Director, R&D Data and Digital

Zoetis; Kalamazoo (MI); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive healthcare

Retirement savings

Employee well-being programs

Job summary

Zoetis, the global leader in animal health, is seeking a senior leader to steer the ADS group within VMRD. You will recruit and grow teams across data engineering, analytics, data science, and product management to deliver scalable, secure data ecosystems that support regulatory submissions and discovery.

You will own the R&D digital strategy, drive multi-year initiatives, align with regulatory and privacy requirements, and champion responsible AI practices while delivering measurable scientific

Qualifications

• 8+ years in information, digital, or data tech delivering large-scale data/digital solutions
• 4+ years in people management
• 3+ years in health sciences industry preferred

Responsibilities

• Lead data engineering, analytics, data science, and product management teams
• Own and execute the R&D digital strategy and portfolio
• Define and scale AI and data science strategy with measurable impact
• Deliver$30M+ R&D data and digital programs across cross-functional teams
• Establish governance for data architecture, metadata, and FAIR principles
• Build self-service data products and insight platforms with strong UX
• Partner with IT to operate enterprise-scale R&D platforms and data solutions
• Institute KPIs and drive adoption and continuous improvement
• Orchestrate cross-domain data integration from discovery to product submission
• Launch communities of practice and responsible AI training

Skills

Leadership

Data strategy

Data governance

AI/ML

Stakeholder management

Product management

Education

Bachelor's Degree in CS/CI/Data Science

Tools

ELN

LIMS

Cloud platforms

Job description

Zoetis is the global leader in animal health, manufacturing innovative pharmaceutical products across the full spectrum of veterinary care. To secure our future and accelerate innovation, we are advancing a bold, enterprise-wide data and digital transformation, empowering faster decisions and better solutions for animals worldwide.

Within Veterinary Medicine Research & Development (VMRD), we are reimagining how science is done in a digital-first world. By executing our data and digital strategy, we will unlock new value for our colleagues, Zoetis, and our customers. It's an exciting time to join the Automation and Data Sciences (ADS) group in VMRD to lead this transformation.

In close partnership with scientific, clinical, and regulatory stakeholders, this role will steward a modern R&D data ecosystem that spans data governance, FAIR data practices, advanced analytics, AI/ML, and digital lab solutions to ensure high‑quality, compliant, and reusable data at scale.

Success will be measured by reduced cycle times, higher data quality and traceability, increased reuse of scientific data and models, and clear impact on portfolio decisions and overall R&D productivity. The ideal candidate brings a proven record of delivering complex data and digital platforms and translating scientific needs into secure, scalable, user‑centric solutions that advance our mission to deliver impactful innovations in animal health.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Recruit, grow, and lead high‑performing teams across data engineering, data analytics, data science, and product management, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and delivery excellence.
• Own the R&D digital strategy and portfolio, prioritizing investments against scientific objectives to sequence multi‑year initiatives, maximizing value, speed, and compliance.
• Define and scale the R&D AI and data science strategy, focusing on high‑ROI use cases with clear success criteria, change management, and measurable scientific impact.
• Accountable to execute on the delivery of $30M+ R&D data and digital programs, while leading cross‑functional teams to deploy complex, end‑to‑end solutions that accelerate discovery through regulatory submission, with disciplined stage gates, risk management, and benefits realization.
• Own the R&D data and digital roadmap, integrating portfolio priorities with regulatory and privacy obligations (GxP, data integrity, data privacy), establishing a governance model, and ensuring audit readiness across the lifecycle.
• Govern and enforce a standard data architecture, metadata, and FAIR principles and implement quality controls, lineage, and stewardship to ensure trusted, compliant data at scale.
• Build and operationalize self‑service data products and insight platforms while championing product‑centric agile delivery with robust user experience, backlog hygiene, and release discipline.
• Partner with IT to establish a comprehensive operating model for enterprise‑scale R&D platforms and data solutions, including capacity planning, SLAs, incident/problem management, vendor performance, and cost optimization to ensure reliability, scalability, and sustained value.
• Institutionalize outcome measurement by defining and tracking KPIs and socialize results and lessons learned to drive adoption and continuous improvement.
• Orchestrate cross‑domain data integration from early discovery through product submission by delivering ELN/LIMS interoperability, automated experiment workflows, and standardized pipelines to improve reproducibility and throughput.
• Elevate organizational capabilities by launching communities of practice and training curriculum, along with embedding responsible AI practices, enabling scientists to leverage advanced tools confidently and safely.

Requirements:

• Education: Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, Data Science, and/or equivalent training/experience in a related field.
• Experience: A minimum of 8 years of experience in an information, digital, and/or data technology role delivering and supporting large scale data and digital solutions, with a minimum of 4 years managing people; 3+ years in the health sciences industry is desired.
  

About Zoetis

At Zoetis, our purpose is to nurture the world and humankind by advancing care for animals. As a Fortune 500 company and the world leader in animal health, we discover, develop, manufacture and commercialize vaccines, medicines, diagnostics and other technologies for companion animals and livestock. We know our people drive our success. Our award-winning culture, built around our Core Beliefs, focuses on our colleagues' careers, connection and support. We offer competitive healthcare and retirement savings benefits, along with an array of benefits, policies and programs to support employee well‑being in every sense, from health and financial wellness to family and lifestyle resources.

Notice: Zoetis Recruiters will contact candidates via email from an address ending in @zoetis.com and may also initially connect with candidates through LinkedIn, including LinkedIn InMail. Zoetis does not use Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, or other web-based/generic email domains to communicate about job opportunities, interviews, or offers of employment. If you receive a recruitment‑related email message claiming to be from Zoetis that does not come from @zoetis.com, please treat it as suspicious. For your security, do not reply, click links, open attachments, share personal or financial information, or send money in response to unexpected or questionable recruitment communications.