Global Head, Autonomous Platform Strategy & Portfolio

Genentech; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 262,000 - 486,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation benefits

Job summary

Genentech, Inc. in San Francisco seeks a Global Head of Autonomous Platform Strategy & Portfolio to translate the autonomous-lab vision into a prioritized portfolio of capabilities and scientific use cases.

You will align technology investments with drug discovery goals and provide executive leadership across labs and partnerships. You will lead a team of Product Managers and Technical Program Managers, drive multi-year roadmaps, and govern external collaborations to accelerate scientific impact

Qualifications

• 10+ years of leadership at the intersection of life sciences, technology, and portfolio strategy in pharma/biotech.
• Deep familiarity with lab automation and AI/ML applications in R&D.
• Proven track record directing product/program managers and external partnerships.

Responsibilities

• Define, maintain, and champion a multi-year platform roadmap aligned with scientific goals.
• Develop robust business cases to justify capital investments and ROI.
• Evaluate build vs. buy strategies for workflows, hardware, and software.
• Benchmark external autonomous-science advances to keep the org ahead.
• Define partner ecosystem and negotiate high-level co-development initiatives.
• Represent the autonomous lab externally with credibility and presence.

Skills

Lab automation

AI/ML in R&D

Portfolio strategy

Leadership

Job description

The Position

The Position

A healthier future. It’s what drives us to innovate. To continuously advance science and ensure everyone has access to the healthcare they need today and for generations to come. Creating a world where we all have more time with the people we love. That’s what makes us Roche. Advances in AI, data, robotics, and laboratory automation are transforming drug discovery and development. The Roche Autonomous Lab Accelerator brings together gRED, pRED, PT, and the Computational Sciences Center of Excellence (CS CoE) to build closed-loop Lab-in-the-Loop capabilities that connect scientific intent, digital design, experimental execution, and high-quality data generation.

The Opportunity

The Global Head, Autonomous Platform Strategy & Portfolio will turn the autonomous-lab vision into a prioritized portfolio of capabilities and scientific use cases. Bridge the gap between cutting-edge technology and R&D experimental labs by turning the autonomous-lab vision into a rigorously prioritized portfolio of capabilities and scientific use cases. Serving as the empowered portfolio strategy leader/ executive, you will ensure that capital investments and technological advancements translate directly into accelerated scientific impact for the organization.

In this role, you will:

Core Strategic Responsibilities

• Roadmap & Vision: Define, maintain, and champion the multi-year strategic platform roadmap, ensuring alignment with overarching corporate scientific goals and drug discovery pipelines.
• Investment & Business Case Development: Formulate robust business cases to justify capital allocation, prioritizing technology investments based on projected ROI, scientific impact, and time-to-value.
• Build vs. Buy Strategy: Systematically evaluate and identify which scientific & technology workflows, hardware, and software capabilities should be externally sourced versus internally developed to optimize for speed, cost, and competitive advantage.
  • Set the decision framework for what Roche builds, co-develops, permits/licenses or acquires.
  • Identify what to externally source versus internally develop/ customize workflows.
  • Track capability maturity across chemistry, biology, DMPK, protein sciences, etc.
• Strategic Benchmarking: Continuously benchmark external autonomous-science developments, keeping the organization ahead of industry trends in AI, robotics, and next-generation lab automation.
• Vendor & Partner Ecosystem: Define the partner and vendor strategy, identifying key external players for strategic collaborations and negotiating high-level co-development initiatives.
• External communications and presence: Represent the Roche autonomous lab as a senior leader in the scientific and technology community with credibility and presence.

Leadership & Portfolio Management

• Cross-Domain Maturity Tracking: Monitor and drive the capability maturity of automated workflows across diverse scientific disciplines, including chemistry, biology, DMPK, protein sciences, etc.
• Team Leadership: Direct, mentor, and align a high-performing team of Product Managers and Technical Program Managers, ensuring seamless execution across the entire autonomous platform portfolio.
• Annual Strategic Planning: Lead the annual strategic planning process for the autonomous platform, coordinating closely with executive leadership to secure and allocate capital budgets.
• Co-Development Oversight: Manage external strategic collaborations, ensuring that co-development partnerships consistently deliver on integrated scientific and technical milestones.
• Scientific Change Management: Autonomous lab platforms fundamentally shift how bench scientists work. Explicitly requiring experience in driving behavioral adoption, user experience (UX), and overcoming cultural resistance in scientific organizations is critical.

Who you are:

• Experience: 10+ years of progressive leadership at the intersection of life sciences, technology, and portfolio strategy in a Pharma/Biotech environment.
• Domain Expertise: Deep technical familiarity with lab automation, AI/ML applications in R&D, automation technology and core drug discovery workflows.
• Leadership Track Record: Proven experience directing Product and Program Managers and negotiating high-value external strategic partnerships.
• Business Acumen: Demonstrated success building capital allocation business cases and translating complex technical investments into clear executive ROI.

Relocation benefits are provided for this opportunity

The expected salary range for this position based on the primary location of San Francisco is $261,700 - 485,900 of hiring range. Actual pay will be determined based on experience, qualifications, geographic location, and other job-related factors permitted by law. A discretionary annual bonus may be available based on individual and Company performance. This position also qualifies for the benefits detailed at the link provided below.

Benefits

Genentech is an equal opportunity employer. It is our policy and practice to employ, promote, and otherwise treat any and all employees and applicants on the basis of merit, qualifications, and competence. The company's policy prohibits unlawful discrimination, including but not limited to, discrimination on the basis of Protected Veteran status, individuals with disabilities status, and consistent with all federal, state, or local laws.

If you have a disability and need an accommodation in relation to the online application process, please contact us by completing this form Accommodations for Applicants.