Director/Team Lead, Valuation Center of Excellence (CoE)

Job description

ROLE SUMMARY The Valuation CoE Team Lead is accountable for the financial valuation of R&D investment decisions and analytical support for business case development. The role ensures that valuations presented to Asset Teams, Category Leadership, and Executive Governance are objective, consistent, and based on common standards, enabling comparable program and portfolio prioritization. This is primarily a Decision Analysis leadership role, supported by strong valuation and modeling expertise. The Team Lead partners with Therapeutic Area-aligned Decision Analysis Directors to define the decision framework, translate development options into aligned scenarios and sensitivities, and provide independent challenge to assumptions from Commercial, Clinical, Regulatory, and Finance. The role owns valuation methodology and financial standards, as well as the development of valuation tools and their integration with forecasting, development cost, PTRS, and portfolio systems. The Team Lead also advances two strategic priorities: building an AI-enabled valuation ecosystem and developing junior Decision Analysis talent. Reports to: Head of PDA Decision Analysis. Direct reports: 3–4 Senior Managers/Managers. Key interfaces: Therapeutic Area Decision Analysis Directors, Enterprise Portfolio Management, Finance, Commercial, Business Development/Corporate Development, and Digital. ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES AI Tooling and Workflow Set and execute on the roadmap for AI-assisted valuation and decision-support workflows, defining where work should be automated, augmented, or retained as human judgment. Design reusable prompts, agents, and workflows across approved generative AI platforms to accelerate model development, assumption retrieval, scenario generation, quality checks, and executive deliverables. Identify and automate recurring analytical tasks; evaluate emerging AI technologies and recommend practical adoption strategies with Digital and business partners. Establish AI governance, validation, traceability, and human-review controls so all machine-assisted outputs are transparent, reproducible, and fit for governance use. Decision Analysis and Framing Partner with TA Decision Analysis Directors to frame and pressure-test the business question, decision criteria, options, and key uncertainties before modeling begins. Apply Decision Quality methods—including decision hierarchies, strategy tables, decision trees, scenario planning, and value of information—to structure complex choices. Translate development strategies and trade-offs into AI-enabled analytical frameworks, probabilistic analyses, sensitivities, and clear value drivers. Provide objective challenge to Commercial, Clinical, Regulatory, and Finance assumptions and convert complex findings into concise, actionable recommendations. Ability to flex and lead decision analysis projects within any therapeutic area if there are potential capacity issues or peak in project volume Valuation Standards and Quality Together with Head of PDA Decision Analysis and TA Decision Analysis Directors, own valuation metrics used to inform consequential portfolio prioritization and multi-billion dollar investment go/no-go decisions at the Portfolio Management Team (PMT). Own PDA’s Common Analytical Practices (CAP), including cash flow architecture, risk adjustment, discount rates, eNPV, eIRR, PTRS benchmarks, and standards for approved deviations. Serve as final quality reviewer for internal pipeline valuations, ensuring consistent assumptions, cross-asset comparability, transparent documentation, and audit-ready outputs before governance review. Maintain standardized model templates, version control, reusable analytical frameworks, and an AI-enabled knowledge repository on the Common Analytic Platform. Align input and reconciliation standards with Finance, Commercial, Business Assessment, R&D, and Business Development across internal and external opportunities. People Leadership and Coaching Lead the Valuation CoE team, including performance management, work assignment, intake, prioritization, and capacity balancing across therapeutic areas. Build team capability in valuation, decision analysis, therapeutic-area knowledge, executive storytelling, and effective use of generative AI for analytical decision support. Coach and develop colleagues through clear career paths, stretch assignments, asset-team exposure, peer review, and post-decision learning. Establish a culture of analytical excellence, continuous improvement, knowledge sharing, and accountable delivery. Portfolio Analytics and Governance Integrate asset valuations and portfolio analytics across R&D, Commercial, Finance, and Enterprise Portfolio Management to support operating plans, long-range forecasts, and portfolio prioritization. Create executive-ready presentations, business cases, dashboards, and briefing materials that clearly communicate value drivers, scenarios, risks, and recommendations. Represent valuation methodology and findings at Category, PMT, and other governance forums, enabling transparent, data-driven investment decisions. BASIC QUALIFICATIONS BA/BS degree in life science, finance, engineering, or a quantitative discipline At least 8 years of experience in management consulting, investment banking, equity research, corporate or R&D finance, portfolio management, or decision analysis, including at least 3 years building pharmaceutical asset valuations Demonstrated expertise in expected cash flow modeling and economic value measures (eNPV, eIRR), and in decision analysis techniques such as decision trees, Monte Carlo simulation, multi-attribute analysis and value of information Expert command of pharmaceutical R&D economics: phase transition probabilities, development cost and timeline drivers, indication sequencing, exclusivity and loss of exclusivity Demonstrated experience setting analytical standards and enforcing them across teams the role does not control Hands-on tool-building capability: advanced Excel plus at least one of Python, R or equivalent, and practical use of AI / large language model tools within an analytical workflow (Claude, Gemini, Copilot) Experience managing, mentoring or formally coaching junior colleagues Excellent Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint skills Sets Standards: Establishes methodology that others adopt willingly; distinguishes where consistency creates comparability from where it would impose false precision; documents the difference and defends it Analytical Thinker: Synthesizes facts and information from varied data sources into discernible insight; connects analytical rigor to an understanding of the key value drivers in clinical development Builder and Automator: Sees repetitive analytical work as a design problem; builds tools rather than tolerating manual process; pragmatic about where automation adds value and where it introduces risk Coach and Talent Developer: Invests in the growth of junior colleagues deliberately; gives specific, usable feedback; creates exposure and visibility for the team Independent and Objective: Maintains analytical integrity under pressure from senior stakeholders; separates the quality of a decision from the desirability of its outcome Exceptional Communicator: Distills complex technical findings into commentary that enables effective decision-making by senior leaders; aligns interpersonal style with the needs of the audience Strong Capacity and Project Manager: Manages a shared queue across competing senior demands; sets expectations, sequences work transparently, and delivers to commitment Proactive Self-Starter: Takes an active role in professional development, stays abreast of industry practice in valuation and analytics, and contributes to the Decision Analysis community of practice PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS Advanced degree in business, decision analysis, engineering, medicine / science, or a related quantitative field Experience supporting business development, licensing