Director, Financial Planning & Analysis - R&D

Job Description

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is a global biotechnology leader committed to scientific innovation and the development of transformative medicines for people with serious diseases. Our finance function is a strategic enabler of Vertex's mission — providing the insights, rigor, and partnership that drive high-quality decisions across the enterprise.

This is a high-visibility, high-impact role at the frontier of science and finance — where your work directly shapes how Vertex invests in advancing its pipeline from target identification through candidate nomination and beyond.

We are seeking a strategic finance leader to serve as Director, R&D Finance, acting as the primary finance partner to the Discovery Research and Preclinical Sciences functions. Reporting to the VP of R&D Finance and managing 2 direct reports, this role leads financial planning, forecasting, reporting, and investment decision support across early-stage research portfolios.

The Director will work closely with senior scientific and operational stakeholders to translate research priorities into driver-based financial insights, multi-scenario planning, disciplined resource allocation, and strong financial governance. Success in this role requires not only exceptional financial acumen, but also intellectual curiosity about the science — enabling truly impactful partnership with research leaders navigating the inherent complexity and ambiguity of early-stage drug discovery.

• Serve as the trusted finance business partner to VP- and SVP+ leaders across Discovery Research and Preclinical Sciences, influencing strategy and investment decisions without direct authority.
• Partner with scientific and operational leaders to identify risks, opportunities, and investment tradeoffs; recommend actions grounded in data-driven insights and portfolio prioritization.
• Provide financial analysis and decision support for headcount planning, external research collaborations, CRO/vendor spend, lab operations, capital equipment, and compound progression decisions.
• Support stage-gate and portfolio review processes by delivering financial scenario modeling for candidate advancement, termination, or reprioritization decisions — translating scientific milestones into clear financial implications.
• Partner with Alliance Management and Business Development on the financial implications of research collaborations, licensing agreements, and academic partnerships, ensuring financial risks and obligations are clearly understood.
• Develop a working understanding of drug discovery and preclinical development processes to provide contextually relevant, scientifically informed financial guidance to research partners.

• Lead all planning cycles including annual budgeting, quarterly forecasting, monthly outlooks, and long-range planning for Discovery and Preclinical Sciences — ensuring alignment with pipeline strategy and corporate financial targets.
• Build and maintain driver-based financial models including FTE capacity models, external spend trackers, and program-level cost models that translate research activity into actionable planning assumptions and investment decisions.
• Develop multi-scenario financial models to support pipeline investment decisions, candidate progression tradeoffs, and resource prioritization at the executive level.
• Deliver timely and insightful reporting including variance analysis, trend analysis, and executive-level business commentary tailored to scientific leadership and the VP of R&D Finance.
• Develop KPIs, dashboards, and reporting tools that improve financial transparency and visibility into research spend allocation, portfolio investment…