Director, Oncology R&D Strategy and Portfolio Management

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Are you looking for a patient-focused, innovation-driven company that will inspire you and empower you to shine? Join us as a Director, Oncology R&D Strategy and Portfolio Management in our Cambridge office.

At Takeda, we are transforming the pharmaceutical industry through our R&D-driven market leadership and being a values-led company. To do this, we empower our people to realize their potential through life-changing work. Certified as a Global Top Employer, we offer stimulating careers, encourage innovation, and strive for excellence in everything we do. We foster an inclusive, collaborative workplace, in which our global teams are united by an unwavering commitment to deliver Better Health and a Brighter Future to people around the world.

Here, you will be a vital contributor to our inspiring, bold mission.

Role Summary

The Director, Oncology R&D Strategy and Portfolio Management is a key member of the Oncology Strategy and Operations leadership team, responsible for shaping and executing an integrated R&D portfolio strategy across the One Oncology organization. This role partners closely with senior leaders across Oncology Therapeutic Area Unit (OTAU), Oncology Drug Development Unit (ODDU) and Oncology Business Unit (OBU) to enable timely, high-quality portfolio decisions that maximize patient impact and enterprise value.

The role leads portfolio strategy, prioritization, analytics, governance, and strategic initiatives across early- and late-stage oncology programs. The successful candidate will translate complex scientific, clinical, commercial, and financial information into clear strategic recommendations; facilitate decision-making among senior leaders; and ensure portfolio strategy is effectively communicated and operationalized across the organization.

This individual will regularly support and facilitate senior governance forums, including the Joint Oncology Leadership Team (JOLT) and Oncology Development Strategy Team (ODeST), while driving continuous improvement in portfolio management methodologies, decision analytics, and governance effectiveness.

Responsibilities

Portfolio Strategy and Management

• Partner with the Head of Oncology Portfolio Strategy and Operations and the Oncology Leadership Team to develop, communicate, and continuously refine an integrated, end-to-end Oncology R&D strategy.
• Maintain an integrated view of the Oncology portfolio across discovery, early development, late-stage development, and lifecycle management.
• Align portfolio strategy with disease-area strategies, asset strategies, external innovation priorities, and broader corporate objectives.
• Partner with senior leaders across OTAU, ODDU, OBU, and enabling functions to define a near- and long-term One Oncology portfolio vision.
• Identify portfolio opportunities, risks, gaps, dependencies, and trade-offs, and recommend strategies to optimize portfolio value and execution.
• Support real-time portfolio prioritization and investment decisions through structured analyses, scenario development, risk assessment, value profiling and probability-of-technical-and-regulatory-success assessments.
• Provide strategic input to asset- and portfolio-level decision forums, including preparation of materials, recommendations, and decision narratives for senior governance bodies.
• Support corporate planning cycles and enterprise business processes, including long-range planning, financial planning, management reviews, and investor-related activities, as appropriate.
• Monitor portfolio progress against strategic objectives, milestones, resource requirements, and key performance indicators.

Governance and Decision-Making

• Lead the preparation and facilitation of JOLT and ODeST agendas, meetings, pre-reads, decision materials, and follow-up actions.
• Ensure governance forums are focused, appropriately structured, and oriented toward clear decisions and accountable actions.
• Track, communicate, and monitor governance recommendations, decisions, assumptions, and unresolved issues.
• Develop and improve decision-making approaches, governance processes, and portfolio management tools to increase speed, transparency, consistency, and quality of decisions.
• Facilitate cross-functional alignment on complex portfolio questions and ensure appropriate escalation of risks and issues.
• Support the Oncology Advisory Board, including preparation of materials, synthesis of feedback, and implementation and tracking of recommendations.

Strategic Initiatives and Portfolio Analytics

• Lead strategic initiatives under the direction of the Head of Oncology Portfolio Strategy and Operations to strengthen portfolio management, prioritization, portfolio linkage, and strategic planning.
• Develop quantitative and qualitative portfolio analyses that integrate scientific, clinical, regulatory, commercial, operational, and financial considerations.
• Translate complex data and uncertainty into clear options, implications, recommendations, and decision points.
• Apply modern decision analytics, scenario planning, and portfolio modeling techniques to support investment and development choices.
• Develop mechanisms to respond effectively to evolving business needs, external opportunities, internal strategic imperatives, and changes in the competitive landscape.
• Partner with Global Business Development and the Center for External Innovation to incorporate external opportunities, assets, technologies, and partnership considerations into Oncology portfolio strategy.
• Identify opportunities to improve portfolio transparency, reporting, insights generation, and cross-functional connectivity.

