Director, Oncology Disease Area Strategy Lead

Amgen • Thousand Oaks, CA

4d

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, Oncology Disease Area Strategy Lead

What you will do
Let’s do this. Let’s change the world. As we increase our investment in discovery research and early pipeline development, this role is critical to drive commercial strategy at the earliest stages of innovation. This position requires a leader who understands the intersection of science, strategy, and commercial execution—ensuring that Amgen’s early-stage investments are positioned for long-term success. The Director, Oncology Disease Areas Strategy Lead (DASL) will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of Amgen’s portfolio by providing commercial insights to early-stage research, pipeline programs, and external business development opportunities. In this role you will be responsible for the following:

* Partnering with Senior Leadership to define Amgen’s early oncology pipeline commercial strategy to ensure investments in research and early development align with long-term business objectives and patient needs.
* Partnering closely with R&D, global marketing, and corporate development teams to assess external innovation and business development opportunities, ensuring alignment with Amgen’s portfolio strategy.
* Supporting portfolio investment decisions for relevant therapeutic areas in coordination with the Enterprise Portfolio Governance function.
* Developing commercial frameworks and business cases to inform progression decisions for early-stage assets, integrating insights from market dynamics, patient needs, and competitive intelligence.
* Building a best-in-class commercial function for oncology early pipeline strategy, ensuring Amgen maintains a leadership position in bringing first-in-class and best-in-class therapies to market.

Key activities and accountabilities include the following:

Early Pipeline Strategy & Portfolio Prioritization
* Create and leverage frameworks for evaluating and prioritizing early-stage oncology assets.
* Support the assessment of commercial viability and differentiation of assets in early development, ensuring alignment with evolving market needs and payer landscapes.
* Partner to shape long-term portfolio strategy in collaboration with R&D, finance, and business development teams.
* Preparation of business cases along with other execution-based deliverables to business needs.

Commercial Partnership with Research & Early Development
* Provide commercial input to research-stage investment decisions, ensuring a clear path to differentiated and commercially viable products.
* Collaborate with R&D to develop target product profiles (TPPs) that reflect strong commercial positioning.
* Establish strong cross-functional partnerships with R&D, corporate strategy, finance, and global marketing teams.

Business Development & External Innovation
* Partner with Amgen’s Business Development team to evaluate in-licensing, partnerships, and acquisitions for early-stage assets.
* Support the commercial due diligence process on external opportunities, integrating scientific innovation with market insights.

Enterprise Portfolio Governance & Investment Strategy
* Play a role in the Portfolio Governance process, ensuring that commercial insights drive R&D investment decisions.
* Align early-stage investments with Amgen’s strategic growth objectives and therapeutic area priorities.

Requirements

• Doctorate degree and 4 years of marketing and/or commercial experience OR Master’s degree and 7 years of marketing and/or commercial experience OR Bachelor’s degree and 9 years of marketing and/or commercial experience
• Extensive experience in Oncology with a deep understanding of the science, market trends, future opportunities and hurdles
• 8+ years of commercial experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, with significant time spent in marketing, commercial strategy, and/or pipeline development
• Deep experience in commercial development for pipeline assets, including product positioning, market assessment, and competitive analysis
• Experience working in cross-functional leadership roles across commercial and R&D teams
• Strong track record in enterprise portfolio strategy, including investment decision-making and pipeline prioritization
• Excellent leadership and people management skills with a proven ability to develop and mentor hard-working teams
• Prior biopharmaceutical leadership experience overseeing commercial strategy, commercial development, and marketing functions
• Deep knowledge of global biopharma market dynamics, payer trends, and competitive landscapes
• Experience engaging with executive leadership and board-level stakeholders on commercial and R&D investment decisions
• Strong analytical, financial, and strategic thinking skills with the ability to translate complex data into actionable insights
• Demonstrated expertise in business development, including due diligence and partnership evaluations

Nice To Haves

• Masters of Business Administration
• MD or PhD in a life sciences-related field (e.g., cancer biology, pharmacology)
• Prior experience in management consulting (McKinsey, Bain, BCG) focused on strategy, commercial development, and business development in the life sciences industry

Responsibilities

• Partnering with Senior Leadership to define Amgen’s early oncology pipeline commercial strategy to ensure investments in research and early development align with long-term business objectives and patient needs.
• Partnering closely with R&D, global marketing, and corporate development teams to assess external innovation and business development opportunities, ensuring alignment with Amgen’s portfolio strategy.
• Supporting portfolio investment decisions for relevant therapeutic areas in coordination with the Enterprise Portfolio Governance function.
• Developing commercial frameworks and business cases to inform progression decisions for early-stage assets, integrating insights from market dynamics, patient needs, and competitive intelligence.
• Building a best-in-class commercial function for oncology early pipeline strategy, ensuring Amgen maintains a leadership position in bringing first-in-class and best-in-class therapies to market.
• Create and leverage frameworks for evaluating and prioritizing early-stage oncology assets.
• Support the assessment of commercial viability and differentiation of assets in early development, ensuring alignment with evolving market needs and payer landscapes.
• Partner to shape long-term portfolio strategy in collaboration with R&D, finance, and business development teams.
• Preparation of business cases along with other execution-based deliverables to business needs.
• Provide commercial input to research-stage investment decisions, ensuring a clear path to differentiated and commercially viable products.
• Collaborate with R&D to develop target product profiles (TPPs) that reflect strong commercial positioning.
• Establish strong cross-functional partnerships with R&D, corporate strategy, finance, and global marketing teams.
• Partner with Amgen’s Business Development team to evaluate in-licensing, partnerships, and acquisitions for early-stage assets.
• Support the commercial due diligence process on external opportunities, integrating scientific innovation with market insights.
• Play a role in the Portfolio Governance process, ensuring that commercial insights drive R&D investment decisions.
• Align early-stage investments with Amgen’s strategic growth objectives and therapeutic area priorities.

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
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree