Head of TA portfolio Strategy

Job Title: Head of TA portfolio Strategy

About the Job

Are you ready to shape the future of medicine? The race is on to speed up drug discovery and development to find answers for patients and their families. Your skills could be critical in helping our teams accelerate progress.

The Global R&D Strategy and Portfolio Management team’s overarching objective is to equip Sanofi’s leaders with robust, objective and externally focused insights and recommendations they need to make better informed R&D strategy, and portfolio and project investment decisions to ensure pipeline sustainability.  

We achieve this by (1) delivering a comprehensive R&D strategy positioning the organization to embrace future opportunities and challenges, driving sustained success (2) by ensuring a sustainable portfolio strategy, robust valuation and prioritization of the R&D portfolio and optimization of resources, high quality pipeline reporting, benchmarking, and scientific competitive intelligence (3) by ensuring high quality investment governance incorporating decision quality and thoughtful risk taking principles.

The Global R&D Portfolio Strategy and Management team works with key stakeholders across the organization (R&D and GBUs) to support portfolio & project decision-making aligned to our corporate strategy and agreed TA strategies.

The team’s remit is to:

• Define investment governance process for R&D together with R&D senior leadership and ExCom and ensure disciplined and robust implementation for the most senior joint R&D and Commercial investment board called the IDCC.

• Use advanced analytics to inform and shape decision making by senior leadership (e.g., stage gate analysis to determine optimal development strategy, scenario analysis, decision trees, pipeline sustainability, etc.). The Therapeutic Area (TA) Leads work with the Global Project teams (GPTs) to present these analytics at key Go/No go decisions during Governance meetings. The R&D Portfolio Strategy team ensures the consolidation of these analyses into a holistic TA and cross-TA portfolio view (pipeline volume, risk, value) with data visualization tools and makes recommendations as to optimize utilization of resources and facilitate trade-off discussion amongst senior leaders.

• Ensure R&D asset, TA and Company pipeline valuation (including evolution of risk) are done in a continuous, rigorous, and comparable basis across Sanofi Research and Development Pharma and TA (TBC), including the development of standard tools and an effective review process. Provide challenge to cross-functions and project teams’ assumptions via quantitative analyses of previous Sanofi performance and external benchmarks, integration of internal data available and external Open-source information using artificial intelligence approaches to draw insights, and continuously identifying new sources of data that can inform quantitative analyses.

• Ensure robust pipeline reporting and benchmarking to support the R&D and portfolio strategy and portfolio sustainability linked to the external equity story in partnership with Investor Relations.

• Ensure robust external competitive intelligence insights to drive technology investments and asset strategy decisions.

The Portfolio Strategy & Management Team is looking to add a team-oriented member in the role of Head of TA (TBC) portfolio strategy who will play a pivotal role in shaping and driving the strategic direction for our TA (TBC) portfolio together with the GBU and R&D stakeholders. As a leader within this group, you will gain exposure to all of Sanofi’s therapy areas and come to truly understand the ‘nuts and bolts’ of the business. This position requires a seasoned leader with a deep understanding of therapeutic areas, market dynamics, and drug development processes. The successful candidate will be responsible for leading strategic initiatives, optimizing our R&D pipeline, and ensuring alignment between our research objectives and market needs.

The Head of R&D Portfolio Strategy for TA (TBC) main responsibilities are to work together with commercial and R&D colleagues to define, develop and test robust TA portfolio strategy and disease area strategies in addition, objectively and consistently assess the value of our R&D portfolio for a given therapeutic area to provide investment recommendations and drive decisions. As such you will work with senior leaders across the business including R&D, commercial, finance, Corporate Strategy, IA, BD, legal.

Your ability to identify the right strategic questions to address and conduct complex analyses, present findings, and help facilitate decision-making to inform strategy and investment decisions will be key to the group’s success.  You will be required to influence pipeline decision-making including investments in the range of [1-15B€ investments across your portfolio] and influencing future pipeline sustainability across a franchise business in the range of 5-30B€ in sales today and into the future.

We are an innovative global healthcare company with one purpose: to chase the miracles of science to improve people’s lives. We’re also a company where you can flourish and grow your career, with countless opportunities to explore, make connections with people, and stretch the limits of what you thought was possible. Ready to get started?

Main Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership & Influencing:

• Lead development of TA strategy, disease strategy working in partnership with Research, Development and Commercial and BD heads for TA.  Identify and prioritize high-impact opportunities for innovation and growth.  Participate in cross functional matrix team and in Portfolio Strategy Week. 

• Lead R&D mid-year portfolio review and project prioritization for TA.  Support Strategy Days preparation and other corporate planning exercises.

