
Work Schedule
Standard (Mon-Fri)
Environmental Conditions
Office
Purpose
The Associate Director, Scientific Development supports and leads assigned customer- and commercial-focused strategic development engagements that accelerate business growth, customer impact, and coordinated scientific solutioning. This role connects customer needs, commercial priorities, and Strategic Scientific Solutions (S3) scientific expertise to support therapeutic area prioritization, integrated product development planning, and effective engagement across internal and external stakeholders.
Es sential F un cti ons a nd O ther Job Info rma ti on
Major Job Responsibilities
• Partner with Business Development, commercial teams, and S3 leadership to support identification, prioritization, and execution of early engagement opportunities aligned with customer needs and organizational objectives.
• Lead assigned customer- and commercial-partnered strategy workstreams across priority therapeutic areas, aligning customer priorities with S3 scientific capabilities.
• Serve as a liaison between customers, commercial teams, and S3 scientific experts to facilitate coordinated engagement strategies and consistent customer experiences.
• Develop and support integrated product development plans from preclinical development through post-approval for assigned client programs.
• Provide scientific, therapeutic area, project management, and resource coordination support for strategic customer interactions.
• Provide strategic input to internal and external clients regarding clinical, regulatory, biostatistical, and integrated product development strategy for assigned projects.
• Coordinate tactical execution activities in strategic relationships; identify opportunities, risks, and gaps in execution and escalate recommendations as appropriate.
• Support development of sponsor-specific relationship and communication charters for full asset development engagements.
• Support project budgeting, forecasting, resource planning, and scope-change discussions for assigned projects or workstreams.
• Support development and implementation of systems, tools, metrics, and process improvements that improve efficiency, cycle times, submission activities, and key performance indicators.
• Identify emerging customer needs and capability gaps and communicate insights to S3 and commercial leadership.
Job Knowledge
Seasoned scientific development professional with strong working knowledge of pharmaceutical/biotech product development, including clinical, regulatory, biostatistical, non-clinical, CMC, and commercial considerations. Applies technical and business knowledge to assigned client development programs and strategic customer engagements.
Job Complexity
Leads and coordinates complex assigned engagements or workstreams requiring integration of scientific strategy, commercial priorities, customer relationship management, program execution, and matrixed stakeholder alignment. Identifies risks and contributes to mitigation and contingency planning.
Supervision Received / Freedom to act
Works independently on assigned priorities with guidance from Director, Executive Director, or senior leadership on highly complex or high-impact matters. Exercises judgment in coordinating workstreams, recommending strategy, and representing S3 with internal and external stakeholders.
Interactions / Business Relationships
Regularly interacts with customer stakeholders, Business Development, commercial teams, therapeutic area experts, regulatory and clinical leaders, finance, project teams, and S3 leadership. Builds alignment across functions to support coordinated delivery and customer value.
Qualifi ca tio ns:
Edu cation and Exp eri ence
Advanced degree (PhD, MD, MS, MPH, PharmD) preferred. Typically requires 10+ years of pharmaceutical, biotech, CRO, or related industry experience, including experience with regulatory or therapeutic area strategy, and 5+ years of drug development experience spanning non-clinical, clinical, regulatory, or integrated product development strategy.
In s ome cas es, an eq uival ency, co nsi st ing of a co mb inat ion of a ppropr ia te ed ucat io n, tra ini ng a nd/or dire ct ly r ela ted exp erienc e, wi ll be co nsider ed s uf fici ent for an i ndivid ual to meet the r eq uire ments of the rol e
Knowl edg e, Skills, and Ab iliti es
• Commercial acumen and understanding of customer engagement models in pharmaceutical, biotech, or CRO environments.
• Strong understanding of biologic/pharmaceutical product development from pre-IND through post-marketing.
• Ability to contribute to integrated development plans, clinical development plans, life cycle plans, and target product profiles.
• Experience supporting alliances, sponsor partnerships, complex projects, or portfolios.
• Strong communication, presentation, and influencing skills.
• Strong analytical, decision-making, and problem-solving capabilities.
• Ability to build cross-functional collaboration in matrix environments.
• Working knowledge of regulatory requirements, processes, and health authority interactions.
• Excellent organizational skills, professional conduct, attention to detail, and ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Willingness to operate hands-on and travel domestically and internationally as needed.
Policy and Strategy:
Contributes to strategy, frameworks, processes, and metrics for early engagement, strategic scientific solutioning, resource utilization, customer impact, and business growth. Provides recommendations to leadership based on customer needs, project learnings, and market opportunities.
Management Role
Not a Mgt role.
Wor king Co nd iti ons and Env iro nm en t
Normal and routine office duties. Role may require collaboration across time zones and domestic and international travel for client, partner, regulatory, and internal business meetings.
Physical Requirements:
General office-based role requiring the ability to sit or stand for extended periods, use a computer and standard office equipment, communicate verbally and in writing, and travel domestically and internationally as needed.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific
Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with annual revenue of approximately $40 billion. Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Whether our customers are accelerating life sciences research, solving complex analytical challenges, increasing productivity in their laboratories, improving patient health through diagnostics or the development and manufacture of life-changing therapies, we are here to support them. Our global team delivers an unrivaled combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services through our industry-leading brands, including Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab Services, Patheon and PPD.
For more information, please visit www.thermofisher.com.