Job Description

At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity. Learn more at jnj.com

As guided by Our Credo, Johnson & Johnson is responsible to our employees who work with us throughout the world. We provide an inclusive work environment where each person is considered as an individual. At Johnson & Johnson, we respect the diversity and dignity of our employees and recognize their merit.

Job Function:

Strategy & Corporate Development

Job Sub Function:

Strategic Partnerships & Alliances

Job Category:

Professional

All Job Posting Locations:

Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan

At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Pharmaceuticals and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow and profoundly impact health for humanity. Learn more at https://www.jnj.com/. 

The aim of Johnson & Johnson’s external innovation group is to successfully compete for the top science and transformational innovation externally, including at universities, biotech companies and elsewhere in the life sciences industry ecosystem, allowing J&J to build the best healthcare pipeline, advancing transformative products and services for patients.

Johnson & Johnson’s external innovation group is seeking a Director, Search & Evaluation Asia Pacific, based in Tokyo, Japan. The Director will be a member of the External Scientific Innovation (ESI) team, reporting to the Senior Director of Search & Evaluation in Japan. This role is to source the on-strategy external innovation opportunity across all TAs, and involves engaging with the external innovation community, including academia, venture capital, and the startup ecosystem, while collaborating with internal teams to advance opportunities from identification and incubation to diligence, and to translate Therapeutic Area Early-Stage External Innovation strategies (near-, medium-, and long term) into regional sourcing and activation plans that will deliver high impact science to our pipeline.

This leader will be responsible for proactively shaping and nurturing key relationships and stakeholders (prioritized academic research centers, venture capital investors, life science and health technology incubators and start-ups) to ensure J&J is perceived as a “Partner of Choice” in Japan. This leader will also work closely with the Therapeutic Area (TA) External Innovation leaders to scout and conduct due diligence activities to understand true value of further pursuit through provision of scientific expertise.

Key Responsibilities

• Cover the Asia Pacific landscape, with a focus on Japan, to partner closely with the Regional Sourcing Leader to set the sourcing strategy and engagement plan across all TAs/Functions within R&D.
• Actively develops, builds and maintains close relationships with appropriate external sources of innovation in the life sciences ecosystem including entrepreneurs, academics, key opinion leaders, biotech companies, venture capitalists, nonprofit organizations etc. that fosters trust, respect and credibility.
• Identify and scout highly innovative product/platform opportunities that are aligned with TA External Innovation strategies and lead the initial pre-vetting process. Work closely with TA partners to conduct in-depth assessments to ensure alignment with our strategic focus. For early-stage opportunities requiring further validation, facilitate their development through JLABs incubation network, while actively nurturing relationships and maintaining engagement at the local level.
• Represent J&J to prospective partners and regular attendance and speaking engagements/panels at industry events such as conferences, including engagement in industry thought leadership.
• Building close relationships with relevant J&J businesses. This is to both understand/contribute to strategy/requirements and to develop sufficient influence in order to champion new opportunities, including those that are potentially “off strategy” but where a compelling business case can be made.
• Ensuring that all interactions and engagements are carried out with the highest ethical and professional standards and that all work is accomplished with quality and in accordance with J&J Credo.

The above duties and responsibilities are not an exhaustive list, and you may be required to undertake any other reasonable duties compatible with your experience and competencies. This description may be varied from time to time to reflect changing business requirements.

Qualifications

• Doctoral level degree required. Ph.D. in a relevant life sciences field preferred (e.g. Oncology, Immunology, Cell Biology, etc). MD, PharmD and other scientific doctoral level degree backgrounds will also be considered.
• 8+ years of broad R&D experience, preferably across multiple therapeutic areas and/or advanced technologies and platforms. Broad network in the relevant life science eco-system and experience in scientific search and evaluation in the fields of oncology, immunology and/or neuroscience preferred.
• Previous experience leading and motivating a team is preferred.
• Experience developing valuable relationships in developed and emerging life science ecosystems with key external innovation partnerships and shaping external science toward key inflection points and milestones, relationship management, and working in an open innovation R&D capacity to leverage external opportunities for pipeline impact.
• Experience in assessing competitive environments, scientific landscapes, and regional innovation ecosystems and translating those assessments into action plans required
• Experience in conducting due diligence exercises within a scientific environment required
• Experience across a range of functions and/or sectors and proven track record of influencing and negotiating skills that inspire trust and build credibility with very senior stakeholders to facilitate collaborations required
• Solid communication skills required. Proven experience driving progress and the ability to interpret, develop and present information to multiple audiences, and understand and anticipate reactions is required
• English is proficient
• Travel up to 20% is required

＜For Internal Applicants＞
・ Based on your experience and interview evaluation, the position title and level may vary.

・　If you are a Japan employee, please read the “Internal Application Guideline” in Ask GS. Especially if you have been in your current role for less than 18 months, you are required to obtain application approval from your current manager as well as your respective BUHR. If you are a Japan employee, you are not able to apply for multiple positions at once.

・ For Employee Referral Program (ERP), please read and understand the details of the “Internal Referral Overview” on Ask GS and ensure you have made a compliant referral.

Required Skills:

Preferred Skills:

Alliance Formation, Business Planning, Consulting, Developing Partnerships, Innovation, Market Expansion, Market Research, Relationship Building, Sales Enablement, Stakeholder Engagement, Strategic Change, Strategic Sales Planning, Strategic Thinking, SWOT Analysis, Tactical Planning, Technical Credibility