importance, and implementation readiness.
• Provide informed direction on the strategic technology choices underpinning the product family, including platform direction, architecture, integration with instrument scheduling and control systems, and development sequencing, at the level of intent and trade‑off rather than detailed evaluation or execution.
• Identify where AI agents, predictive models, data, and automation can fundamentally redesign how robotic workflows, sample logistics, manual steps, and exception handling are coordinated as one operation, and translate those into opportunities in the products.
• Plan and drive adoption of delivered capabilities across the laboratory operations, automation, and scientific teams that depend on them, ensuring that they lead to measurable scientific and business value.

Qualifications & Competencies

• Expected: Ph.D. in engineering, chemistry, biology, laboratory automation or related field, with 10+ years of progressively responsible experience in pharmaceutical or biotech R&D.
• Demonstrated ownership of a product, platform, or capability portfolio end to end, including roadmap, delivery, and adoption.
• Demonstrated ability to set strategic direction, drive cross-functional alignment, and translate scientific ambition into executable product, workflow, adoption, and value‑realization strategies in partnership with technology and product teams.
• Experience leading portfolio‑level initiatives or transformation programs across discovery, computational science, digital, data, product, or technology teams.
• Hands‑on coding experience, including experience coding earlier in career, with sufficient technical fluency to engage credibly with software engineers, computational scientists, data scientists, ML scientists, and technical leads.
• Demonstrated record of carrying an ambitious vision through to delivered and adopted capability.
• Strong business judgment, with ability to prioritize initiatives based on scientific value, strategic