Head of Technology- Systems & Engineering

Johnson & Johnson • Titusville, NJ

4d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Head of Technology, Cross R&D Systems is a senior technology leader responsible for defining, operating, and modernizing the shared technology platforms and products that enable end-to-end Innovative Medicine R&D. This role leads cross-functional platforms/products spanning R&D finance and planning, data, AI and compute, enterprise tools, software engineering capabilities, cloud optimization, operations, reliability, and product lifecycle management. The role partners across R&D product lines, Technology Services, Information Security & Risk Management, Finance, Data Science, Engineering, Architecture, and business leadership to ensure shared products & platforms are secure, scalable, reliable, cost-effective, and aligned to enterprise standards. The leader will set a clear vision, build and empower a large global team, strengthen cross-regional ways of working, and drive consistent governance, operational excellence, lifecycle discipline, and value realization across cross-R&D products and enabling platforms. This role is accountable for ensuring the Cross R&D technology portfolio improves productivity, accelerates delivery, enables AI-ready capabilities, strengthens security integration, reduces technical debt, and supports the evolving needs of Discovery, Development, Regulatory Affairs, Medical Safety, and R&D operations.

Requirements

• Preferred master’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 15+ years of progressive technology leadership experience, including significant responsibility for enterprise platforms, operations, product portfolios, or technology transformation.
• Experience in life sciences, healthcare, biotech, pharmaceuticals, or other highly regulated global environments preferred.
• Demonstrated expertise in cloud platforms, data and AI platforms, application portfolio management, software engineering, technology operations, and cybersecurity integration.
• Proven experience leading large, globally distributed, matrixed teams and influencing outcomes across business, technology, external partners, and enterprise shared services.
• Demonstrated ability to set enterprise-level direction, build leadership bench strength, develop diverse talent, and create an operating rhythm that drives accountability, empowerment, and sustained performance at scale.
• Strong financial discipline, portfolio management capability, and ability to connect technology investments to measurable value.
• Exceptional analytical, problem-solving, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience with Agile/product-centric delivery, DevSecOps, FinOps, ALM/TLM, and architecture governance strongly preferred.
• Deep understanding of pharmaceutical R&D operating models and the shared technology capabilities required across Discovery, Development, Regulatory Affairs, Medical Safety, Data Science, and R&D operations.
• Proven success leading large-scale platforms and products across finance/planning, data, AI, compute, engineering enablement, cloud, enterprise tools, or technology operations.
• Demonstrated ability to run critical technology services with high reliability, strong service management, measurable operational performance, and disciplined risk management.
• Experience partnering with enterprise technology, security, infrastructure, architecture, finance, procurement, data, quality, and business leadership in complex global environments.
• Strong track record driving software engineering excellence, SDLC automation, DevSecOps, cloud optimization, platform modernization, and application lifecycle management.
• Demonstrated ability to shape roadmaps, build business cases, manage funding, track value realization, and prioritize investments across a broad product portfolio.
• Skilled in managing vendor ecosystems, technology dependencies, and multi-year modernization initiatives while maintaining delivery predictability.
• Strong executive communication and influencing skills, with the ability to translate complex operational and technical topics into clear business decisions.
• Experience leading through complexity and change across regions, cultures, and functions, with a strong track record of aligning senior stakeholders, engaging teams through ambiguity, and translating strategy into clear execution plans.

Nice To Haves

• Agile Leadership
• Brand Marketing
• Brand Positioning Strategy
• Business Storytelling
• Critical Thinking
• Customer Centricity
• Customer Intelligence
• Data Analysis
• Data-Driven Decision Making
• Execution Focus
• Fact-Based Decision Making
• Financial Analysis
• Industry Analysis
• Interpersonal Influence
• Operational Excellence
• Product Development Lifecycle
• Product Management
• Product Portfolio Management
• Product Strategies
• Program Management
• Stakeholder Management
• Strategic Thinking

