Head, Innovation Accelerator Data Science

This role is based in the Innovation Accelerator (IA) team, the innovation engine and connective tissue for Design, Data and Data Science innovation strategy within Product Development Data Sciences (PDD). We translate our long-term PDD vision into actionable strategy, shaping and prioritizing innovative cross-functional use cases that span PDD, PD, and Pharma. As both integrators and incubators, we explore, prototype, and help productize solutions to deliver impact in close partnership with internal Roche teams and external collaborators. With a mindset rooted in openness, value creation, and adaptability, we navigate the innovation ecosystem to drive transformative impact and future readiness across the organization.

The Opportunity:

The Head of Innovation Accelerator Data Science is responsible for driving technical excellence across design, data and data science innovation programs for Roche Product Development. This role combines deep subject matter expertise in data science and software development with people leadership and portfolio oversight. The Head of IA Data Science ensures strong technical execution, guides architectural decisions, and aligns technical capacity with strategic goals. As a direct report to the Function Head, this position plays a critical role in shaping the innovation roadmap, scaling capabilities, and growing high-performing technical teams.

• You provide technical leadership across early exploration and productization phases of innovation projects, ensuring alignment with departmental goals and enterprise direction

• You act as subject matter expert and single point of escalation/problem resolution for applied data science and software engineering within the innovation portfolio

• You influence PDD data, design and data science (3D) strategy and in-silico strategy & roadmap(s) through strategic technical leadership/expertise

• You make architectural decisions independently and ensure adherence to best practices for scalability, performance, reliability, and compliance

• You oversee execution quality, technical risk management, and project velocity across multiple high-impact workstreams and domains

• You establish and enforce technical standards, enabling reuse, modularity, and robust design across solution development

• You lead technical capacity planning and resource deployment within the team, prioritizing based on departmental strategy and portfolio needs

• You collaborate with cross-functional and enterprise partners to translate innovation opportunities into feasible, impactful, and technically sound solutions

• You drive the Innovation Accelerator portfolio through contribution to governance, resource planning, and progress reviews

• You identify and integrate new technologies and platforms, applying functional expertise and organizational context to maximize department performance

• You ensure traceability, reproducibility, and risk mitigation through robust documentation and engineering practices across all technical deliveries

• You manage a multidisciplinary team of specialists and junior leaders (e.g., data scientists, software engineers), ensuring accountability for delivery, performance, and development

• You oversee hiring, onboarding, workforce planning, and succession management aligned to departmental capabilities and strategic growth areas

• You coach and mentor team members to enhance their individual performance and long-term potential, developing future technical leaders across roles and backgrounds

• You foster a high-performance, inclusive culture focused on collaboration, ownership, and continuous improvement

• You set development goals, conduct performance evaluations, and guide career progression based on business priorities and professional aspirations

• You manage team deployment and resource allocation across a complex portfolio of innovation projects, balancing individual growth with business needs

• You execute short-term department plans by managing priorities, budget, and capacity in coordination with function leadership

• You influence senior stakeholders and functional leadership to secure alignment, resources, and sponsorship for technical priorities

Who you are:

• You have an advanced degree (Master’s or PhD) in Computer Science, Data Science, Statistics, Engineering, or a related technical field