Director of External Research & Development

Amgen • South San Francisco, CA

7d • $191,355 - $258,893

About The Position

Join Amgen’s Mission of Serving Patients At Amgen, if you feel like you’re part of something bigger, it’s because you are. Our shared mission—to serve patients living with serious illnesses—drives all that we do. Since 1980, we’ve helped pioneer the world of biotech in our fight against the world’s toughest diseases. With our focus on four therapeutic areas –Oncology, Inflammation, General Medicine, and Rare Disease– we reach millions of patients each year. Amgen is advancing a broad and deep pipeline of medicines to treat cancer, heart disease, inflammatory conditions, rare diseases, and obesity and obesity-related conditions. As a member of the Amgen team, you’ll help make a lasting impact on the lives of patients as we research, manufacture, and deliver innovative medicines to help people live longer, fuller happier lives. Our award-winning culture is collaborative, innovative, and science based. If you have a passion for challenges and the opportunities that lay within them, you’ll thrive as part of the Amgen team. Join us and transform the lives of patients while transforming your career. Director of External Research & Development What you will do Let’s do this. Let’s change the world. In this vital role within External R&D in Business Development, you will lead a team responsible for identifying and evaluating innovative external therapeutics in Rare Disease for potential in-licensing, M&A, or collaboration opportunities. The successful candidate will develop and nurture a network of key industry and academic contacts to ensure robust communication of ideas, interests, and information between the external rare disease ecosystem and internal Amgen groups. The role requires proactive efforts to search for and identify external opportunities through networking, conference coverage, company engagement, academic outreach, and systematic reviews of the external landscape. The candidate will assess and prioritize opportunities based on Amgen’s rare disease strategy, scientific rationale, medical need, competitive differentiation, development feasibility, and strategic fit. This role requires scientific and strategic breadth across rare disease areas, potentially including immunology, ophthalmology, nephrology, neurology, hematology, metabolic and genetic diseases, and other specialty areas. The candidate should be comfortable evaluating diverse therapeutic modalities, including biologics, small molecules, RNA-based therapeutics, and gene therapy. The role includes leading technical evaluations of external opportunities by creating and managing cross-functional review teams and providing clear recommendations grounded in scientific, clinical, development, and strategic judgment, including rare disease-specific considerations such as patient identification, endpoints and development feasibility. This person will ensure efficient reviews, support business negotiations and contractual execution for selected projects, and lead strategic discussions with senior management, R&D, Commercial, Regulatory, Medical, and other stakeholders to define priorities for licensure, collaboration, M&A, or out-licensing.

Requirements

• Doctorate degree and 4 years of experience in drug development industry and/or biopharma business development OR Master’s degree and 7 years of experience in drug development industry and/or biopharma business development OR Bachelor’s degree and 9 years of experience in drug development industry and/or biopharma business development
• Doctorate in a scientific discipline with broad working knowledge across rare disease biology and drug development.
• Experience in one or more areas such as immunology, ophthalmology, nephrology, neurology, hematology, metabolic disease, genetic disease, or other rare/specialty diseases is strongly preferred.
• 4+ years of management and/or leadership experience in business and drug development activities, with strong technical R&D experience and business development, licensing, collaboration, or M&A evaluation experience.
• Strong leadership, scientific, organizational, communication, and project management skills and ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Excellent presentation skills.
• Effective communication skills pertaining to scientific and business development.
• Must demonstrate ability to foresee and solve problems and prioritize and meet deadlines.
• Strong team player, experience in successfully managing direct reports and a demonstrated ability to interface effectively with all levels of staff across differing functional expertise.
• Demonstrated ability to create and build relationships with internal and external parties.
• Professional demeanor with strong decision-making.
• Be able to work independently, manage large cross-functional teams, and mentor individuals.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team responsible for identifying and evaluating innovative external therapeutics in Rare Disease for potential in-licensing, M&A, or collaboration opportunities.
• Develop and nurture a network of key industry and academic contacts to ensure robust communication of ideas, interests, and information between the external rare disease ecosystem and internal Amgen groups.
• Proactively search for and identify external opportunities through networking, conference coverage, company engagement, academic outreach, and systematic reviews of the external landscape.
• Assess and prioritize opportunities based on Amgen’s rare disease strategy, scientific rationale, medical need, competitive differentiation, development feasibility, and strategic fit.
• Lead technical evaluations of external opportunities by creating and managing cross-functional review teams.
• Provide clear recommendations grounded in scientific, clinical, development, and strategic judgment, including rare disease-specific considerations such as patient identification, endpoints and development feasibility.
• Ensure efficient reviews, support business negotiations and contractual execution for selected projects.
• Lead strategic discussions with senior management, R&D, Commercial, Regulatory, Medical, and other stakeholders to define priorities for licensure, collaboration, M&A, or out-licensing.

Benefits

• A comprehensive employee benefits package, including a Retirement and Savings Plan with generous company contributions, group medical, dental and vision coverage, life and disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts
• A discretionary annual bonus program, or for field sales representatives, a sales-based incentive plan
• Stock-based long-term incentives
• Award-winning time-off plans
• Flexible work models where possible.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director