Head of R&D Digital Business Innovation

BeOne Medicines is seeking a dynamic and forward-thinking Head, R&D Digital Business Innovation to accelerate transformation across Global Research & Development (R&D) by pioneering AI-native ways of working and reimagining how work is performed, decisions are made, and teams collaborate.

This leader will work at the intersection of R&D strategy, business transformation, and Digital & AI to identify high-value opportunities and redesign workflows around the capabilities of AI, intelligent agents, automation, data, and digital technologies. Rather than simply applying technology to existing processes, the role will rethink work from first principles, determining what can be eliminated, simplified, automated, augmented, or fundamentally redesigned.

The role will lead business innovation from opportunity identification and experimentation through implementation, adoption, and measurable value realization. Initially, the focus will be on selected priorities, while progressively expanding AI-native workflow innovation and new operating practices across Global R&D.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Digital Business Innovation & Strategy

• Identify and prioritize high-value opportunities to transform R&D workflows, operating practices, and decision-making through AI and digital capabilities.

• Challenge legacy processes and assumptions, focusing on what should fundamentally change rather than simply digitizing how work is performed today.

• Translate business challenges into a focused portfolio of innovation initiatives with clear outcomes, priorities, and value hypotheses.

• Lead selected cross-functional initiatives from opportunity identification through implementation, scaling, and value realization.

2. AI-Native Workflow Innovation

• Reimagine end-to-end R&D workflows from first principles, using AI, intelligent agents, automation, and data to fundamentally rethink how work gets done.

• Determine where work can be eliminated, simplified, automated, augmented, or redesigned, and define the optimal interaction between human expertise and AI.

• Explore AI-native and agentic approaches that reduce manual work, handoffs, information synthesis, and coordination while enabling faster and higher-quality decisions.

• Rapidly test new concepts through experiments, prototypes, and proofs of value, using evidence to determine what to scale, redesign, or stop.

• Define appropriate human oversight, decision rights, accountability, and controls for AI-enabled workflows, particularly in scientific, medical, quality, and regulated activities.

3. Business Transformation & New Ways of Working

• Partner with R&D leaders to translate AI-native workflow designs into sustainable changes in processes, roles, skills, behaviors, decision rights, and operating practices.

• Enable teams to move beyond using AI for individual tasks toward integrated AI-enabled ways of working embedded in day-to-day workflows and decisions.

• Build stakeholder ownership, trust, and readiness for new ways of working, addressing barriers to adoption and change.

• Establish feedback and learning mechanisms to continuously improve workflows, user experience, and business effectiveness.

4. Cross-Functional Leadership & Partnership

• Serve as a senior innovation partner to R&D leaders, bringing AI-native thinking, external perspective, and constructive challenge to business opportunities.

• Partner closely with Digital & AI Product Management, Data Science, Technology, and functional teams to translate business opportunities into scalable solutions and new operating practices.

• Lead the business transformation dimension of digital and AI initiatives, including opportunity definition, workflow redesign, business adoption, and value realization.

• Influence senior stakeholders, align diverse perspectives, accelerate decisions, and remove barriers to innovation.

• Foster a culture of curiosity, experimentation, continuous learning, and willingness to challenge established ways of working.

5. Business Impact & Scalable Innovation

• Define measurable business outcomes and value hypotheses for innovation initiatives, supported by clear performance baselines and targets.

• Measure impact across areas such as cycle time, productivity, quality, cost, user experience, and decision effectiveness.

• Identify and address barriers when expected business value is not being realized.

• Scale successful innovations across R&D functions and geographies where they can create broader value.

• Develop repeatable approaches and playbooks for AI-native workflow innovation, adoption, scaling, and value realization.

Qualifications and Experience:

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in business, science, engineering, technology, or a related field and 14+ years of relevant experience; advanced degree and 10+ years of relevant experience preferred.

• Significant experience leading complex business innovation, transformation, process redesign, digital initiatives, or organizational change in a global, matrixed organization.

• Demonstrated ability to think AI-natively and redesign workflows from first principles, rather than simply applying technology to existing processes.

• Demonstrated track record of challenging established practices and delivering measurable improvements in business performance.

• Experience taking innovation from opportunity identification and experimentation through implementation, adoption, scaling, and value realization.

• Strong understanding of the capabilities and limitations of generative AI, intelligent agents, automation, and data-driven decision support, with the ability to translate them into practical business opportunities.

• Strong strategic and systems thinking, problem-solving, stakeholder engagement, and execution capabilities.

• Proven ability to influence senior leaders, navigate ambiguity and resistance, and mobilize cross-functional teams across organizational boundaries.

• Intellectual curiosity and a commitment to continuously understanding emerging AI capabilities and their implications for how R&D work can be performed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare, or another complex, knowledge-intensive and regulated industry.

• Strong understanding of pharmaceutical R&D processes, with experience in Clinical Operations highly desirable.

• Experience applying generative AI, agentic AI, intelligent automation, advanced analytics, or emerging technologies to business workflows.

• Familiarity with process redesign, human-centered design, experimentation, agile ways of working, or digital product development.

• Experience working across global and culturally diverse organizations.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.