R&D Insights & Enablement Lead (Director)

Takeda•Boston, MA

3d•$177,000 - $278,080•Hybrid

About The Position

Takeda is hiring an R&D Insights & Enablement Lead to drive performance, accountability, and decision excellence across R&D. The role generates insights and coordinates structured forums to help R&D leaders make timely, evidence-based decisions, while translating portfolio-level learning into the operating practices of Global Program Teams (GPTs). It connects senior R&D leadership, enterprise functions, and the GPT community so that decisions, lessons learned, and emerging trends lead to action. The position coordinates the monthly R&D Decisions & Insights Forum and the Portfolio Orchestration & Direction (POD) Council, including agenda design, content preparation, decision readiness, documentation, and follow-through. It owns the R&D Risk Register, strengthening risk intake, assessment, prioritization, mitigation tracking, escalation, and leadership review. The role also supports updates to the R&D Corporate Philosophy and the Scientific Advisory Group for the R&D President. For GPT enablement, the role runs the Global Program Leader (GPL) Development Program operating rhythm, identifies capability and development needs, and develops resources and multidisciplinary program frameworks with Therapeutic Areas, business units, and Global Commercial. It identifies cross-program trends and converts lessons into practical updates to guidance, training, digital tools, standards, and community communications. The position fosters an enterprise program-leadership community spanning R&D, SPD, Global Oncology, and Plasma-Derived Therapies, and owns the content and delivery of the enterprise-wide GPT Onboarding Program. The position is classified as hybrid under Takeda’s Hybrid and Remote Work policy and is based in the Boston, Massachusetts area. The role is a regular, full-time employee position.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a science, engineering, or business-related field.
Typically 12 or more years of relevant experience in pharmaceutical R&D, portfolio management, strategy, or operational excellence.
Demonstrated experience leading executive-level decision forums, governance cadences, or portfolio review processes in a global pharmaceutical or comparable regulated R&D environment.
Strong analytical skills, including defining KPIs, interpreting trends, distinguishing signal from noise, and framing data into decision-driving narratives.
Working knowledge of end-to-end drug development, portfolio governance, and R&D decision-support data and systems, such as PTRS, benchmarking, and operational health indicators.
Experience designing and maintaining enterprise risk registers or comparable structured risk-management programs in a complex matrix organization.
Excellent facilitation, influencing, and stakeholder-management skills, including the ability to convene senior leaders and drive clear decisions and actions.
Strong writing and executive narrative skills, including developing clear, credible, decision-oriented slides, briefs, and presentations.
Collaborative approach and ability to partner across Strategic Planning & Enablement, DD&T, Finance, and Governance.
Healthcare business acumen and comprehensive understanding of the pharmaceutical industry and R&D operating environment.

Nice To Haves

Advanced science or business degree.
PMP, Lean / Six Sigma, or comparable process or portfolio credential.

Responsibilities

Design and run the monthly R&D Decisions & Insights Forum, including agenda, content curation, pre-reads, and post-meeting follow-through.
Partner with R&D leadership, RMC, Governance, and program teams to surface portfolio and operational questions, decisions, and learning topics for the forum.
Document forum decisions, action items, and lessons learned, and track them through completion.
Own the R&D Risk Register, including its definition, intake, prioritization, mitigation tracking, and escalation pathways.
Strengthen the risk management process with clear collection procedures, scoring and prioritization criteria, leadership reviews, review cadences, and accountable ownership.
Partner with program, functional, and governance leaders to identify emerging scientific, operational, compliance, talent, and technology risks and ensure mitigations progress.
Translate risk-register patterns into recommendations for the Decisions & Insights Forum, POD Council, and GPT Enablement.
Lead or co-lead the monthly R&D Portfolio Orchestration & Direction Council and shape its agenda around consequential cross-functional issues and directional decisions.
Connect POD Council decisions and recommendations to execution by routing them to owners and tracking follow-through.
Coordinate inputs, analysis, and narrative development for periodic R&D Corporate Philosophy updates.
Support the Scientific Advisory Group for the R&D President by coordinating planning, pre-reads, content, and follow-up.
Partner with Communications, Governance, and the R&D President’s office to deliver high-quality, on-message materials on time.
Run the GPL Development Program operating rhythm, assess GPL capabilities against a shared profile of success, and convert gaps into development priorities.
Tailor GPL Exchange and GPL Forum agendas to GPL-sourced needs and provide process and best-practice resources to address priority gaps.
Develop multidisciplinary program frameworks, such as Asset Strategy and Program Scenario Plans, with Therapeutic Areas, business units, and Global Commercial, and embed them into enterprise GPT operations.
Work with Therapeutic Area and Business Unit Heads to prioritize, sponsor, and track initiatives that improve GPL and GPT effectiveness.
Translate lessons from the Decisions & Insights Forum, Risk Register, GPT community, and other R&D sources into structured inputs for GPT Enablement.
Identify cross-program trends and systemic patterns and frame them for use in playbooks, training, digital tools, and standards.
Establish a recurring handoff rhythm with the Head of GPT Enablement, GPT Enablement Leads, and relevant SP&E leaders to convert insights into concrete updates.
Track whether lessons have been translated into practice or process and surface remaining gaps to leadership.
Foster an enterprise program-leadership community inclusive of R&D, SPD, Global Oncology, and Plasma-Derived Therapies.
Own and ensure effective content and delivery of the enterprise-wide GPT Onboarding Program.