IT Business Partner (R&D)

Director, IT Business Partner – Research & Development (R&D)

The Director, IT Business Partner – R&D is a senior leadership role responsible for aligning information technology strategy with the needs of the scientific organisation. This role ensures R&D teams have the technology platforms, data infrastructure, and external partnerships required to accelerate drug discovery and innovation.

Acting as a trusted advisor to senior R&D leadership, the role owns the R&D IT roadmap, manages business demand, oversees critical applications and vendors, and ensures strong alignment between technology capabilities, data strategy, and scientific priorities.

A solid understanding of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Large Language Model (LLM) technologies is essential, with close collaboration alongside computational and data science teams to enable next-generation research.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Partnership & Roadmap Developme nt

• Serve as the senior IT partner to R&D leadership, translating scientific objectives into technology and data strategies
• Own and drive the R&D IT roadmap aligned to discovery, research, and data science priorities

Stakeholder Engagement & Relationship Management

• Build strong relationships with scientific, technical, and business stakeholders
• Identify opportunities to leverage enterprise IT and data capabilities to support R&D objectives
• Act as the primary escalation point for R&D IT issues and drive continuous improvement
• Collaborate with Legal, Procurement, and Compliance to ensure vendor governance, data protection, and risk management standards

Technology Planning & Delivery

• Oversee core scientific systems (e.g. ELN, compound registration, analytics platforms, computational environments)
• Partner with research and computational teams to evaluate and adopt emerging technologies
• Manage the full lifecycle of R&D applications, including upgrades, validation, and retirement
• Lead IT initiatives from initiation through delivery, ensuring scope, budget, and timeline alignment

Vendor & Partner Management

• Manage external software vendors and IT service providers supporting R&D
• Partner with cloud and data infrastructure providers to ensure adequate computational capacity (e.g. HPC, GPUs, AI platforms)
• Lead vendor selection, contract negotiation, SLAs, renewals, and escalation management

Operations, Compliance & Continuous Improvement

• Ensure reliable operational support including incident management, change control, and user enablement
• Drive process improvements that streamline scientific workflows and optimise technology usage
• Ensure compliance with regulatory, quality, and data security requirements
• Maintain policies and procedures supporting consistent R&D IT operations

Required Qualifications & Experience

Education

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Life Sciences, or a related discipline

Professional Experience

• 8+ years of IT experience within biopharma or biotech environments
• Significant exposure to the full R&D lifecycle
• Proven experience partnering with senior scientific and R&D stakeholders

Technical Expertise

• Strong understanding of pharmaceutical R&D practices, regulations, and compliance
• Experience with R&D technologies such as LIMS, ELN, compound management, data analytics, visualisation tools, and scientific software platforms
• Demonstrated collaboration with AI, ML, computational chemistry, or data science teams
• Solid understanding of Linux, HPC environments, security, and containerisation
• Experience leading Computer Systems Validation (CSV) using risk-based approaches aligned with current regulatory guidance

Soft Skills

• Strategic and entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to influence senior leaders
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills across scientific and executive audiences
• Strong analytical, planning, and project management capabilities
• Lean and process-improvement mindset
• Awareness of technology trends within R&D and ability to build strategic technology partnerships
• Fluent in English; additional languages are advantageous

Applications should include a CV and cover letter outlining interest and relevant experience for the role.