Global Head - Small Molecule In Vitro Pharmacology (Automation)

Takeda•Boston, MA

2d•$212,000 - $333,190•Hybrid

About The Position

Takeda is building its Lab of Tomorrow, a fully automated, closed loop, AI-integrated drug discovery platform. As part of this initiative, we are seeking a Head of Small Molecule In Vitro Pharmacology. This senior leader will be responsible for driving the scientific vision and operational strategy for discovery, building and leading a distributed team, and collaborating with cross-functional and external partners to deliver world-class assay capabilities, rigorous data quality, and translational pharmacology to accelerate portfolio decision-making.

Requirements

PhD in Pharmacology, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, or related discipline with 15+ years of industry experience, including progressive leadership at the discovery and early development interface.
Proven executive leadership track record running discovery pharmacology teams with global responsibilities, budgets, and strategic outcomes.
Deep hands-on expertise in in vitro pharmacology including biochemical and cell-based assays, target engagement, orthogonal counter-screens, and quantitative dose-response analysis.
Experience with assay miniaturization, automation, informatics, and HTS readiness.
Exceptional communication and stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence cross-functional and executive audiences.
Proven ability to hire, develop, and retain senior scientific leaders.

Nice To Haves

Significant leadership experience in biotech/pharmaceutical organizations with responsibility for global teams, budgets, and cross-functional program outcomes.
Experience with IND enabling programs and regulatory interactions.
Familiarity with high content imaging, label-free techniques, TR-FRET, SPR, BLI, and other biophysical modalities at scale.
Use of advanced analytics, data pipelines, or machine learning to improve assay QC and predictive performance.
Background in therapeutic areas such as oncology, neuroscience, or immunology and designing translational PD and biomarker strategies.
Prior success in global matrix organizations and leading organizational change.

Responsibilities

Lead, define, and shape the global strategy, execution, and continuous evolution of the IVP function, ensuring alignment with Takeda’s enterprise R&D priorities.
Define and lead the global IVP strategy, aligning capabilities to R&D portfolio priorities and company objectives.
Organize and lead a high-performing, geographically distributed team of directors, managers, scientists, and operations staff; recruit, mentor, and develop leaders.
Set and enforce best practices for assay design, validation, miniaturization, throughput, automation readiness, and reproducibility.
Establish scalable screening cascades for HTS, hit triage, and SAR/DMTA profiling.
Ensure quantitative pharmacology readouts support hit-to-lead, lead optimization, candidate selection, and IND-enabling decisions; serve as a key cross-functional leader in alignment with ADME, DMPK, translational sciences, and clinical biomarker teams.
Lead scouting and implementation for the technology infrastructure to support a highly integrated and AI-leveraged capability.
Define team KPIs such as assay turnaround, miniaturized assay performance, data quality, and predictive value; report impact to senior R&D leadership and the executive team.
Act as a primary external scientific leader for IVP; represent the company at alliances, conferences, advisory boards, and regulatory interactions and contribute to publications and patents.
Own resource allocation, investment decisions, and budget for the global in vitro pharmacology function; make trade-offs across programs to optimize enterprise value and pipeline progression.
Establish a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement; drive adoption of new technologies, methodologies, and ways of working.