Astellas Pharma Inc. is looking to drive the digital transformation of pharmaceutical R&D by hiring a Lead, R&D Business Analysis & Digital Product Management to lead a team and manage a portfolio of digital capabilities.
Requirements
- 10+ years of experience in digital product management or business analysis within pharmaceutical R&D and/or management consulting group focused on R&D in life science.
- 5+ years of experience in people leadership, including managing and developing high-performing teams.
- Demonstrated experience leading cross-functional digital initiatives or product portfolios in complex, matrixed environments.
- Strong understanding and experience of Agile methodologies and ways of working.
- Demonstrated knowledge of the R&D lifecycle and related digital ecosystems for effective coaching and capacity management of direct reports.
- Experience leading digital capabilities in R&D or regulated scientific environments.
- Experience in Agile Development, Product Management and Software Development Life Cycles including requirements specifications development and user acceptance testing for computer systems in a GxP environment.
- Familiarity with emerging technologies such as GenAI, advanced analytics, and intelligent automation in R&D use cases.
Responsibilities
- Manage a team of Product Managers and Business Analysts who support digital initiatives across R&D.
- In conjunction with Pod Captains, manage resource allocation and capacity planning to meet portfolio demands while balancing team workload and priorities.
- Coach and mentor team members to strengthen core capabilities in Astellas values and behaviors, R&D business analysis, digital product management, stakeholder engagement and communication, and agile delivery.
- Lead a cross-functional matrixed team focused on a specific portfolio of digital capabilities for R&D, ensuring alignment with relevant functional goals and company objectives.
- Lead the development and monitoring of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs).
- Continue to mature agile way of working, through ceremonies including sprint planning, backlog refinement, retrospectives, regular stand-ups, and use of our Agile Enterprise applications (Azure DevOps) for managing epics, features, user stories and sprints.
- Collaborate with business stakeholders and technical teams to identify innovation opportunities including the use of AI, GenAI, Automation and Advanced Analytics.
Other
- This position is based in Northbrook, Illinois. Hybrid work from certain states may be permitted in accordance with Astellas’ Responsible Flexibility Guidelines.
- The primary responsibility of the Lead, R&D Business Analysis and Digital Product Management is to serve as a people manager, responsible for developing talent, managing team capacity, and fostering excellence across the community of Product Managers and Business Analysts who support R&D digital initiatives.
- Foster a collaborative and innovative team culture, encouraging open communication and idea sharing
- Partner with HR and functional leaders to attract, retain, and develop top digital talent aligned with evolving R&D business needs.
- May require up to 10% international travel.
