Head of R&D Medical DDT Data Governance & Modeling

Takeda•Boston, MA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

As a Head of R&D Medical DDT Data Governance & Modeling, you will be a part of the R&D Medical DD&T organization, accountable for setting enterprise-wide direction for data governance, master data management, and data modeling across R&D and Global Medical. You will define the operating model, standards, and capabilities that underpin trusted, AI-ready data foundations. You will also ensure that R&D and Global Medical data is well governed, semantically rich, interoperable, and fit for advanced analytics and AI, through the design and implementation of modern data models, ontologies, and governance frameworks. You will play a critical leadership role across R&D Data Foundations, partnering closely with scientific, medical, and technology leaders to enable high-impact programs such as R&D of the Future (RDoF) and AedificaFortis (AF).

Requirements

Advanced degree in a scientific, technical, or quantitative discipline strongly preferred.
12–15 years of experience in data, digital, or technology roles, with demonstrated senior leadership experience in data governance, data modeling, and/or semantic technologies within complex enterprise environments.
Demonstrated experience designing and implementing enterprise scale data governance and MDM capabilities, preferably in R&D, healthcare, life sciences, or similarly regulated domains.
Proven knowledge and leadership across R&D data domains, including Research, Clinical, Regulatory, Safety, and Portfolio, in a regulated pharmaceutical environment.
Deep expertise in data modeling, ontologies, and semantic frameworks, with a track record of applying these to enable analytics and AI.
Strong understanding of how data foundations, semantic models, and governance enable AI, advanced analytics, and digital transformation.
Experience developing and implementing data governance policies aligned to business, privacy and compliance needs.
Proven ability to operate at senior‑leader level, influencing across functions and driving alignment in ambiguous, fast‑moving environments.

Responsibilities

Define and own the R&D Medical data governance strategy, including policies, standards, stewardship models, and operating mechanisms that ensure data quality, integrity, security, and regulatory compliance across the R&D data lifecycle. This includes setting and driving consistent governance expectations across Research, Development, and Global Medical data domains.
Lead the design and implementation of master data management (MDM) capabilities required to support pipeline, program, and portfolio execution across R&D Medical.
Establish governance frameworks that are embedded in platforms and workflows, enabling scalable, automated governance rather than manual oversight.
Provide technical and strategic leadership for data modeling and ontology development, ensuring that R&D Medical data is harmonized, interoperable, and semantically meaningful across domains.
Drive the application of modern data modeling methodologies (conceptual, logical, and physical) and semantic technologies to support unified data layers, knowledge graphs, and AI ready data assets.
Ensure alignment of data models and ontologies with enterprise and R&D‑wide standards, while meeting the specific needs of R&D Medical and scientific use cases.
Ensure governance, modeling, and data foundations are intentionally designed to enable scalable analytics, machine learning, and generative AI use cases at enterprise scale.
Partner with Data & AI Enablement and platform teams to ensure that data products are discoverable, reusable, and optimized for AI‑driven insight generation.
Stay at the forefront of emerging technologies and methodologies in data governance, semantic modeling, and AIready data architecture, bringing innovation into practical application.
Transform siloed data disciplines into an integrated semantic data foundation approach that defines and reuses meaning, structure, and governance rules across data governance, ontology, and modeling.
Serve as a senior leader across R&D Data Foundations, accountable for the data governance and semantic foundations supporting enterprise-critical programs including RDoF and AF.
Partner closely with Research, Medical, and R&D DD&T leaders to translate scientific and business needs into scalable data foundations.
Influence across organizational boundaries, aligning stakeholders and driving adoption of data standards and models through strong engagement and change leadership.
Build, lead, and develop a high performing team of data governance, modeling, and ontology experts.
Foster a culture of innovation, accountability, and agility while operating effectively in a complex, global, and regulated environment.
Act as a thought leader and trusted advisor to senior R&D and DD&T leadership on data foundations and AI‑enablement topics.