Leadership and Stakeholder Management

• Represent the Oncology portfolio strategy and management function with senior internal and external stakeholders.
• Build trusted relationships across a broad, global, and matrixed organization.
• Prepare and deliver concise, compelling presentations that communicate portfolio status, strategic choices, risks, opportunities, and recommendations.
• Collaborate with Strategy and Operations colleagues to establish consistent standards, tools, processes, and best practices across Oncology TAU.
• Drive continuous improvement by capturing lessons learned and applying them to future portfolio and governance activities.

Education and Experience

• Advanced scientific or business degree (PhD, MD, PharmD, MBA) with 7 to 10 years consulting in Pharma industry.
• Minimum of 10–15 years of relevant experience in the biopharmaceutical, biotechnology, pharmaceutical consulting, or life sciences industry with in-depth knowledge of research and development and related commercial operations.
• At least 7 years of experience in drug development, R&D strategy, portfolio management, program leadership, insights and analytics, etc.
• Demonstrated experience working across complex, global, cross-functional R&D organizations.
• Experience integrating scientific, clinical, regulatory, commercial, operational, and financial information into portfolio recommendations.
• Experience preparing for, presenting to, and interacting with Senior Executives in R&D and Business organizations in R&D-driven multinational biopharmaceutical or large biotechnology organizations.
• Experience with portfolio modeling, scenario analysis, prioritization frameworks, risk assessment, or comparable decision-support methodologies.
• Displays a firm grasp of modern decision analytics approaches.
• Oncology experience strongly preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, and Capabilities

• Deep understanding of the pharmaceutical R&D and drug development lifecycle.
• Strong strategic thinking and systems-thinking capabilities, with the ability to connect individual assets to broader portfolio and enterprise objectives.
• Ability to synthesize information from multiple sources and communicate complex concepts clearly, persuasively, and concisely.
• Strong analytical, quantitative, problem-solving and decision-framing skills.
• Ability to navigate ambiguity, manage competing priorities, and make progress in a complex matrix environment.
• Demonstrated ability to influence and drive alignment across organizational boundaries.
• Ability to embrace calculated risk, clarify assumptions, and establish practical actions to mitigate uncertainty.
• Strong executive presence and experience interacting with senior leaders.
• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, facilitation, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Highly collaborative, adaptable, and results-oriented approach.
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail, with the ability to manage multiple high-priority initiatives simultaneously.
• Patient-focused mindset and commitment to delivering differentiated medicines to patients in need.

Travel Requirements

• Willingness to travel, including overnight trips. Some international may be required.
• Approximately 5–10% travel.

Takeda is proud in its commitment to creating a diverse workforce and providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, parental status, national origin, age, disability, citizenship status, genetic information or characteristics, marital status, status as a Vietnam era veteran, special disabled veteran, or other protected veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws, and any other characteristic protected by law

This position is currently classified as “hybrid” in accordance with Takeda’s Hybrid and Remote Work policy. 

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Takeda Compensation and Benefits Summary

We understand compensation is an important factor as you consider the next step in your career. We are committed to equitable pay for all employees, and we strive to be more transparent with our pay practices. 

For Location:

U.S. Base Salary Range:

The estimated salary range reflects an anticipated range for this position. The actual base salary offered may depend on a variety of factors, including the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position, years of relevant experience, specific and unique skills, level of education attained, certifications or other professional licenses held, and the location in which the applicant lives and/or from which they will be performing the job. The actual base salary offered will be in accordance with state or local minimum wage requirements for the job location. 

For information about our benefits, please click here.

EEO Statement

Takeda is proud in its commitment to creating a diverse workforce and providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, parental status, national origin, age, disability, citizenship status, genetic information or characteristics, marital status, status as a Vietnam era veteran, special disabled veteran, or other protected veteran in accordance with applicable federal, state and local laws, and any other characteristic protected by law.

Job Exempt