Lead, R&D Business Analysis & Digital Product Management (Director)

Astellas Canada – Lead, R&D Business Analysis & Digital Product Management

At Astellas, we strive to become a cutting-edge, value-driven life science innovator. This means working at the forefront of healthcare change to turn innovative science into VALUE for patients.

What sets us apart is our focus on patients, our pioneering innovation, our collaborative culture, and the passion of our talented people.

Making a positive impact on patients’ lives is the purpose behind everything we do. At Astellas, we are relentless in our pursuit of scientific progress and in tackling unmet medical needs, demonstrated by our legacy in oncology, overactive bladder and transplant and our impressive pipeline in women's health, blindness and regeneration, genetic regulation, immuno-oncology, mitochondria and targeted protein degradation.

About Us:

We are a global pharmaceutical company headquartered in Japan, with a team of more than 14,000 managing operations in approximately 70 countries around the world. We are in the Top 30 global biopharma company based on global revenues and are predicted to be one of the Top 10 Cancer Drug Makers of 2024 by Fierce Pharma.

In Canada, we are growing to meet the exciting opportunities realized by our legacy brands and rich pipeline of innovative treatments.

We are looking for candidates who will thrive in our entrepreneurial and empowering environment where talent and leadership flourish. Do your values align with our Astellas Way - patient focus, ownership, results, openness and integrity? Then we would love to hear from you.

From the first day in role, everyone at Astellas has a responsibility for creating a brighter future for patients around the world. We nurture exceptional relationships with our employees to allow them to thrive, foster innovation, and deliver exceptional business results. We work to create a culture where our people feel empowered to pursue brave ideas and ambitious outcomes, to have the confidence to be accountable for a higher standard of performance and embody a competitive and solutions-oriented mindset.

Our expertise, science and technology make us a pharma company. Our open and diverse culture is what makes us uniquely Astellas.

Astellas Pharma Canada (APCA) is currently searching for a Lead, R&D Business Analysis & Digital Product Management.

Description
We are seeking a dynamic and experienced leader to join our team. The Lead, R&D Business Analysis and Digital Product Management plays a dual leadership role in driving the digital transformation of pharmaceutical R&D.

This role requires strong people management and cross-functional leadership skills, a collaborative mindset, and the ability to drive results in a fast-paced environment.

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.

The Lead, R&D Business Analysis and Digital Product Management will be assigned to lead a cross-functional team for the management of a portfolio of relevant R&D digital capabilities. They will be working across scientific, operational, data, and technology domains to define vision, guide execution, and ensure business value realization for key digital products and platforms.

Essential Job Duties

• 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.
• 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.
• 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).
• Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders and R&DX leadership team to set OKRs, track progress, and address concerns.
• 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.
• Monitor project timelines, budgets, and resources, ensuring projects are delivered on time and within budget.
• Collaborate with business stakeholders and technical teams to identify innovation opportunities including the use of AI, GenAI, Automation and Advanced Analytics.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences, Business Administration, Computer Science, Systems Engineering, or related field. Advanced degree (MS, MBA, PhD) or equivalent experience preferred.
• 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.
• Ability to partner with business stakeholders across functions.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Strong problem-solving skills and a proactive approach to challenges.
• May require up to 10% international travel.

Preferred

• 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.
• Demonstrated ability to drive business value realization and adoption of digital products.

Working Environment

• This position is remote and is based in Canada.
• At Astellas we recognize the importance of work/life balance, and we are proud to offer a hybrid working solution allowing time to connect with colleagues at the office with the flexibility to also work from home. We believe this will optimize the most productive work environment for all employees to succeed and deliver. Hybrid work from certain locations may be permitted in accordance with Astellas’ Responsible Flexibility Guidelines.

Additional Information

Astellas Pharma Canada welcomes and encourages applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the hiring process.

No telephone inquiries, in-person applications, or agencies please. While we appreciate all applications, only candidates under consideration will be contacted.

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