Director, External Innovation – Immunology and Inflammation (I&I)

Job Responsibilities/Department Description:

The Global Business Development & Licensing (BD&L) department is part of Sanofi Partnering, a Global Enabling Function within the Sanofi Group.  The mission of Global BD&L is to seek and execute external growth initiatives to address the Sanofi Group´s strategic priorities.  This mission is fully supporting Sanofi´s strategic roadmap, specially aligned with the following strategic priorities: Reshape the portfolio and sustain innovation across Research, Development and Commercial portfolios. 

The key activities of Global BD&L are the search, evaluation, structuring, negotiation and closing of strategic alliances with external companies, involving products, product-related assets and platforms.

The main responsibilities of Global BD&L include:

• Seek and execute external growth and collaboration opportunities in coherence with the Group´s strategy.

• Evaluate the scientific and economic interest of external projects maximizing value creation for the Group. 

The External Innovation Team within Global Business Development and Licensing is responsible for leading the search and assessment of R&D and commercial opportunities, in alignment with the Sanofi Specialty Care business unit priorities.  Specialty Care is responsible for the research, development and commercialization of products across the following therapeutic areas:  Immunology, Oncology, Neuroscience, Rare Diseases and Genomic Medicine.

The position is based in the Cambridge, MA with availability to travel as required for interaction with external groups and companies, internal teams and stakeholders.

Job Purpose

As a member of the Inflammation & Immunology (I&I) External Innovation team and reporting to the Head of Inflammation & Immunology External Innovation, the individual will contribute to, and play a leadership role in the identification and partnering of external innovation opportunities.  These external opportunities would help defend, sustain, accelerate, and expand the I&I Therapeutic Area in Sanofi and achieve our goal to be a global leader in the I&I field.

Principal Job Duties

• Search and Evaluation: The individual will participate in global external search and evaluation for the Inflammation & Immunology Therapeutic Area. Evaluation activity focuses on assets or technologies that will enter the I&I R&D portfolio and includes execution of CDAs and in-depth technical assessment (pre-due diligence) with Research, Development, Commercial colleagues and other appropriate stakeholders prior to the formal decision to initiate Due Diligence in collaboration with the Business Development & Licensing Due Diligence group, 

• Active deal projects: The individual will (i) identify and propose attractive deal opportunities, (ii) ensure high quality project leadership and management (iii) manage the overall interface to corporate level governance comprising (iv) align resources and decision making throughout the deal process in collaboration with Business Development transactions colleagues and (v) provide input/guidance to optimal scientific deal structures and inflection points, minimizing contractual risk.

• Strategic contribution: The individual will also support, lead or serve as a thought partner for ad-hoc deep dives, information-gathering and forecasting exercises in immunology partnering opportunities, in collaboration with Research, Development, Commercial, Strategy, Sanofi Venture and M&A colleagues.

Basic Qualifications:

• PhD and/or MD degree(s) in Immunology, or clinical experience in dermatology and/or respiratory

• Extensive scientific experience, preferably obtained through >7-year experience in multiple functions in the biotech and/or pharmaceutical industry. Outstanding scientific excellence in Inflammation & Immunology demonstrated by strong publication record, as well as discovery and early clinical development expertise in I&I.​

• Experience in search & evaluation, business development, academic technology transfer process is highly desirable.

• Evidence of organizational and project management skills.

• Deep commitment and high performance demonstrated in all aspects of work.

• Solid fluency in English – verbal and written.

Core Competencies

The ideal candidate has deep experience and knowledge of global drug discovery and early development activities, with an excellent understanding of all aspects of preclinical drug discovery

• Must have in-depth knowledge in Inflammation & Immunology drug discovery and development, preferably dermatology and/or respiratory

• Ideally, multi-year successful track record in external R&D, search & evaluation, partnering and/or business development. Excellent track record of identifying, implementing, and managing novel partnering opportunities.

• A solid understanding of science and technologies and their impact on the overall business. Strategic thinking, clarity of thought, strong multi-tasking, organizational and project management skills.

• Excellent networking ability in cross-cultural environments inside and outside Sanofi. Strong interpersonal, communication and presentation skills.

• Negotiation skills across all levels of the organization and with external parties.

• Excellent problem-solving, conflict-resolution, decision-making and cross-functional leadership skills in highly matrixed environments. High ethical standards, data-centric objective mindset, attention to detail, comfortable with resolution of ambiguity, poise under pressure and the ability to influence without authority.

• Ability to represent Sanofi in external scientific/academic world and to act as an ambassador for Sanofi at scientific and business conferences.

• Willingness to travel nationally/internationally as needed.

As a healthcare company and a vaccine manufacturer, Sanofi has an important responsibility to protect individual and public health. All US based roles require individuals to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as part of your job responsibilities.

Fully vaccinated, according to the CDC, an individual is considered to be “fully vaccinated” fourteen (14) days after receiving (a) the second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, or (b) the single dose of the J&J vaccine. Fully vaccinated, for new Sanofi employees, is to be fully vaccinated 14 DAYS PRIOR TO START DATE.  

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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At Sanofi diversity and inclusion is foundational to how we operate and embedded in our Core Values. We recognize to truly tap into the richness diversity brings we must lead with inclusion and have a workplace where those differences can thrive and be leveraged to empower the lives of our colleagues, patients and customers. We respect and celebrate the diversity of our people, their backgrounds and experiences and provide equal opportunity for all.