R&D External Innovation Sourcing Project Director

About The Department
Our Research & Development organization brings together the best minds in life science innovation. The teams located in facilities in Lexington, Watertown, Cambridge and Plainsboro reflect the full R&D continuum, from early research through late-stage clinical development. Here, we are building for the future, creating a distinct R&D community based on collaboration, partnerships, and cutting‑edge research across multiple modalities and therapeutic areas.

We recognize that improving human health starts here and that patients rely on us. Our R&D hub merges biotech speed and agility with large pharmaceutical company quality, resources, and stability, uniting the best of both worlds to develop new medicines for patients.

About The Department
Our Research & Development organization brings together the best minds in life science innovation. The teams located in facilities in Lexington, Watertown, Cambridge and Plainsboro reflect the full R&D continuum, from early research through late-stage clinical development. Here, we are building for the future, creating a distinct R&D community based on collaboration, partnerships, and cutting‑edge research across multiple modalities and therapeutic areas.

We recognize that improving human health starts here and that patients rely on us. Our R&D hub merges biotech speed and agility with large pharmaceutical company quality, resources, and stability, uniting the best of both worlds to develop new medicines for patients.
The Position
The R&D External Innovation Sourcing Project Director is accountable for identifying, scouting, shaping and maturing external innovation opportunities. This would include driving external opportunities all the way from stimulation of innovation ecosystems, early asset/platform partnerships, through commercial partnerships, driving opportunities to decision milestones/gates and ensuring absorption/integration into the Novo Nordisk R&D Lines of Business (LoBs). By being responsible for portfolio decisions within therapy areas of NN interest, the role has direct impact on Novo Nordisk's pre‑clinical and early clinical pipeline, as well as enabling platforms.

The role will collaborate across the R&D EI organization, Therapy Area NPI teams and the partner organizations to drive transformative R&D projects through different partnership stages that include understanding what is next for the pipeline, translating R&D/NPI/LoB priorities into external sourcing and scouting focus areas, shaping selected opportunities into actionable project proposals, and preparing governance‑ready recommendations.

Role
As part of the external interface, this role is central for the success of creating a growing and diversified Research & Development (R&D) pipeline and has the specific purpose of:

• Stimulating regional/local innovation ecosystems through foundations, think tanks and startups, as well as through early strategic partnerships
• Identifying and evaluating external opportunities, and driving them to decision governance
• Execute on our sourcing inflow channels strategy and deliver new project proposals
• Shaping and executing partnerships, including ensuring absorption/integration of transacted projects into the core R&D organization and governance

• Driving development of Research & Development (R&D) plans for novel product concepts and activating project teams within Novo Nordisk R&D to execute on R&D plans to IND‑ready assets or implemented technologies.
• Responsible for sourcing a portfolio of 3-5 new research projects from ideation until IND‑ready assets or implemented technologies. The role will source a project portfolio with ambitious productivity targets to deliver INDs or implemented technologies.…