Financial Business Partner Lead

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 173,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

The Gates Medical Research Institute (Gates MRI) in Cambridge, MA seeks a Financial Business Partner Lead to drive strategic decision-making across Finance and R&D. You will partner with Global Product Teams and R&D to translate development timelines into financial plans and deliver insightful analyses.

The role requires senior-level financial leadership across programs and a strong track record in biotech finance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in business, finance, accounting or related field.
• 10+ years of experience in progressive finance roles in pharma/biotech; global health exp a plus.
• Strong financial acumen; budgeting, forecasting, cost control, and long-range planning.
• Deep understanding of drug development from preclinical to commercialization.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills; able to present to senior leadership.
• Self-starter with ability to work in a fast-paced, development-stage environment.

Responsibilities

• Serve as finance partner to Global Product Teams, turning strategy into financial plans.
• Lead finance liaison to R&D, aligning program strategy with financials.
• Translate data into actionable insights for non-financial stakeholders.
• Connect operational performance to financial outcomes for decision making.
• Drive financial accountability through reporting and analytics.
• Collaborate with BPA Head on meaningful financial analytics for programs.
• Support long-range planning with program teams and functions.
• Prepare clinical trial cost estimates and timelines with BIS and clinical teams.
• Evaluate new initiatives and business cases from a financial lens.
• Work with CFO on models and external partnership deals.

Skills

Financial analysis

Budgeting

Forecasting

Long-range planning

Excel

PowerPoint

Adaptive Insights

ClearTrial

Stakeholder communication

Leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree in business/finance/accounting

MBA or biology degree (preferred)

Tools

Adaptive Insights

ClearTrial

Job description

“We are focused on results. Those that can be measured. And those measured in ways beyond numbers. We see individuals, not issues. We are inspired by passion, and compassion for the wellbeing of people. Our methods are based on logic, driven by rigor, results, issues, and outcomes. Our innovation means trying new things, learning from our mistakes, and consistently refining our approach. Our strategies help us define our path to success, but our effectiveness is based in the aggregate power of our initiatives to impact holistic change.” -Bill Gates

The Gates Medical Research Institute (Gates MRI) is a non‑profit biopharmaceutical development organization primarily dedicated to the development of impactful biopharmaceutical interventions for diseases that disproportionately affect the world’s poorest populations, diseases that combined cause five deaths every minute. Headquartered in Cambridge MA, the Institute is designed to advance novel drug, biologics, and vaccine candidates through late‑stage development and registration. The Institute encompasses experienced biopharmaceutical development professionals across regulatory, CMC, and clinical functions as well as comprehensive operational support functions. The Institute’s programs are managed by its internal teams and functional areas in collaboration, working with partners across the global health ecosystem. The Institute is based on five core “mantras” that are embedded within the organization and its people: Urgency: Execute with excellence to maximize impact. Collaboration: Establish empowered teams to drive our bottom line: lives saved. Innovation: Build on the known, uncover the new, achieve the unprecedented. Rigor: Drive the science, focus on the details, and execute with the highest quality. Courage: Dare to confront the world’s most significant global health challenges. Though the Institute is a diverse group of passionate change‑makers, creative fixers, and relentless advocates, these five core values are universally adopted by all who join it with the personal goal of improving the health and wellness of the world’s most vulnerable populations. As a wholly owned subsidiary and separate legal entity of the Gates Foundation, the Institute partners scientifically, operationally, and financially with the foundation to leverage the foundation’s ongoing support and contributions toward the achievement of global health equity. The Institute MRI offers flexible work arrangements for local candidates (50% on site) and a competitive relocation package for those looking to move to the Cambridge, MA area for this on‑site role. Remote arrangements are not available at this time for this role.

THE POSITION

We are seeking a Financial Business Partner Lead to support strategic decision‑making across the business. This role will act as a key liaison between Finance and operational teams, providing financial insight, challenging assumptions, and driving performance improvement from a financial lens. Reporting to the Head of Business Planning & Analysis, the role will assume financial leadership of several programs, in addition to serving as the finance business partner to our research & development (R&D) functions at Gates Medical Research Institute.

