Global Head, Autonomous Platform Strategy & Portfolio
About The Position
The Global Head, Autonomous Platform Strategy & Portfolio will turn Roche’s autonomous-lab vision into a prioritized portfolio of capabilities and scientific use cases. The role bridges emerging technologies and R&D experimental labs, ensuring capital investments and technology advancements translate into accelerated scientific impact. The position is part of the Roche Autonomous Lab Accelerator, which brings together gRED, pRED, PT, and the Computational Sciences Center of Excellence to build closed-loop Lab-in-the-Loop capabilities connecting scientific intent, digital design, experimental execution, and high-quality data generation. The role defines and champions a multi-year platform roadmap aligned with corporate scientific goals and drug discovery pipelines; develops investment business cases; sets build, buy, co-develop, license, or acquisition decision frameworks; tracks capability maturity across scientific disciplines; benchmarks external developments; and establishes partner and vendor strategies. It represents the autonomous lab in the scientific and technology community. The position leads Product Managers and Technical Program Managers, drives annual strategic planning and capital budgeting with executive leadership, oversees external co-development partnerships, and supports adoption of autonomous lab platforms by addressing user experience and cultural resistance in scientific organizations. Relocation benefits are provided. The position is based primarily in San Francisco. The expected salary range is $261,700–$485,900, with a discretionary annual bonus potentially available based on individual and Company performance.
Requirements
- 10+ years of progressive leadership at the intersection of life sciences, technology, and portfolio strategy in a Pharma/Biotech environment.
- Deep technical familiarity with lab automation, AI/ML applications in R&D, automation technology, and core drug discovery workflows.
- Proven experience directing Product and Program Managers.
- Experience negotiating high-value external strategic partnerships.
- Demonstrated success building capital allocation business cases and translating complex technical investments into clear executive ROI.
- Experience driving behavioral adoption, user experience, and overcoming cultural resistance in scientific organizations.
Responsibilities
- Define, maintain, and champion the multi-year strategic platform roadmap in alignment with corporate scientific goals and drug discovery pipelines.
- Develop business cases for capital allocation, prioritizing investments based on projected ROI, scientific impact, and time-to-value.
- Set decision frameworks for capabilities Roche should build, co-develop, license, permit, or acquire.
- Evaluate which scientific and technology workflows, hardware, and software capabilities should be sourced externally or developed and customized internally.
- Track capability maturity across chemistry, biology, DMPK, protein sciences, and other disciplines.
- Benchmark external autonomous-science developments in AI, robotics, and next-generation lab automation.
- Define partner and vendor strategy, identify external collaborators, and negotiate high-level co-development initiatives.
- Represent the Roche autonomous lab as a senior leader in the scientific and technology community.
- Direct, mentor, and align Product Managers and Technical Program Managers across the autonomous platform portfolio.
- Lead annual strategic planning and coordinate with executive leadership to secure and allocate capital budgets.
- Oversee external strategic collaborations and ensure delivery against integrated scientific and technical milestones.
- Drive behavioral adoption and address user experience and cultural resistance as autonomous platforms change how bench scientists work.
Benefits
- Relocation benefits are provided.
- A discretionary annual bonus may be available based on individual and Company performance.
- Benefits are referenced through a link in the posting, but specific benefits are not listed.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Executive
Education Level
No Education Listed
