Associate Director, Research Strategy Development

Associate Director, Research Strategy Development Accountabilities

• Support key strategic initiatives by structuring problems, building analytical frameworks, and translating outputs into actionable recommendations aligned with enterprise goals.
• Contribute to execution of Labs of Tomorrow and other priorities to accelerate progress and keep work streams connected to the overarching vision.
• Help develop and maintain a multi-year strategic roadmap, including scenario planning and prioritization frameworks.
• Partner with senior Research leaders to evolve group-level strategies and priorities aligned to Takeda Research’s vision.
• Bridge group needs and enterprise initiatives by translating strategic direction into concrete group implications and surfacing group insights.
• Partner with operational colleagues to transition strategy to implementation and maintain strategic intent through handoff.
• Produce strategy deliverables (e.g., situation assessments, option analyses, build/buy/partner, roadmaps, executive communications).
• Monitor external landscape (AI, data science, emerging trends, technology-enabled research models) and translate insights into strategy.
• Support governance forums and leadership reviews by distilling complex, multi-workstream content into executive-ready narratives.

• Advanced life sciences degree required;
  PhD strongly preferred (drug discovery/relevant research preferred).
• 5+ years pharmaceutical/biotech strategy with meaningful drug discovery & development exposure.
• Consulting/internal strategy experience; ability to independently structure/solve complex problems.
• Deep drug discovery & development knowledge (preclinical models, target /validation, competitive dynamics).
• Demonstrated strategy-to-execution drive; bias for impact.
• Familiarity with AI/data platforms/lab automation/tech-enabled research.
• Strong analytical, communication, and relationship-building skills.

• Cambridge, MA (hybrid).