Business Lead, AI-native Small Molecule Discovery

Takeda; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 212,000 - 333,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Cambridge/Boston focus with hybrid

Job summary

Takeda in Boston, MA is seeking a Business Lead for AI-native Small Molecule Discovery to own the scientific vision and product strategy for next-gen AI-enabled discovery platforms. You will shape how scientists design and discover molecules using AI, data, and automation.

You will partner with research, data & technology teams to translate science into actionable roadmaps, drive adoption, and deliver measurable scientific and business value across the portfolio.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in computational chemistry, structural biology, data science, medicinal chemistry or related field with 10+ years of experience.
• Ownership of a product, platform, or capability portfolio end to end including roadmap and adoption.
• Ability to translate scientific ambition into executable product and workflow strategies with technology partners.

Responsibilities

• Own and refine the strategic vision for AI-native small molecule capabilities and the discovery journey.
• Provide business leadership with scope, sequencing, and priority for cross-functional teams.
• Define, track, and own KPIs, adoption, and measurable scientific and business impact.
• Understand customers and translate needs into target scientist experiences with SME input.
• Set priorities across Research, DD&T, computational science, and external partners.

Skills

Product ownership

Cross-functional leadership

AI/ML concepts

Stakeholder management

Executive communication

Education

Ph.D. in computational chemistry

Structural biology

Data science

Tools

ELN/LIMS

Compound registration

High-throughput experimentation

Job description

Job Description

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.

The Business Lead, AI-native Small Molecule Discovery is central to realizing this vision. The scientist will be responsible for Takeda’s next-generation small molecule discovery AI-native software products: owning the scientific vision, customer experience, product strategy, roadmap, adoption, and ultimately the value it creates for our drug discovery. The Business Lead will define and answer what the small molecule discovery platform should be in a future where AI agents, predictive models, scientific data and automated experimentation are the basis of small molecule drug discovery. Our ambition is for this product to become the primary environment through which Takeda scientists will design and discover the small molecule medicines of the future.

Purpose

The Business Lead, AI-native Small Molecule Discovery is a foundational leadership role, acting as the owner of Takeda's Small Molecule discovery product family, an integrated family of capabilities spanning the full small molecule discovery journey. The role refines the strategic vision for future-state AI-native Small Molecule Labs of Tomorrow capabilities and drives its translation into AI-enabled discovery workflows, product direction, adoption, and measurable scientific and business value by working with both relevant internal and external stakeholders.

The successful candidate will lead this portfolio as a business owner on the side of the internal customer, combining deep small molecule discovery expertise with computational, data, and technology fluency to ensure that the products built are science-first, grounded in real discovery workflows, and capable of delivering meaningful value across the small-molecule portfolio. Your customers will be Takeda’s medicinal chemists, computational chemists, structural biologists, DMPK scientists, safety scientists, and biologists. 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 a unique opportunity for an exceptional leader who can combine deep understanding of small molecule discovery 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 small-molecule discovery 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 Small Molecule discovery product family, and is interacting closely with the SME leads. The role will also interface with the other Business Leads to ensure extensibility across the suites of products.

Accountabilities

• Own and refine the strategic vision for future-state Small Molecule capabilities, articulating the future-state small molecule discovery journey, redesigned for AI-native, and increasingly automated drug discovery, and breaking it into the underlying capabilities delivered under a single mandate, in alignment 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 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 experiences and to keep development anchored on discovery science needs and on the priority capabilities that improve how discovery work gets done.
• 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, 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 scientific workflows and translate those into opportunities in the products.
• Plan and drive adoption of delivered capabilities across the small‑molecule portfolio, ensuring that they lead to measurable scientific and business value.

Qualifications & Competencies

• Expected: Ph.D. in computational chemistry, structural biology, data science, medicinal chemistry 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 importance, feasibility, implementation readiness, and measurable impact.
• Strong experience in discovery‑stage small‑molecule drug discovery, ideally including one or more of computational chemistry, medicinal chemistry, discovery synthesis, hit identification, hit‑to‑lead, lead optimization, and/or related AI/ML‑enabled discovery workflows.
• Strong fluency in computational, digital, data, automation, and AI/ML concepts as applied to small‑molecule drug discovery, sufficient to provide informed direction on technology choices and to test technical proposals on business grounds.
• Experience working across scientific, digital, data, informatics, automation, software, or product teams.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, including the ability to operate as a single point of accountability across multiple stakeholders and synthesize diverse inputs into clear priorities.
• Ability to influence without direct authority in a complex matrixed environment.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to engage senior leaders, scientific stakeholders, product managers, engineers, data scientists, and external partners.
• Experience directing external technology partners from the client side, holding them accountable to scope, timeline, and value while working within their product and delivery models.
• Preferred experience with scientific software or AI‑driven discovery platforms, including ELN/LIMS, compound registration, high‑throughput experimentation, automated synthesis, or assay data platforms.
• Preferred exposure to one or more of the following: AI/ML‑enabled discovery applications, metadata standards, data models, or AI‑ready scientific data.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• The position will be based in Cambridge, MA. This position is currently classified as “hybrid” by Takeda’s Hybrid and Remote Work policy

Takeda Compensation and Benefits Summary

We understand compensation is an important factor as you consider the next step in your career. We are committed to equitable pay for all employees, and we strive to be more transparent with our pay practices.

For Location:

Boston, MA

U.S. Base Salary Range:

$212,000.00 - $333,190.00

The estimated salary range reflects an anticipated range for this position. The actual base salary offered may depend on a variety of factors, including the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, specific and unique skills, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, and the location in which the applicant lives and/or from which they will be performing the job. The actual base salary offered will be in accordance with state or local minimum wage requirements for the job location.

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.

Locations

Boston, MA

Worker Type

Employee

Worker Sub-Type

Regular

Time Type

Full time

Job Exempt

Yes

It is unlawful in Massachusetts to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.