Associate Director, IT Business Relationship Management - R&D and Product

About the Job:

This role serves as a strategic bridge between R&D, Product, and IT organizations, providing forward-looking thought leadership to shape the future of technology in a highly regulated life sciences environment. The successful candidate will continuously monitor emerging trends across key domains such as electronic lab notebooks (ELN), laboratory information management systems (LIMS), and data science platforms, translating market insights and industry benchmarks into actionable strategies. By advising senior leaders on modernization opportunities, risks, and investment priorities—and facilitating cross-functional alignment forums—this role ensures that innovation initiatives are both business-driven and operationally feasible.

A core responsibility of this position is the development and stewardship of multi-year capability roadmaps that advance R&D and Product technology maturity. These roadmaps are tightly aligned with enterprise strategy, regulatory expectations, and architectural standards, while incorporating cross-functional dependencies such as data flows between R&D and Operations and cybersecurity requirements. The role applies a transparent, value-based prioritization framework to guide investment decisions and maintains a dynamic, living roadmap that informs annual planning, budgeting, and sequencing of initiatives—ensuring sustained progress toward long-term strategic objectives.

In addition, this role owns the operational excellence and lifecycle management of critical R&D and Product technology platforms. Acting as the platform Run owner for core systems, the individual defines governance models, release strategies, and integration approaches while managing vendor relationships and ensuring platforms remain secure, compliant, scalable, and user-centric. The position also drives ITIL-based process maturity across the portfolio and maintains rigorous oversight of technology investments and costs, ensuring delivery of high-quality services aligned with business needs and financial targets.

Key Responsibilities:

• Thought Leadership 
  • Monitor emerging trends in R&D technology (ELN, LIMS, data science and pipelines)
  • Benchmark industry best practices across life sciences R&D and Product domains
  • Advise senior R&D, Product, and IT leaders on strategic opportunities, risks, and modernization pathways
  • Facilitate cross‑functional forums to align on R&D and Product technology strategy and innovation priorities
  • Translate insights into actionable recommendations and investment proposals
• Capability Roadmaps 
  • Develop multi‑year roadmaps to advance the capabilities of R&D and Product
  • Align roadmaps with enterprise strategy, regulatory requirements, and architectural standards 
  • Prioritize investments using a transparent, value‑based framework
  • Maintain a living roadmap that guides annual planning, budgeting, and sequencing of initiatives
  • Ensure roadmaps reflect cross‑functional dependencies (e.g., R&D<>Operations data flows, cybersecurity)
• Platform Run Ownership 
  • Serve as platform Run owners for core R&D and Product systems (ELN, LIMS, data science and pipelines)
  • Define platform vision, governance, and release strategy
  • Manage platform lifecycle, upgrades, integrations, and vendor relationships
  • Ensure platforms are secure, compliant, scalable, and optimized for user experience
  • Drive standardization, data governance, and interoperability across R&D and Product systems
• R&D and Product Technology Operations 
  • Drive ITIL-base process excellence for the R&D and Product technology portfolio
  • Manage R&D and Product technology investments and costs in line with IT budget
  • Comply with FMI's attendance policies

Qualifications:

Basic Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, Life Sciences, or a related field
• Minimum of 8+ years of experience in IT, digital, or technology roles, with at least 5 years supporting R&D, Product Development, or scientific platforms within the life sciences, biotechnology, or pharmaceutical industry
• 4+ years of management experience 
• Demonstrated experience with core R&D technologies, including Electronic Lab Notebooks (ELN), Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS), and data science platforms and pipelines

Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced degree (Master’s or Ph.D.) in Information Technology, Data Science, Engineering, Life Sciences, or a related discipline
• Experience in precision medicine, genomics, diagnostics, or regulated laboratory environments, with a strong understanding of R&D data workflows and scientific computing needs
• Demonstrated experience leading large-scale digital transformation or modernization initiatives across R&D and Product domains
• Hands-on experience managing enterprise platforms, including lifecycle management, integrations, vendor management, and governance
• Proven track record of developing and executing technology strategies, capability roadmaps, and multiyear investment plans aligned to business objectives
• Strong knowledge of regulatory requirements and compliance frameworks applicable to life sciences (e.g., GxP, FDA, data integrity, privacy standards)
• Experience driving ITIL-based service management processes, including incident, problem, change, and release management
• Demonstrated ability to influence and advise senior leadership, translating complex technical concepts into business-aligned recommendations and investment proposals
• Strong understanding of enterprise architecture principles, data governance, cybersecurity, and system interoperability
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills, with experience leading cross-functional initiatives and aligning diverse business and technical teams
• Deep familiarity with modern data architectures, including cloud-native platforms (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP), data lakes, data mesh, and advanced analytics/AI/ML pipelines
• Proven experience establishing and governing enterprise data management practices, including data quality, metadata management, lineage, and FAIR data principles
• Experience implementing or optimizing integration patterns (e.g., APIs, event-driven architectures) to enable interoperability across complex scientific and enterprise systems
• Strong background in cybersecurity and privacy practices, particularly as applied to sensitive research and patient data (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR alignment)
• Experience with financial planning and portfolio management, including building business cases, TCO models, and value realization tracking for technology investments
• Prior experience working with or managing strategic technology vendors and system integrators in a global delivery model 
• Certifications in relevant domains such as ITIL, TOGAF, AWS/Azure Cloud, PMP, or SAFe Agile
• Demonstrated leadership in fostering innovation, building high-performing teams, and driving cultural change across complex, matrixed organizations
• Understanding of HIPAA and the importance of patient data privacy
• Commitment to reflect FMI’s values: Integrity, Courage, and Passion

The expected salary range for this position based on the primary location of Boston, MA is $184,110 - $216,600 per year. The salary range is commensurate with Foundation Medicine’s compensation practice and considers factors including, but not limited to, education, training, experience, external market conditions, criticality of role, and internal equity. A discretionary annual bonus may be available based on individual and Company performance. This position also qualifies for Foundation Medicine's benefits.

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