Lead, Search & Evaluation, AI and Automation Drug Discovery

Job Description

Takeda is seeking an experienced and strategic leader, director level, to identify, evaluate, and advance external innovation opportunities in AI, automation, data, and digital technologies that can accelerate and differentiate our drug discovery capabilities. This individual will bring a deep understanding of the drug discovery landscape together with strong technical fluency in AI/ML, computational sciences, and digital platforms to assess opportunities for partnership, licensing, collaboration, and strategic investment.

This role sits within Strategy and Portfolio Development (SPD) and reports to the Head of External Portfolio Innovation. As part of SPD, this role will connect external innovation opportunities to enterprise portfolio priorities and long‑term capability building. The successful candidate will help shape Takeda’s external innovation strategy for AI and Automation in Drug Discovery by proactively scouting emerging capabilities, leading technical diligence, and partnering closely with stakeholders across Research, Data, Digital & Technology (DD&T), and Business Development.

This is a highly visible role for a leader who combines scientific credibility, strategic insight, strong external presence, and the ability to translate emerging technologies into meaningful R&D and business impact.

Location:

Cambridge, Massachusetts (employee must be within reasonable commuting distance). Employees are expected to maintain a regular onsite presence of two to three days per week, with a minimum of eight (8) in‑office days per month at the Cambridge office.

• Proactively scout and evaluate external innovation opportunities across AI, automation, computational sciences, and digital technologies relevant to drug discovery.
• Identify and assess partnership, licensing, collaboration, and strategic investment opportunities across academia, biotechnology companies, technology companies, venture ecosystems, and other relevant external partners.
• Lead or coordinate technical due diligence for external opportunities, engaging internal subject matter experts to assess scientific fit, technical feasibility, strategic alignment, risk, and value potential.
• Synthesize complex diligence findings into clear, actionable recommendations for governance bodies and senior leadership.
• Partner closely with Business Development and cross‑functional stakeholders during opportunity assessment and transaction shaping.
• Help define and evolve external innovation priorities aligned to Takeda’s R&D and DD&T strategy.
• Serve as a key external representative of Takeda’s strategic interests in AI and automation for drug discovery.
• Build and maintain a strong network across the biopharma, technology, and venture ecosystem to ensure visibility into emerging trends, capabilities, and partnership opportunities.
• Support evaluation of how external technologies can be deployed to address high‑value scientific and operational challenges across drug discovery.

• Building a high‑quality pipeline of external opportunities aligned to Takeda’s strategic priorities.
• Enabling efficient, rigorous technical diligence and clear decision‑making.
• Influencing internal strategy for AI‑ and automation‑enabled discovery capabilities.
• Strengthening Takeda’s position as a partner of choice in the external innovation ecosystem.
• Helping translate emerging technologies into differentiated R&D impact.

• Bachelor’s degree in a scientific or technical field such as Data Science, Computer Science, Bioinformatics, Engineering, Computational Biology, or a related discipline.
• Significant industry experience in pharma, biotech, healthcare, or a closely related innovation environment.
• Deep understanding of drug discovery processes, including target identification and validation, hit identification, optimization, and pre‑IND research.
• Strong understanding of AI/ML, data, digital technologies, and/or automation platforms relevant to drug discovery.
• Demonstrated experience evaluating external technologies, partnerships, or innovation opportunities.
• Proven ability to lead complex, cross‑functional initiatives…