• Develop supporting materials for meetings, influence strategic decisions and lead discussions with senior leadership

• Help facilitate discussion of project-level strategic options, decision-making and optimal allocation of resources

Portfolio Strategy: 

• Translate market and competitive insights into actionable strategies for pipeline development and positioning. 

• Drive strategic questions and analysis and synthesize results to support project-level and portfolio-level decision making:

• Generate key project insights to facilitate decision-making and strategy selection

• Synthesize project strategy, assumptions and outputs into a clearly articulated story

Asset & Portfolio Management:

• Oversee and guide the development and management of the therapy area portfolio, including pre-clinical and clinical programs.

• Optimize portfolio investments and resource allocation to maximize value and impact.

• Work with Global Project Teams to define and challenge key R&D and commercial assumptions, sensitivities, scenarios and development plan options:

• Probability of success, pricing, peak year sales, time to market, market share growth rate, competitive set and order of entry [working in partnership with CI TA lead], different development plan options, and cannibalization if relevant

• Develop a working knowledge of the therapeutic area and regulatory strategies to drive option generation for asset strategy

• Compare project assumptions to internal and industry benchmarks and leverage snackable and expert AI as needed to challenge inputs

• Ensure the robustness of each project variable thanks to an in-depth knowledge of the project, of the TA, and deep expertise of expert functions involved

• Lead the Project Team in preparing for all governance meetings including the most senior investment board called IDCC which includes the CEO, CFO, Head of R&D and Commercial Business Units to support investment decision making in partnership with Head of IDCC office

Portfolio Management Capability Development:

• Build, maintain and use portfolio analysis tools and enterprise capabilities across the TA in their use to drive strategic choices ensuring measures are relevant and where appropriate tailored to TA (TBC):

• Support development of analytical frameworks and tools for project and portfolio-level decision-making including lifecycle management strategy in partnership with Research, Development, Commercial and BD heads for TA

• In collaboration with Global Project Teams, R&D finance, complete project-level commercial and financial models and ensure models contain the latest project assumptions

• Structure and perform scenarios and simulations to model and value strategic alternatives and trade-offs with the aim of maximizing value at a project and portfolio level

• Development of portfolio standards using external data to improve internal data quality and fill gaps where they exist

• oSupport development of analytical frameworks and tools for project and portfolio-level decision-making including the use of advanced analytics and artificial intelligence (AI)

* Key Responsibilities may differ among employees with the same job title and may change over time, in accordance with business needs

About You

The position will require deep engagement with both direct and cross-functional partners. Demonstrated ability to develop, guide, and influence across senior leadership including ExCom is a critical component for this position.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• A minimum of a Bachelors degree is required

• Advanced Degree (PhD in Life Sciences, MD, Vet, Pharm D) and an MBA preferred

• A minimum of 10 years of professional business experience is required.

• A minimum of 5+ years of direct experience in the life sciences industry

• TA (TBC) experience and knowledge preferred

• Prior experience in Strategy Consulting preferred

• Selected candidate will have a clearly demonstrated interest in, and knowledge of the life sciences industry

• Strong analytical and strategic thinking abilities, with a demonstrated capacity to translate complex data and insights into actionable strategies.

• Good business judgment, strong analytical skills with a mastery of Excel, and a solid grasp of corporate finance principles

• The ability to synthesize information and present key findings in a crisp and concise manner

• Aptitude to learn and think quickly with the ability to apply learning across multiple situations

• The maturity and leadership skills to be able to interact at senior levels including influencing strategic decisions and working in a matrix environment and a track record of influencing company level strategic choices

• Position may require up to 10% overall business travel

Why Choose Us?

• Bring the miracles of science to life alongside a supportive, future-focused team.​​

• Discover endless opportunities to grow your talent and drive your career, whether it’s through a promotion or lateral move, at home or internationally.​​

• Enjoy a thoughtful, well-crafted rewards package that recognizes your contribution and amplifies your impact.​​

• Take good care of yourself and your family, with a wide range of health and wellbeing benefits including high-quality healthcare, prevention and wellness programs and at least 14 weeks’ gender-neutral parental leave.​

Sanofi Inc. and its U.S. affiliates are Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employers committed to a culturally diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race; color; creed; religion; national origin; age; ancestry; nationality; marital, domestic partnership or civil union status; sex, gender, gender identity or expression; affectional or sexual orientation; disability; veteran or military status or liability for military status; domestic violence victim status; atypical cellular or blood trait; genetic information (including the refusal to submit to genetic testing) or any other characteristic protected by law.

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All compensation will be determined commensurate with demonstrated experience. Employees may be eligible to participate in Company employee benefit programs, and additional benefits information can be found here.