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the technology strategy and product roadmap for R&D finance, portfolio planning, resource planning, investment management, forecasting, and performance management platforms.
• Partner with R&D Finance, portfolio leaders, product teams, and business operations to modernize planning workflows and improve decision transparency.
• Enable integrated views of spend, capacity, portfolio priorities, value realization, and investment tradeoffs across R&D.
• Drive platform simplification, data quality, automation, and usability improvements to increase adoption and reduce manual work.
• Ensure planning platforms are interoperable with broader enterprise finance, portfolio, workforce, and data ecosystems.
• Lead shared data, AI, analytics, and compute platform capabilities that support cross-R&D use cases and product teams.
• Partner with Data & AI, architecture, engineering, scientific computing, and business teams to provide scalable, secure, and reusable platform services.
• Enable AI-ready data capabilities, compute environments, model development workflows, and governed access to high-quality data assets.
• Drive adoption of modern cloud, data engineering, AI/ML operations, automation, and platform engineering practices.
• Optimize compute consumption, storage, performance, and cost while ensuring fit-for-purpose capabilities for scientific and operational workloads.
• Own operational excellence for Cross R&D technology products and platforms, including reliability, observability, resiliency, performance, and service management.
• Drive software and cloud optimization programs focused on cost efficiency, technical health, scalability, capacity management, and measurable value realization.
• Advance SDLC automation, DevSecOps, CI/CD, infrastructure-as-code, test automation, release management, and engineering productivity capabilities.
• Establish service-level objectives, operational metrics, incident management practices, and continuous improvement routines across critical platforms.
• Reduce operational risk and technical debt through proactive modernization, automation, monitoring, and lifecycle discipline.
• Serve as the primary Cross R&D interface with Technology Services and Information Security & Risk Management for infrastructure, security, risk, and enterprise technology enablement.
• Embed secure-by-design practices into platform architecture, engineering, operations, and release processes.
• Coordinate security assessments, risk remediation, infrastructure dependencies, identity/access patterns, resilience requirements, and compliance obligations.
• Ensure technology decisions align with enterprise security standards, privacy expectations, regulatory requirements, and business continuity needs.
• Drive timely resolution of cross-platform risks, vulnerabilities, audit findings, and technology dependencies.
• Define and enforce adoption of enterprise tools, engineering standards, architecture patterns, operational controls, and governance processes across Cross R&D products.
• Partner with enterprise architecture, engineering, quality, security, and product leadership to standardize delivery practices and reduce one-off solutions.
• Build governance mechanisms that improve transparency, decision quality, standards adherence, technology lifecycle discipline, and risk management.
• Track compliance to standards, platform health, adoption, dependency management, and value realization through clear KPIs and executive reporting.
• Promote reuse of enterprise services and shared capabilities to improve speed, consistency, cost efficiency, and supportability.
• Lead the Cross R&D product portfolio, including strategy, roadmap prioritization, funding alignment, delivery oversight, and stakeholder engagement.
• Manage product teams delivering shared capabilities used by multiple R&D functions, ensuring strong user experience, service quality, and business value.
• Translate cross-functional needs into scalable technology capabilities with clear outcomes, adoption targets, and measurable benefits.
• Ensure predictable delivery through strong portfolio governance, agile/product operating practices, vendor management, and financial discipline.
• Partner with business and technology leaders to balance innovation, operational stability, modernization, and portfolio affordability.
• Lead, coach, and develop a large, globally distributed team of technology leaders, product managers, engineers, and operations professionals; create clarity on priorities, decision rights, accountability, and expected outcomes across regions and functions.
• Foster an inclusive, high-performing leadership culture that enables collaboration across time zones, accelerates decision-making, builds trust with stakeholders, and supports talent development, succession readiness, and organizational resilience.
• Own ALM/TLM strategy and execution for Cross R&D products, ensuring applications and platforms remain current, secure, cost-effective, and supportable.
• Establish lifecycle roadmaps for rationalization, upgrades, modernization, decommissioning, vendor transitions, and technical debt remediation.
• Maintain clear visibility into platform health, lifecycle risk, end-of-life dependencies, product ownership, and investment requirements.
• Drive disciplined application portfolio management to reduce duplication, simplify the ecosystem, and improve long-term sustainability.
• Integrate lifecycle decisions into annual planning, security remediation, architecture governance, financial management, and product roadmaps.

Benefits

• Vacation –120 hours per calendar year
• Sick time - 40 hours per calendar year; for employees who reside in the State of Colorado –48 hours per calendar year; for employees who reside in the State of Washington –56 hours per calendar year
• Holiday pay, including Floating Holidays –13 days per calendar year
• Work, Personal and Family Time - up to 40 hours per calendar year
• Parental Leave – 480 hours within one year of the birth/adoption/foster care of a child
• Bereavement Leave – 240 hours for an immediate family member: 40 hours for an extended family member per calendar year
• Caregiver Leave – 80 hours in a 52-week rolling period
• 10 days Volunteer Leave – 32 hours per calendar year
• Military Spouse Time-Off – 80 hours per calendar year

What This Job Offers

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