Scientific 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.

The Scientific Director serves as a senior scientific leader and subject‑matter expert, shaping the strategic direction and advancing disease biology insights across the Diabetes Therapeutic Area. This role provides biological leadership to impact the portfolio strategy, ensuring programs are grounded in robust human biology, translational relevance, and a clear path to differentiated clinical value. We are seeking a leader with strong diabetes disease understanding and drug discovery expertise in small molecules;

experience with siRNA or other nucleic‑acid–based modalities is a plus. The position plays a central role in connecting early research, translational science and development strategy to advance a competitive and innovative diabetes pipeline.

Working in close partnership with TA Leadership, Medical Directors, Clinical Trial Strategy Teams and cross‑functional research partners, the Scientific Director influences key portfolio decisions and aligns biological rationale with therapeutic and development priorities. The role supports translational and clinical interpretation, contributes to selected diabetes‑related priorities where appropriate and serves as a trusted scientific advisor in internal and external innovation activities. Success in this position requires scientific depth, strategic judgment, collaborative leadership and the ability to translate complex biology into clear, actionable direction across a global matrix organization.

Reports to Senior Director, Diabetes Research US. Internal relationships include close collaboration with the scientific leadership team, technical staff, project managers and scientific colleagues across all global R&D sites. The Scientific Director will serve as a key member of the Diabetes Research US Leadership Team and will partner closely with Business Development and critical stakeholders across the development organisation.

External engagement includes building and maintaining strong relationships with key opinion leaders in diabetes, cardiometabolic and pancreas biology, as well as with the broader medical and research community, including academic and industry collaborators. The role also requires cross‑functional collaboration with R&D, External Innovation, Medical & Science, Translational Science, Computational Drug Discovery (CDD), Global Research Technologies (GRT) and R&D Strategy, as well as active participation in European and US‑based consortia and academic partnerships.

Individual contributor. No direct or dotted‑line reports.

• Scientific leadership:
  • Progress novel targets and emerging mechanisms of action for diabetes and diabetic‑related comorbidities.
  • Work closely to align efforts in the departments leading external innovation outreach and alliance activities to ensure Diabetes strategic priorities are addressed and future‑focused needs and development are being supported.
  • Contribute subject‑matter expertise to the TA research agenda in partnership with TA Leadership, Development and Commercial, linking scientific priorities to long‑term portfolio and business needs.
  • Partner with teams leading external innovation and alliance activities to ensure strategic priorities are addressed and future‑focused opportunities are advanced.
  • Integrate human cohorts, clinical datasets, biomarkers and omics data into disease understanding, target validation and precision…