Takeda
Director,AIRxExternalPartnershipManagementLead
“Director, AIRx External Partnership Management Lead at Takeda. Skills: CRO management, External Partnership Management, Active CRO management, Partner selection & contracting, Data, budget & landscape management. Manage CROs with active oversight — not arm's-length vendor management.. Set expectations, drive cadences, and hold partners directly accountable for milestones and quality.”
What You'll Achieve.
delivering differentiated medicines to the clinic at speed and cost; incubate the future AI-powered operating models and deliver candidates to the clinic at industry leading speed and success rates; speed, cost, and quality targets all depend on CROs operating as a true extension of the team; ensure CRO outputs feed AIRx data systems in a format ready for AI/ML decision-making; hold partners directly accountable for milestones and quality; protect program timelines
Industry & Context.
Identify performance issues proactively — at the working level, before they become escalations — and resolve in real time to protect program timelines.
Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally on a regular basis., periodic visits to domestic and international CROs, visits to critical domestic partners and quarterly visits to international partners
What They're Looking For.
Must Have
10+ years of experience in pharmaceutical outsourcing, CRO management, or alliance management within drug biotech experience strongly preferred., Deep knowledge of the CRO landscape across chemistry, biology, and DMPK established personal network of CRO and external partner relationships., Proven track record actively managing complex, multi-CRO programs — not just contracting them — with urgency, rigor, and budget discipline., Hands-on, operational comfortable embedding in scientific team dynamics rather than managing at arm's length., contract negotiation, vendor management, and performance oversight skills.
Nice to Have
Degree in life sciences or advanced degree preferred., Experience supporting AI/ML-enabled or digital drug discovery programs strongly familiarity with data standardization requirements (TetraScience, FAIR data principles) a plus.
What You'll Do.
Manage CROs with active oversight — not arm's-length vendor management.
and hold partners directly accountable for milestones and quality.
Maintain regular on-site presence at key CRO partners
including periodic visits to critical domestic and international use site time to deepen relationships
resolve issues directly
and reinforce AIRx ways of working.
Drive daily and weekly coordination between CRO teams and AIRx scientific leads to ensure tight execution against shared milestones.
Identify performance issues proactively — at the working level
before they become escalations — and resolve in real time to protect program timelines.
Identify and evaluate CRO partners for chemistry
and other capabilities required by AIRx programs.
and quality partner with Takeda procurement
and alliance management as necessary.
Build and maintain a preferred supplier network capable of responding at AIRx's pace and quality requirements.
Coordinate data handoffs to ensure CRO outputs are captured in AIRx data systems (TetraScience
SAIL) in a standardized
decision-ready format suitable for AI/ML pipelines.
Track and manage outsourcing spend across provide budget visibility to Head of AIRx and Program Manager.
Monitor the external CRO and innovation landscape for new capabilities
and partnership models that strengthen AIRx execution.
How You'll Work.
Team & Collaboration
Drive daily and weekly coordination between CRO teams and AIRx scientific leads to ensure tight execution against shared milestones.; partner with Takeda procurement, legal, and alliance management as necessary.
Process & Methodology
Manage complex, multi-CRO programs, contract negotiation, vendor management, performance oversight, timelines
Applying for this Director, AIRx External Partnership Management Lead role?
Most applicants get filtered before a human reads their resume. See if yours makes the cut.
How to Apply on Workday
- Workday has a multi-step form — save your progress after every section.
- "Apply With LinkedIn" can fail or lose data; manual entry is more reliable.
- Watch for the "Submit for Review" final step — hitting "Save" alone does not submit.
- Job requisition numbers are useful when following up with HR by email.
ANONYMOUS · UNFILTERED
What do employees actually say about Takeda?
Real rants from real employees. Read before you apply.