Manager, Research Partnerships

Job Description

DJS-AbbVie is an AbbVie R&D hub located in Oxford, created following AbbVie’s acquisition of DJS Antibodies. As part of AbbVie, we aim to develop new medicines that improve the lives of patients with immunological diseases.

To achieve this, we have built and are expanding an R&D presence in Oxford that integrates drug design, human-centric biology and mechanistic clinical testing. We have discovered novel pipeline candidates through our onsite capabilities in antibody discovery and translational biology. We also act as a UK and European hub for the wider AbbVie R&D organisation, uncovering novel biology and advancing assets to the clinic through collaborations with top-tier academics and biotechs in Oxford and beyond. The breadth of innovative activity happening here makes this a unique place to work.

Purpose:

Reporting to the Director, Research Partnerships, the core purpose of this role is to manage collaborative R&D projects with academic institutes and other organisations based in Oxford, the United Kingdom and continental Europe. The role will focus on operationalising and managing external projects from the contracting stage to completion. This position will support a diverse range of collaborative projects, such as post-doctoral programmes, observational clinical studies and mechanistic clinical studies of investigational drugs. In each of these areas, you will collaborate with functional experts from across AbbVie R&D, including Immunology Discovery, Precision Medicine, Clinical Operations and Contracting. Bringing these diverse teams together effectively will require excellent stakeholder management skills, including the ability to drive alignment and organise effective meetings. Beyond this core focus, there may be scope to support the identification, evaluation and shaping of new partnership opportunities, as well as to contribute to other AbbVie R&D initiatives.

This is a high impact position, offering the successful candidate the chance to drive the delivery of multiple collaborative projects and to help AbbVie realise its ambition to turn science into cures. They will work on innovative projects ranging from early-stage discovery biology to clinical proof-of-mechanism across a range of diseases and technologies, providing significant opportunities to develop broad expertise in some of the key elements of the pharmaceutical R&D value chain. This individual contributor role will operate with autonomy, while offering the potential to build extensive networks within AbbVie and the external biomedical research ecosystem.

Responsibilities:

• Project manage the successful execution of ongoing and new collaborative research studies with partner organisations, ensuring that the agreed work-packages are delivered on-time, to scope and within budget.
• Communicate regular updates and reports on project progress to functional leaders within AbbVie R&D and other key stakeholders.
• Develop trustful relationships with external partners, balancing positivity and transparency with respectful challenge to ensure that AbbVie’s priorities are upheld.
• Partner with, and manage, internal stakeholders from legal, IP, finance, operational, scientific and other teams to review, negotiate and execute research agreements.
• Anticipate, solve and escalate challenges or potential delays that may impact the delivery of project objectives.
• Plan, schedule and lead effective meetings with internal and external partners, including preparing agendas, focussing the discussions, capturing actions and preparing summary notes and minutes.
• Design and maintain visualization dashboards and other tools to track and report project progress.
• Identify and realise opportunities to enhance the scientific value of external research partnerships, through maximising synergies between individual projects or by proposing amendments or follow-on studies to ongoing programmes.
• Identify and implement process improvement opportunities to enhance the performance and delivery of research partnerships.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a relevant life sciences discipline plus 10 years of professional experience, or a Master’s degree and at least eight years of experience, or a Ph.D. and five-or-more years of experience in drug discovery, early clinical development or translational research gained in an academic or industry setting.
• Demonstrated experience of project managing complex, cross-sector biomedical research collaborations to successful outcomes.
• Experience of reviewing and negotiating research agreements (Confidential Disclosure Agreements, Material Transfer Agreements, Sponsored Research Agreements, Statements of Work, etc).
• Sound understanding of the compliance, data sharing, intellectual property, legal, privacy and regulatory considerations related to research contracting.
• Solid awareness of the UK life sciences ecosystem of academic institutes, biotechnology companies, funding organisations and regulatory agencies, as well as of the European biomedical research landscape.
• Expertise in the principles and practice of project management, including budgeting, critical path analysis, forecasting, risk management, scenario planning and using software tools for tracking.
• Organisational, time management and attention to detail, with an ability to adapt to changing priorities.
• Strong influencing skills, with expertise in operating in a cross-functional environment and with diverse stakeholders at different levels of seniority.
• Collaborative mindset plus outstanding interpersonal skills for partnership-building.
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills. Proficiency in using MS Office applications, including Excel, PowerPoint and Word.
• Ability to navigate ambiguity and work independently in a fast-paced environment.

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience in the biotechnology or pharmaceutical industry.
• Prior experience in an academic liaison or alliance management type role.
• A professional qualification in project management, such as PRINCE2.
• Experience of contributing to human experimental medicine studies.
• Scientific knowledge of the immunology therapy area and immune-mediated diseases would be a plus.

Additional Information

AbbVie is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to operating with integrity, driving innovation, transforming lives and serving our community. Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled.

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