Director, External Innovation: CM + Endocrinology

Biopharma Careers; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 167,000 - 251,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

PTO

Retirement contributions

Job summary

EMD Serono in Boston seeks a senior external innovation leader to drive access to global biotech/pharma opportunities in CM+F&E and advance our pipeline. You will lead cross-functional teams through Initial Assessments and due diligence, coordinating with BD colleagues and senior management.

The role requires a PhD in pharmaceutical science with substantial R&D experience, strong leadership, and excellent presentation skills to enable strategic partner decisions.

Qualifications

• University degree (PhD) in pharmaceutical science or an equivalent qualification with high expertise and substantial R&D experience.
• 5+ years experience with 2+ years in BD&L / EI
• Thorough understanding of the pharmaceutical drug discovery/development process
• Scientific profile with substantial R&D experience
• Strong leadership acumen to lead cross functional teams
• Strong presentation skills enabling senior management decision making

Responsibilities

• Drive access to external innovations for CM+F&E, enabling critical advancement of the company pipeline.
• Search and evaluate external opportunities and lead scientific and technical assessment process for potential partners, acquisitions, or licensing deals.
• Take full responsibility for Initial Assessments (IAs) as the initial step in a Due Diligence process with key functional experts and present high quality decision making documents to the Investment Board (IB) and lead respective multi-functional teams.
• Partner with internal stakeholders to identify search priorities and support defining the CM+F&E partnering strategy.
• Develop and keep overview of External Innovation landscape within investment priorities in alignment with the CM+F&E Therapeutic Areas.
• Drive proactive search to identify assets of interest and potential partners and guide partner selection.
• Select and prioritize opportunities for further evaluation in close collaboration with Business Development counterparts.
• Maintain overview of search and evaluation activities in CM+F&E and maintain a longlist of potential opportunities.
• Oversee and guide filtering of potential opportunities (e.g., unsolicited, VC portfolios, conferences); execute CDA and provide aligned feedback to stakeholders.
• Benchmarking of potential partners based on aligned criteria to elucidate differentiation.
• Build and maintain external network (e.g., biotech/pharma/VC) and represent/position us externally towards potential partners.
• Collaborate with BD colleagues for partnering discussions to assess viability / feasibility of partnership.
• Consult on assessment of risks and mitigations and ensure seamless transition of IA projects to DD Lead.
• Drive identification of big rocks and consolidation of IB decision-making document to make a go/no-go decision.
• Provide decision making documentation to IB and DRB level senior management to proceed into Due Diligence activities to assess Big Rocks or full data packages of external opportunities

Skills

Strong leadership

Presentation skills

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic thinking

Education

PhD in pharmaceutical science

Job description

EMD Serono in Boston seeks a senior external innovation leader to drive access to global biotech/pharma opportunities in CM+F&E and advance our pipeline. You will lead cross-functional teams through Initial Assessments and due diligence, coordinating with BD colleagues and senior management.

The role requires a PhD in pharmaceutical science with substantial R&D experience, strong leadership, and excellent presentation skills to enable strategic partner decisions.