Director, New Products Strategy and Innovation

About Ipsen: Ipsen is a mid-sized global biopharmaceutical company with a focus on transformative medicines in three therapeutic areas: Oncology, Rare Disease and Neuroscience. Supported by nearly 100 years of development experience, with global hubs in the U.S., France and the U.K, we tackle areas of high unmet medical need through research and innovation. Our passionate teams in more than 40 countries are focused on what matters and endeavour every day to bring medicines to patients in 88 countries. We build a workplace that champions human‑centric leadership and fosters a culture of collaboration, excellence and impact. At Ipsen, every individual is empowered to be their true selves, grow and thrive alongside the company’s success. Join us on our journey towards sustainable growth, creating real impact on patients and society!

Job Description:

SUMMARY OF THE POSITION

To support New Products & Franchise Leadership in Oncology, Rare Diseases and Neurosciences across:

• Therapeutic area & franchise strategy evolution
• Commercial evaluation of new business development and external innovation opportunities
• Internal pipeline commercial planning for early to mid‑phase assets

A key strategic focus for us in meeting this objective is business development & partnering. In the last three years, we brought in over 20 new assets into our portfolio across various stages of development and across our three key therapeutic areas through licensing, partnering and collaborations. In 2026 and beyond, we plan to continue our strategic focus and execution in creating a balanced & sustainable pipeline across therapeutic areas.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

New Products & External Innovation Strategy

• Support VP, Global Head New Product Strategy & Innovation and work collaboratively with cross‑functional team (e.g., Global Partnering, External Innovation, Franchises, R&D, Strategy & Transformation) to lead company efforts to advance TA‑level strategy.
• Conduct analysis across key areas to support the continuous evolution and update of the therapeutic area strategy (e.g., landscaping assessments, benchmarking, analogue analysis etc.) and develop story / slide generation of strategic outputs as they evolve.
• Work with internal Asset Teams as appropriate to capture relevant insights to support external innovation strategy.

Business Development & External Innovation: Commercial Evaluations

• Be the commercial lead across all stages of the business development & external innovation process: screening, triage/deep‑dive and due diligence.
• Sourcing & Screening: Work in collaboration with external innovation teams in sourcing new assets across oncology and rare diseases based on our strategy.
• Asset Triaging: (1) Lead the commercial triage of new business development opportunities, including disease assessment, competitive landscaping, market sizing and risk & opportunity assessment; (2) Represent Franchise on company calls with potential partners.
• Due Diligence: Lead the commercial evaluation of assets in due diligence.
• Conduct in‑depth commercial evaluation and be the lead content generator (e.g., current & future landscaping, secondary and primary market research, forecasting, pricing & access assessment, SMM estimation, etc.).
• Be a proactive partner and work collaboratively with cross‑functional teams (e.g., business development, external innovation, medical affairs, R&D, regulatory, finance, countries, global pricing & access, business excellence) to support inputs required for commercial modelling launch dates, LOE, duration of treatment, LCM indications etc.
• Ensure streamlined, efficient, and quality content generation across all evaluations aligning with internal processes.
• Synthesize findings & present recommendations to cross‑functional team and executive leadership teams.

Internal Pipeline: Early Commercial Planning

• Lead early commercial planning process for internal pipeline products in early to mid‑phase development across oncology, neuroscience, and rare diseases.
• Facilitate analysis required to support commercialization and/or continued development for new products.
• Support the cross‑functional team & local country teams in pre‑launch activities, playing a pivotal role in the transition of these activities to a fully dedicated Global Brand Team as the asset moves through the lifecycle.
• Key deliverables may include: brand strategy & launch plan, launch readiness review, campaign & core messaging, global launch sequence, LCM indications prioritization etc.
• Work collaboratively with R&D and other critical functions within the Global Asset Team to ensure efficient execution with a long‑term commercial vision.

KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE

Knowledge & Experience (essential):

• Significant experience in early commercial and/or BD roles within a pharmaceutical or biopharmaceutical industry at global level, or strategy consulting experience in life sciences (including work in early‑commercial strategy, commercialization, LCM, BD, due diligence, etc.).
• Experience in early commercial planning, launch planning and disease area strategy either as part of a pharmaceutical/ biopharma or a consultancy company.
• Experience in working across a cross‑functional matrix team to meet deliverables on time and budget.
• Strong scientific, medical, and commercial experience in oncology and rare diseases with a proven knowledge of business development and launch activities.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• Demonstrated exceptional strategic thinking.
• Sense of urgency and experience in delivering parallel workstreams efficiently.
• Deep strategic marketing expertise (disease areas in oncology, rare disease & neuroscience, positioning, targeting, segmentation, life cycle management).
• Strong business acumen and understanding of global markets.
• Excellent analytical skills and strategic thinking.
• Competitive landscaping.
• Conducting qualitative & quantitative market research.
• Strong planning and project management skills.
• Excellent business case modelling and presentation skills (Excel & PowerPoint use).

Education / Certifications (essential):

• Advanced degree (PhD, MD, or MS) in Life Sciences‑related discipline and/or an MBA.

Language(s) (essential):

• Fluency in spoken and written English, knowledge of additional languages such as French would be helpful.

We are committed to creating a workplace where everyone feels heard, valued, and supported; where we embrace “The Real Us”. The value we place on different perspectives and experiences drives our commitment to inclusion and equal opportunities. When we include diverse ways of thinking, we make more thoughtful decisions and discover more innovative solutions. Together we strive to better understand the communities we serve. This means we also want to help you perform at your best when applying for a role with us. If you require any adjustments or support during the application process, please let the recruitment team know. This information will be handled with care and will not affect the outcome of your application.