Associate Director Strategic Alliances (Hybrid)

Job Description

Global Project and Alliance Management (GPAM) resides within the Research and Development (R&D) organization at our Company's Research & Development Division. The Project, Portfolio and Alliance Managers in GPAM are core members of cross-functional discovery, development, and alliance teams responsible for discovering and developing products that improve human health.  In addition, GPAM includes a Project Management Office (PMO), which is responsible for the development, sustainment, and training of GPAM-owned systems, tools, and business processes that serve our Research & Development Division more broadly. The GPAM Research & Development Division Alliance Managers focus on achieving the goals of the alliance by ensuring activities, resources, communications, and decisions are coordinated and maximized with our R&D partners.

Position Description/Summary:

Under the broad direction of the Senior Director or Director, Strategic Alliances, the Associate Director, Strategic Alliances is responsible for ensuring successful relationship and contractual management of R&D licenses and R&D alliances/collaborations that result from agreements executed by Corporate Business Development (Corp BD).  Responsibility includes engaging internal and partner leaders at all levels to maximally leverage assigned R&D stage alliances for both our Company's and its R&D partners.

This position may be based in either Rahway NJ, Upper Gwynedd PA, Boston MA, San Francisco CA, or Philadelphia PA.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Participate in potential partner due diligence and/or late-stage negotiations to assess cultural fit, ensure understanding of strategic/critical issues, and provide input into governance/decision-making rights and relevant operational aspects of the agreement.

• Take responsibility for organization of timely and seamless implementation of new alliances at the internal and joint team/governance committee levels through comprehensive kick-off meeting planning and execution.

• Identify and align key stakeholders across internal and partner functions. Ensure alliance governance is established and functions efficiently, consistent with agreement intent. Enables joint research and development activities and timely decision-making, considering necessary linkages to our Company's senior management/governance mechanisms.

• Proactively identify and resolve conflicts as needed or raise conflicts and dispute to appropriate management or committees for timely resolution.

• Facilitate, manage, and oversee the scientific and operational relationship between our Company and assigned alliance partners to ensure a productive working environment.

• Provide to each alliance partner an open and continuous channel of communication to ensure partner perspectives are heard and well represented internally.

• Interface closely with the Corp BD and Transaction Legal groups to clarify contractual aspects of collaboration agreements with intent of providing guidance internally to team, committee members and senior management to enhance the value of alliances, ensure appropriate boundaries are set and guide decision-making.

• Support evolution of alliances through their life cycles, including negotiation/drafting of contractual amendments, through management of any necessary agreement terminations.

• Work closely with Finance, Investor Relation, Public Affairs and partners to manage appropriate financial obligations / disclosures material to our Company and/or its partners.

• Contribute to goal of establishing our Research & Development Division Alliance Management as a learning organization by sharing lessons learned and best practices in alliance management within and across divisional alliance management areas.

• Become our internal expert on the partner company by building a deep understanding of the company’s organization/leadership, strategies, financials, priorities, etc.

• Participate in relevant partnering and/or Alliance Management conferences to represent our Company's Alliance Management, contribute to securing our Company’s reputation as a Partner of Choice and identify external best practices for internalization.

Education Minimum Requirement:

• Bachelor’s degree required; concentration in a scientific or applied discipline preferred

Required Experience and Skills:

• A minimum of 8 years’ experience in the biotech/pharmaceutical industry

• A minimum of 2 years in an engagement and/or alliance manager role or equivalent relationship managemen