Director - External Innovation

Working with Us
Challenging. Meaningful. Life-changing. Those aren’t words that are usually associated with a job. But working at Bristol Myers Squibb is anything but usual. Here, uniquely interesting work happens every day, in every department. From optimizing a production line to the latest breakthroughs in cell therapy, this is work that transforms the lives of patients, and the careers of those who do it. You’ll get the chance to grow and thrive through opportunities uncommon in scale and scope, alongside high-achieving teams. Take your career farther than you thought possible.

Bristol Myers Squibb recognizes the importance of balance and flexibility in our work environment. We offer a wide variety of competitive benefits, services and programs that provide our employees with the resources to pursue their goals, both at work and in their personal lives. Read more: careers.bms.com/working-with-us.

Bristol Myers Squibb is seeking a forward-thinking Director of External Innovation to spearhead collaborations across BMS’s Disease Areas of interest, including emerging areas. This critical position involves engaging with China Venture Capital Groups and facilitating complex research collaborations. The ideal candidate will possess deep scientific expertise and strategic acumen to identify and nurture high-value partnerships that align with BMS's mission to innovate life-saving therapies.

Scope:
This role functions at the crossroads of Research, Development, Business Development, Global Alliance Management, and external partnerships. Based in Shanghai, the Director will drive strategic engagement with biotech companies and life sciences communities to evaluate and integrate innovative research and therapies into BMS’s R&D pipeline.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Engagement and Evaluation:

• Lead the identification and assessment of novel scientific opportunities in China, focusing on technologies, therapeutic targets, and preclinical assets across BMS therapeutic areas, making prioritization and tradeoff decisions.
• Execute thorough evaluations of research hypotheses and study designs, contributing vital insights to BMS’s decision-making processes.

Collaboration and Proposal Development:

• Work closely with internal teams and business development to make recommendations on partnerships and proposals that align with BMS’s strategic objectives.
• Coordinate the creation and negotiation of research collaboration agreements.

Portfolio and Pipeline Advancement:

• Align external innovation initiatives with BMS’s internal R&D priorities to amplify our oncology, hematology, immunology and neuroscience pipelines.

Project Communication and Execution:

• Enhance communication and execution of project strategies with stakeholders, ensuring progress aligns with BMS's China 2030 strategy.

Opportunity Identification:

• Proactively scout for collaborations with academic, biotech, and industry leaders in China, focusing on emerging preclinical assets and innovative therapeutic targets.

Reporting and Relationship Management:

• Develop comprehensive reports and presentations for senior management, ensuring transparent communication of collaboration outcomes.
• Cultivate and maintain influential relationships with partners to secure timely delivery of collaborative project milestones.

Skills and Competencies:

• Robust scientific expertise with a Ph.D. in oncology, hematology, or related fields.
• Extensive experience in critically evaluating preclinical assets, therapeutic targets, and early-stage programs within the biotech or pharma sector.
• Solid understanding of the drug discovery process, preferably with experience in either small molecule or biologics drug discovery.
• Proven track record of publications or patents evidencing scientific leadership.
• Proficient in navigating the interface between academic-industry collaborations.
• Problem-solving skills for highly complex situations and decision-making capability to impact the team and the organization are required
• Familiar with China VC ecosystem is a plus
• Exceptional critical thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal abilities, fluent in both English and Chinese.

If you come across a role that intrigues you but doesn’t perfectly line up with your resume, we encourage you to apply anyway. You could be one step away from work that will transform your life and career.

Uniquely Interesting Work, Life-changing Careers
With a single vision as inspiring as “Transforming patients’ lives through science™ ”, every BMS employee plays an integral role in work that goes far beyond ordinary. Each of us is empowered to apply our individual talents and unique perspectives in a supportive culture, promoting global participation in clinical trials, while our shared values of passion, innovation, urgency, accountability, inclusion and integrity bring out the highest potential of each of our colleagues.

On-site Protocol

BMS has an occupancy structure that determines where an employee is required to conduct their work. This structure includes site-essential, site-by-design, field-based and remote-by-design jobs. The occupancy type that you are assigned is determined by the nature and responsibilities of your role:

Site-essential roles require 100% of shifts onsite at your assigned facility. Site-by-design roles may be eligible for a hybrid work model with at least 50% onsite at your assigned facility. For these roles, onsite presence is considered an essential job function and is critical to collaboration, innovation, productivity, and a positive Company culture. For field-based and remote-by-design roles the ability to physically travel to visit customers, patients or business partners and to attend meetings on behalf of BMS as directed is an essential job function.

BMS is dedicated to ensuring that people with disabilities can excel through a transparent recruitment process, reasonable workplace accommodations/adjustments and ongoing support in their roles. Applicants can request a reasonable workplace accommodation/adjustment prior to accepting a job offer. If you require reasonable accommodations/adjustments in completing this application, or in any part of the recruitment process, direct your inquiries to [email protected]. Visit careers.bms.com/eeo-accessibility to access our complete Equal Employment Opportunity statement.

BMS cares about your well-being and the well-being of our staff, customers, patients, and communities. As a result, the Company strongly recommends that all employees be fully vaccinated for Covid-19 and keep up to date with Covid-19 boosters.

BMS will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, pursuant to applicable laws in your area.

If you live in or expect to work from Los Angeles County if hired for this position, please visit this page for important additional information: https://careers.bms.com/california-residents/

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