Executive Director, Oncology Search & Evaluation

At Bristol Myers Squibb, we are inspired by a single vision – transforming patients’ lives through science. In oncology, hematology, immunology and cardiovascular disease – and one of the most diverse and promising pipelines in the industry – each of our passionate colleagues contribute to innovations that drive meaningful change. We bring a human touch to every treatment we pioneer. Join us and make a difference.

This is a leadership role within the Business Development Unit (BDU) for Oncology. The mission of the BDU is to bring clinical-staged external opportunities oncology to augment our internal pipeline and capabilities.

The candidate will possess strong scientific expertise in the biopharmaceutical industry and business development leadership, in oncology therapeutic area. The candidate will have the ability to think holistically and long-term across a broad spectrum of industry trends and issues in oncology, adjacent diseases and platform approaches, and to communicate long term business objectives and priorities through external partnerships.

A deep understanding of the drug discovery, development, and regulatory processes is required, as the candidate will lead both scouting activities and evaluation/diligence of novel therapeutic opportunities for both licensing and M&A, while supporting transactional activities. Within BMS, the candidate is required to have strong interpersonal skills and work with multiple internal stakeholders to drive and support highly visible and time-sensitive business development projects. Furthermore, the candidate will be able to co-lead with Transactions to develop and deliver scientific, clinical, technical, and commercial assessments and evaluations in oncology field to the relevant BMS governance bodies.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead an S&E team to identify, evaluate and diligence BD opportunities in Oncology.
• Represent the BDU as the scientific thought leader in strategic area teams and other settings
• Demonstrate leadership and scientific rigor while collaborating closely with internal BD, Enterprise Strategy, R&D, and Commercial stakeholders and potential external partners and other sources of opportunities.
• Lead team to conduct triaging and assessment of all inbound opportunities and conduct deep scientific and clinical due diligence with cross-functional teams.
• Direct team on proactive external outreach efforts to identify and initially qualify partnering or acquisition opportunities consistent with BMS BD priorities.
• Ability to multi-task and prioritize in balancing large book of work while ensuring consistent attention and prioritization of most critical and visible projects.
• Serve as thought leader to formulate Oncology therapeutic area strategy (e.g., focus indications, approaches, target MOAs, potential partners, etc.) while driving the execution of external business development elements.
• Co-lead with the Transactions and cross-functional teams to deliver assessments of technical/commercial risks and team recommendations of external opportunities for BMS governance endorsement, integrating high-level stakeholder input and senior management review.
• Collaborate with Transaction BD and Corporate Development colleagues and support agreement negotiation and contracting as needed.
• Oversee Diligence Team for less complex opportunities and directly lead Diligence Team for most complex opportunities:
  • Facilitate diligence planning
  • Lead diligence interactions with external parties
  • Prepare high quality deliverables for diligence findings and recommendations
  • Coordinate with Therapeutic Area leads, Thematic Research Center heads, and BD operations team to ensure quality of all diligence output incl. governance meeting readouts
• Lead and participate in BD external partnering events (JPM, BIO, BIO EU, BMS Partnering Days etc.) and relevant technical / scientific meetings, including preparing materials such as presentations, FAQ and related documents.
• Manage and coach a high-performing team and cultivate future leaders in Search & Evaluation

Qualifications & Experience:

• MD or PhD
• Minimum 15 years of experience within the biopharmaceutical industry or related biotech/healthcare practice (e.g., consulting, investment banking, venture capital) and minimum 5 years of experience in S&E in a business development organization.
• Direct experience in Oncology preferred
• Strong analytical, communication, and leadership skills.
• A proven record of leading discovery, development, or business development projects.
• Deep scientific knowledge in Oncology and relevant therapeutic areas with understanding of the preclinical drug discovery and clinical development and approval process.
• Proven ability to lead multiple projects in a matrixed environment with a high degree of independence.
• Consistently deliver on commitments in a timely manner.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate ideas and lead others to accomplish challenging goals and objectives.
• Experience working with both internal and external multidisciplinary teams/customers.
• Can-do attitude and ability to work in a highly matrixed and dynamic business environment including ability to interact and communicate to senior level executives.
• Deep scientific curiosity and commitment to advancing therapeutic innovation that provides better options for patients.

Around the world, we are passionate about making an impact on the lives of patients with serious diseases. Empowered to apply our individual talents and diverse perspectives in an inclusive culture, our shared values of passion, innovation, urgency, accountability, inclusion and integrity bring out the highest potential of each of our colleagues.

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.

Physical presence at the BMS worksite or physical presence in the field is an essential job function of this role which the Company deems critical to collaboration, innovation, productivity, employee well-being and engagement, and enhances the Company culture.

To protect the safety of our workforce, customers, patients and communities, the policy of the Company requires all employees and workers in the U.S. and Puerto Rico to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, unless they have received an exception based on an approved request for a medical or religious reasonable accommodation. Therefore, all BMS applicants seeking a role located in the U.S. and Puerto Rico must confirm that they have already received or are willing to receive the full COVID-19 vaccination by their start date as a qualification of the role and condition of employment. This requirement is subject to state and local law restrictions and may not be applicable to employees working in certain jurisdictions such as Montana. This requirement is also subject to discussions with collective bargaining representatives in the U.S.

Our company is committed to ensuring that people with disabilities can excel through a transparent recruitment process, reasonable workplace adjustments and ongoing support in their roles. Applicants can request an approval of accommodation prior to accepting a job offer. If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application or if you are applying to a role based in the U.S. or Puerto Rico and you believe that you are unable to receive a COVID-19 vaccine due to a medical condition or sincerely held religious belief, during or any part of the recruitment process, please direct your inquiries to adastaffingsupport@bms.com. Visit careers.bms.com/eeo-accessibility to access our complete Equal Employment Opportunity statement.

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