External Partner Strategy Lead

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Working with Us

Challenging. Meaningful. Life-changing. Those aren’t words that are usually associated with a job. But working at Bristol Myers Squibb is anything but usual. Here, uniquely interesting work happens every day, in every department. From optimizing a production line to the latest breakthroughs in cell therapy, this is work that transforms the lives of patients, and the careers of those who do it. You’ll get the chance to grow and thrive through opportunities uncommon in scale and scope, alongside high-achieving teams. Take your career farther than you thought possible.

Bristol Myers Squibb recognises the importance of balance and flexibility in our work environment. We offer a wide variety of competitive benefits, services and programs that provide our employees with the resources to pursue their goals, both at work and in their personal lives.

Your science doesn't stop at our walls.

You've spent years in the lab, in manufacturing suites, in development teams - understanding what it really takes to turn a molecule into a medicine. You know the complexity, the precision, and the stakes involved. Now imagine taking that expertise and using it to shape how BMS works with the world's leading external partners to get life-changing therapies to patients faster. That's exactly what this role is about.

So, what will you actually be doing?

Think of yourself as the bridge between BMS Product Development and the external manufacturing ecosystem. You'll be the single point of contact for our Strategic Sourcing & Procurement teams and the go-to person for managing relationships with CDMOs (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisations) who handle drug substance and drug product manufacturing on our behalf.

• You'll be in the room where decisions get made. Sitting on joint steering committees alongside senior leaders from BMS and our external partners, you'll be driving the conversations that shape outcomes for our pipeline - not just reporting on them.
• You'll protect the programme, not just the paperwork. By leading Virtual Development Operation Teams (VDOTs), you'll hold external partners accountable for performance - ensuring timelines, quality, and commitments are met for real assets that real patients are waiting on.
• You'll build strategies that future-proof our pipeline. Working alongside colleagues across PD, Quality, and Legal, you'll help develop sourcing strategies that don't just fill capacity gaps today - they bring in genuine innovation, bridge technology gaps, and set us up for tomorrow.
• Your technical background will directly translate into commercial impact. You'll be the one turning complex development requirements into Statements of Work, Master Service Agreements, and Request for Proposals - meaning your scientific fluency becomes a competitive advantage at the negotiating table.
• You'll own the full partner lifecycle. From first qualification through to decommissioning, you'll steer vendor onboarding with Global Quality and GOEHSS - ensuring every external partner is set up for success from day one.

What's in it for you?

Let's be honest — this isn't just a step up. It's a step out into a part of drug development that most scientists never get visibility into, but which underpins everything.

• Broaden your career horizon. Your scientific background becomes the foundation for a role that spans strategy, commercial negotiation, and operational leadership. Few roles offer this kind of cross-functional breadth.
• See your work matter - at scale. The partnerships you manage directly support a portfolio of BMS assets moving through development and into manufacturing. The decisions you make have a direct line to patient impact.
• Build your leadership identity. Leading matrix teams, influencing without authority, and representing BMS in senior-level governance forums - this is the environment where people become the kind of leader others want to follow.
• Gain commercial fluency without leaving science behind. You'll negotiate terms, shape agreements, and develop sourcing strategies - all grounded in a scientific understanding that gives you instant credibility with internal and external stakeholders alike.
• Work at the frontier of external innovation. BMS's external partner network isn't just a capacity safety net - it's a source of cutting-edge technology and capability. You'll have a front-row seat to what's emerging across the CDMO landscape.

Is this you?

You likely have a degree in chemistry, pharmaceutical science, engineering, or a related discipline (BS, MS, or PhD), and at least five years of hands-on experience in small molecule drug substance and drug product development, clinical or commercial manufacturing.

But beyond the CV, you're someone who:

• Naturally builds trust - with colleagues, partners, and leadership
• Can hold a technical conversation with a formulation scientist and a legal team in the same afternoon
• Is comfortable leading teams who don't directly report to you
• Knows that the best outcomes come from collaboration, not command

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