Head of Scientific Operations, Preclinical & Translational Sciences

Pfizer • Cambridge, MA

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

ROLE SUMMARY Reporting directly to the Head of Preclinical & Translational Sciences (P&TS), this role provides strategic and portfolio leadership to enable delivery and strengthen scientific operations across P&TS. The Head of Scientific Operations is accountable for establishing and executing frameworks for strategic planning, portfolio and resource management, and financial oversight, in close partnership with R&D Strategy, Finance, Compliance, and enterprise portfolio governance. The role ensures alignment with R&D and enterprise priorities by overseeing key elements of strategy implementation, portfolio management, compliance, and financial management of external partnerships. Acting as the P&TS representative in enterprise-level portfolio and financial planning, this leader translates P&TS strategy into actionable insights and clear reporting for senior stakeholders. In collaboration with the Kendall Square Site Head, the role is accountable for the leadership of Kendall Square Site Affairs, overseeing colleague engagement, site operations, internal communications, and external outreach to maintain Pfizer–Kendall Square as a premier research environment that attracts and retains top talent. The successful candidate will be a strategic, execution-oriented leader and must possess the ability to manage complexity while adopting a collaborative approach to advancing enterprise objectives.

Requirements

• MSc, PhD or MBA degree
• Advanced strategic planning, business analysis, communication and business software skills required
• 15+ years of experience with a proven track record in life sciences organizational management, strategic, financial and business planning, operations, and business development (5+ years of relevant experience advising or consulting senior leaders in life sciences)
• Deep understanding of the biopharmaceutical environment and the drug discovery and development process, and a proven track record of success in executing strategic initiatives.
• Extensive experience in business operations, strategy development and corporate business interactions in the pharmaceutical industry, and particularly in Research & Development
• Ability to effectively manage a team of professionals.
• Takes accountability for self, others and for outcome of decisions.
• Sets high standards for performance and holds others accountable to their commitments.
• Strong interpersonal and leadership skills; demonstrated ability to build consensus and drive change across the organization
• Able to be entrepreneurial and focus relentlessly on delivering success within budget on tight and immutable timelines
• Established leadership in building and managing interdisciplinary scientific teams
• Experience of working with other scientific/clinical disciplines and colleagues to share information, best practices, and application of skills/knowledge to maximize project outputs
• Track record of effective communication with multiple stakeholders with different technical backgrounds in order to achieve buy‐in and project approval/progression
• Knowledge of the pharmaceutical development and commercial environment and application of this knowledge to enable portfolio delivery
• This is a hybrid role requiring you to live within commuting distance and work on-site an average of 2.5 days per week or more as needed.

Nice To Haves

• Strong evidence of business acumen
• Demonstrated ability to be a change agent within a senior leadership team working across disciplines
• Demonstrated success in collaborating, navigating and influencing a complex global team where resources are not in direct control
• Ability to manage many competing demands to successful completion through a changing environment
• Demonstrated ability to transform creative ideas into finished products that are impactful; proven ability to develop a range of creative solutions to business challenges.
• Acts with urgency and removes barriers that hinder productivity making decisions in a timely manner, sometimes with incomplete information and under tight deadlines and pressure.
• Able to make quick decisions when necessary.

Responsibilities

• Business Planning/Strategy Strategic planning and implementation: works closely with Preclinical & Translational Sciences LT to plan, develop and implement short and long-term business strategies and align biannual goals to meet R&D objectives.
• Engages with the Preclinical & Translational Sciences LT in providing portfolio and resource insights to identify opportunities and challenges regarding portfolio delivery in their specific areas, by using fit for purpose portfolio management tools and methods to facilitate these conversations; designs cross-P&TS strategies that enable portfolio delivery and works with P&TS LT to implement.
• Forms close relationships with RUs and partner lines to ensure focus and strategies align with and support work across R&D and the enterprise.
• Strategic thought partnership, planning and oversight of research and technical reviews, portfolio reviews etc.
• Serves as a strategic leader to anticipate needs of Preclinical & Translational Sciences including issues that may impact scientific areas, strategy, and resourcing.
• Financial Management Responsible for financial planning and management of operating expenses (OPEX), portfolio spend, and capital.
• Partner with Finance to ensure Preclinical & Translational Sciences achieve its financial commitments while maximizing deliverables.
• Partner with R&D/enterprise level portfolio and financial planning as well as reporting, e.g. represent P&TS in R&D/enterprise level portfolio and financial planning and reporting and translate the P&TS perspective and strategy.
• Works proactively with PX, Strategy and Finance leads to deliver robust financial planning.
• External Partnerships Responsible for managing P&TS collaborations, advisory boards, and providing external landscaping/competitive intelligence to contextualize business decisions.
• Designs and implements new ways to analyze outcomes and productivity that are transparent to customers and clearly demonstrate the ROI for Preclinical & Translational Sciences functions, measures against benchmarks and recommends solutions to improve performance.
• Represents the team at business venues and meetings and responsible for communications, presentations, interactions with external and internal stakeholders and collaborators.
• Supports interactions between Pfizer and collaborators (including external stakeholders) to foster an appropriate business environment in which to conduct projects and studies.
• Kendall Square Site Affairs Functions as a key strategic partner for the Cambridge site head and senior leaders at the site where it relates to colleague engagement, site culture, internal site-wide communications and will be a key member of the innovation initiatives that will contribute to the KSQ site and Pfizer, overall.
• Responsible for overseeing site operations activities related to the KSQ R&D site in partnership with the GWE Site Lead (site facility & enhancement projects, such as space planning and renovations to optimize laboratory and office space utilization).
• General Scientific Operations Ensures best practices are applied to effectively and efficiently advance our pipeline and improve the overall efficiency of the organization.
• Ensures and tracks adequate allocation of resources (e.g. financial, staffing, platform technologies, etc.) in a proactive and timely manner.
• Supports the continuous implementation of Preclinical & Translational Sciences governance models.
• Develops Board reports and presentations liaising appropriately with the leadership team and R&D Scientific Affairs.
• Ensures compliance to local and global clinical policies and procedures including preparing, coordinating and remediation planning for P&TS-related audits.
• Tracks delivery of portfolio of projects and collaborations against goals and ensures alignment of portfolio with research and business unit priorities.
• Required to supervise and develop a team of professionals to lead project management, resource management, operations, Site Affairs, and compliance across Preclinical & Translational Sciences, where appropriate.
• Collaborate with Business Operations to create and execute enterprise-level communication and operational plans.
• Work with internal stakeholders including Business Development and Legal to assure effective protection and growth of the line’s business planning.

Benefits

• participation in Pfizer’s Global Performance Plan with a bonus target of 25.0% of the base salary and eligibility to participate in our share based long term incentive program
• comprehensive and generous benefits and programs to help our colleagues lead healthy lives and to support each of life’s moments
• Benefits offered include a 401(k) plan with Pfizer Matching Contributions and an additional Pfizer Retirement Savings Contribution, paid vacation, holiday and personal days, paid caregiver/parental and medical leave, and health benefits to include medical, prescription drug, dental and vision coverage

What This Job Offers

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