Core responsibilities will include:

• Finance business partner and thought leader to Global Product Teams (GPTs), translating development strategy and timelines into financial plans and contributing to our portfolio and organisational strategy.
• Finance business partner to the R&D functions, providing strong financial leadership and ensuring alignment between the functions and program strategy Translate financial data into clear, actionable insights for non‑financial stakeholders.
• Ensure the information readily connects operational performance to financials and can be used to support better strategic decision‑making at the program and functional level.
• Drive financial accountability across GPTs and functions through reporting, analytics and other educational initiatives.
• Strategic partner to the Head of Business Planning & Analysis; developing and/or enhancing meaningful financial analytics for programs and functions.
• Partner with the Program Teams and Functions to plan and manage the financial aspects of the long‑range planning process.
• Prepare clinical trial cost estimates and timelines in collaboration with the Head of Business Planning & Analysis and Global Health Strategy Finance Teams.
• Provide financial evaluation of new initiatives, investments, and business cases.
• Work with the Head of Business Planning & Analysis and CFO on financial models and potential partnership and collaboration deals with external third parties.
• Join a close knit, collaborative, finance, and accounting team.
• Contribute to process development and continuous improvement as we shape our group to better serve our organisational needs.

QUALIFICATIONS

• 10-15+ years of experience in progressive finance roles in the pharmaceutical or biotech industry.
• Global Health experience is a plus.
• A bachelor’s degree in business, finance, accounting or related field required.
• An additional degree in the biological sciences or MBA is a preferred.
• Strong financial acumen and experience in financial analysis, business case development, budgeting, forecasting and long‑range planning.
• Deep understanding of drug development; from preclinical through commercialization.
• Team‑first mentality with strong interpersonal, communication and influencing skills.
• Ability to translate financial concepts to employees at all levels and across all functions.
• Comfortable communicating with senior management.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills with the ability to set priorities and meet stated deadlines.
• The highest level of integrity and understanding risk and reputational issues impacting an enterprise.
• Self‑starter and results‑oriented individual who is comfortable with the ambiguity related to working in a fast‑paced, development‑stage biotech environment.
• Strong Microsoft Excel & PowerPoint skills.
• Experience with Adaptive Insights & ClearTrial experience a plus.

In recognition of high‑wage market differences such as the Cambridge, MA area where this position is located, the salary range for this role is $173,100 to $259,700. As a mission‑driven organization, we strive to balance competitive pay with our mission. New hires salaries are typically between the range minimum and the salary range midpoint. Actual placement in the range will depend on a candidate’s job‑related skills, experience, and expertise, as evaluated during the interview process.

Candidate Accommodations

We’re committed to providing an inclusive and accessible hiring experience for all candidates. If you have a disability or medical condition and need an accommodation at any stage of the application or interview process—such as an ASL interpreter, alternative interview format, or physical accessibility support—we’re happy to help.

Requests will be handled confidentially.

Inclusion Statement

We are dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We’re committed to creating a workplace where employees thrive both personally and professionally. We also believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve—in race, gender, age, cultures and beliefs—and we support this diversity through all of our employment practices. All applicants and employees who are drawn to serve our mission will enjoy equality of opportunity and fair treatment without regard to race, color, age, religion, pregnancy, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, genetic information, veteran status, marital status and prior protected activity. Our only bottom line is the number of lives saved. Let’s change the statistics.

MISSION

The Gates Medical Research Institute is a non‑profit biotech organization. Our mission is to develop products to fight malaria, tuberculosis, and diarrheal diseases—three major causes of mortality, poverty, and inequality in developing countries. The world has unprecedented scientific tools at its disposal; now is the time to use them to save the lives of the world's poorest people. Our focus is translational medicine: advancing novel drug and vaccine candidates from the laboratory to human studies. Funneling many possible ideas into a few viable solutions is the most challenging stage of the research and development process, but we embrace this challenge. We learn continuously from everything we do. If one or two or 100 ideas don't turn into solutions today, they yield insights that help us succeed tomorrow.