Head of Technology - Therapeutic Areas (TAs) & External Scientific Innovation (ESI)

At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity.

As guided by Our Credo, Johnson & Johnson is responsible to our employees who work with us throughout the world. We provide an inclusive work environment where each person is considered as an individual. At Johnson & Johnson, we respect the diversity and dignity of our employees and recognize their merit.

Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine is currently recruiting for a Senior Director – Head of Technology, Therapeutic Areas and External Scientific Innovation, supporting the Immunology, Oncology and Neuroscience Therapeutic Areas and External Scientific Innovation organization.

The Senior Director, Head of Technology – Therapeutic Areas and External Scientific Innovation, will own the technology profile, strategy, portfolio, delivery and operational performance required to advance therapeutic-area science and externally sourced innovation across Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine. The role will establish a deep, sustained partnership with the Data, Data Science and AI (DDSAI) organization to ensure that technology, data products, advanced analytics and AI capabilities are jointly shaped around the highest-value scientific and clinical priorities.

This is a critical leadership role in the Research Systems organization, enabling a next-generation R&D technology ecosystem that is highly automated, software-defined, data-centric and AI-augmented. In close partnership with DDSAI, the role will ensure that scientific data is created and managed according to FAIR principles—Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable—and that laboratory, knowledge, analytics, data science and decision-support capabilities connect end to end.

In a business-partnering capacity, this leader will work with scientific, clinical, translational and portfolio teams across Immunology, Oncology and Neuroscience, as well as External Scientific Innovation, to develop and manage a coherent technology profile spanning disease understanding, target discovery, target validation, lead finding, lead optimization, biomarker strategy, and clinical trial design and execution.

The role will act as the primary Technology partner to DDSAI for the Therapeutic Areas and External Scientific Innovation portfolio. Together, the organizations will define shared outcomes, roadmaps, architectures, operating models and investment priorities, and will co-lead matrixed teams spanning data engineering, data science, AI/ML, Engineering, Laboratory Systems, Enterprise Architecture, Information Security & Risk, Clinical Technology, Data Platforms and Technology Services.

You will shape innovative and evolving capabilities and talent, directing the strategy, architecture, delivery and operations of technology products that support discovery biology laboratories, externally generated scientific data, translational research, clinical evidence generation, biomarker development, and therapeutic-area portfolio decisions.

Additional duties and responsibilities will include, but not be limited to:

• Lead people, products, platforms, systems and projects across the Therapeutic Areas and External Scientific Innovation portfolio, including direct reports, matrixed employees and strategic partners.
• Establish outcome measures and report progress, value, risk, dependencies and resource needs for workstreams and capabilities within scope.
• Serve as a member of the Research Systems Senior Leadership Team and represent the technology agenda with Therapeutic Area and External Scientific Innovation leadership teams.
• Develop and maintain, jointly with DDSAI, a multi-year technology, data and AI profile and roadmap aligned with therapeutic-area strategies, external innovation priorities, scientific workflows and enterprise technology standards.
• Apply product, portfolio and Agile delivery practices with DDSAI product, data science and engineering leaders to translate scientific needs into scalable, reusable and measurable technology, data and AI capabilities.
• Be accountable for reliable day-to-day operation and lifecycle management of in-scope platforms, partnering with suppliers and Technology Services to meet service levels, manage change, remediate risk, and keep platforms secure and supported.
• Lead within established policies, procedures and governance, with accountability for system quality, regulatory compliance, privacy, security and continuous improvement.
• Assess business value, scientific impact, feasibility, cost and risk for projects, enhancements and rollouts; provide clear recommendations and investment options.
• Co-lead with DDSAI the design, build, integration, testing, deployment, validation, adoption and lifecycle management of data products, analytical solutions and AI-enabled technology supporting target discovery and validation, lead finding and optimization, biomarkers, and clinical trial design and execution.
• Build executable implementation plans with clear outcomes, timelines, owners, dependencies, adoption measures and key milestones.
• Partner with Therapeutic Area, External Scientific Innovation and DDSAI leaders to jointly prioritize the portfolio based on patient and scientific value, data readiness, strategic fit, reuse potential, risk and return on investment.
• Establish technology patterns for the secure evaluation, onboarding and integration of external collaborations, licensed assets, acquired data and partner platforms, including provenance, rights, consent, metadata and interoperability requirements.
• Maintain a current view of scientific and technology trends across Immunology, Oncology, Neuroscience and the external innovation ecosystem; translate insights into practical technology strategy and capability choices.
• Analyze scientific and operational challenges using a deep understanding of target-to-clinic workflows, laboratory practices, data architecture and the drivers of therapeutic-area portfolio decisions.
• Partner with DDSAI to design scalable, secure and interoperable solutions, including integrations across laboratory instruments, ELN, LIMS, research data platforms, knowledge graphs, analytics environments, AI/ML platforms and clinical systems.
• Structure and execute proofs of concept with DDSAI using explicit scientific hypotheses, fit-for-purpose data, responsible AI practices and agreed success measures, then create plans to industrialize, integrate and scale successful capabilities across Therapeutic Areas.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in Computer Science, Engineering, Biology, Bioinformatics, Chemistry, Medicine or a related scientific or technical discipline is required; an advanced degree is preferred.
• A PhD, MD or equivalent experience in a relevant life-science, translational, clinical or data discipline is an advantage.
• A minimum of 10 years of technology or digital product experience in pharmaceutical R&D is required, including a minimum of 5 years leading people and/or substantial matrixed teams.
• Working knowledge of the pharmaceutical R&D value chain, including target discovery, target validation, lead finding, lead optimization, translational research, biomarker strategy, and clinical trial design and execution.
• Demonstrated experience in several of the following: Discovery biology laboratory systems, instrumentation integration, laboratory automation, ELN and LIMS capabilities, FAIR research data, metadata, data lineage, ontologies, semantic standards and scientific knowledge management, Joint delivery with data, data science and AI organizations, including data-product operating models, advanced analytics, responsible AI, model lifecycle management and production adoption, Multi-omics, imaging, in vivo, assay, biomarker, translational and clinical data integration and analytics, AI/ML-enabled scientific workflows, scalable compute, model lifecycle management and decision-support products.
• Familiarity with the scientific and technology requirements of Immunology, Oncology and Neuroscience research, including disease-area-specific data modalities and biomarker approaches.
• Proven success in technology portfolio management, product delivery, business relationship management and adoption of capabilities in a complex global matrix, including sustained partnership with enterprise data, data science and AI organizations.
• Experience supporting external scientific collaborations, due diligence, data acquisition or partner integration in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic or venture ecosystem.
• Ability to translate scientific and clinical requirements into resilient, secure, reusable and scalable technology products and data capabilities.
• Strong strategic and people leadership skills, with the ability to operate independently while maintaining an enterprise and global perspective.
• Strong consulting, facilitation, influencing and conflict-resolution skills across scientific, clinical, data and technology stakeholders.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to explain complex scientific and technical concepts to broad audiences and executive leaders.
• Prior experience leading technology in pharmaceutical or biotechnology discovery, translational medicine, therapeutic-area research, clinical development or external innovation is strongly preferred.
• Experience with large-scale scientific data, laboratory, knowledge-management, portfolio, biomarker or clinical technology platforms and relevant strategic suppliers is preferred.
• Up to 15% domestic and international travel may be required.