Job description
Site Name:UK - Hertfordshire - Stevenage, USA - Pennsylvania - Upper Providence
Posted Date:Nov 5 2024

Senior Director Lab Instrument Engineering and Capture

GSK R&D and Digital & Tech’s collective goal is to deliver GSK impact, including the acceleration the discovery and development of medicines and vaccines to patients. R&D Digital & Tech are the key Tech partner to support the R&D Ambition of bringing more medicines and vaccines to our projected 2.5 Billion Patients, and support our scientists by supercharging R&D with Data

The Lab instrument is a core but immensely diverse part of the RD Data and scientists journey. Everything a scientist does includes some form of interaction with a piece of instrument and in most cases it’s software, that create a primary data record, that can then undergo some form of data processing, that is linked to the experiment being executed. This role covers all elements of the laboratory instrument landscape

TheSenior Director Lab Instrument Engineering and Capturewill report directly to the Head of Quality Engineering and Labs and is a pivotal role as it a core part of the experiment and data journey that starts within the labs. This role isthe key partner to R&D about how we create a Lab instrument and data experience for our laboratory scientists that transforms how they work and feel about working in the laboratory, but also produce high quality, standardised and contextualised instrument data that can feed our ambition on using technology, including AI, to optimise our science. This leader will work with the Head of Quality Engineering and Labs, with key leaders in R&D and peers within the team to build a 3–5-year vision and strategy on how we transform our instrument management and data journey. This role is focused within the lab on the instruments and what is needed to support them in the support of the experiment being executed. A key partnership with this are the Lab Operations teams within R&D that do a lot of the work within and around the labs to make sure they function and operate as expected.

This leader is accountable for the roadmap of large scale of complex processes and systems that should deliver ready now value within the Lab but with an eye on the future vision to ensure that both are aligned and any technical debt is recognised and mitigated over time, as we move from a brown field to a future state. Partnership with R&D leaders and other Tech groups is a vital element to the role, to ensure that we deliver on the R&D ambition, and as such a deep knowledge of the Pharma R&D process is very important so that delivery is aimed to be enterprise first, and we remove duplicative solutions from the enterprise over time to simplify the landscape for our scientists whilst not sacrificing on their expectations.

Key Responsibilities:

• Owns acomplex portfolioof legacy and strategic systems, and therefore creates a roadmap to manage technical debt and move RD toward the strategic vision, whilst removing complexity and legacy from the environment.

• Ensuring that software development practices are embedding elements like DevSecOps, automated Testing, UI/UX and Design, Observability and supportability elements to ensure that the software deliverables are of the highest quality to ensure that the application lifecycles are as cost effective as possible. And ensuring they stay up to date with modern software development.

• Primary focused on Lab instruments, Lab operations, Site operations and Data generated within the lab by instrumentation, and so key partnerships with operations functions within R&D, and with peers (Snr Director, Lab Scientists Experience) who work with the RD DDA teams.

• Exceptional relationship and stakeholder building skills to ensure strategic and operational alignment to R&D’s ambitions and strategy.

• End to End knowledge and experience of all Laboratory processes within R&D, to be able to support R&D with an enterprise view of what is most valuable.

• Building and delivering an enterprise vision and strategy that demonstrate impact on in Lab Experience and/or Data surfacing use and reuse but also on the R&D resource utilization and timeline that is tangible to a RD LT level, through embedding technology solution and novel thinking and problem solving. 

• Scientific R&D Data is a complicated and many faceted thing, and as such we need to drive standardization, metadata and contextualization, especially across the extremely diverse instrument landscape. This leader should have a strong understanding of data and its requirements, so that they can champion and exemplify the need to drive this forward in support of the Lab Scientist Experience and Data Engineering colleagues.

• Demonstrated experience of delivering modern solutions that include use of modern technologies like Ai/ML to improve the scientific experience and data capture and surfacing.

• Exceptional experience inagile ways of working, product management, financial management and a value first mindset to ensure we deliver the highest value elements early and often for R&D.

• Demonstrated history of helping their team develop technical, soft skills and their careers, including a proven track record of people progressing under them into leadership and preferably senior leadership roles. Also acts a mentor both within their organisation and the wider GSK to support talent.

Why you?

Basic Qualifications:

We are looking for professionals with these required skills to achieve our goals:

• Degree or equivalent - Science, Engineering, Computing, Maths or similar

• Significant experience in senior technology delivery and portfolio roles with proven experience leveraging technology in a Lab Instrument environment

• Strong project management leadership & strong conceptual analytical/problem solving skills; sound judgment and depth in knowledge of project and portfolio management tools and applications

• Thorough understanding of R&D and Digital & Tech strategies – specifically forResearch, CMC and Labs– but also include financial management, project management and document management systems applicable to an R&D environment.

• Depth in knowledge of agile and agile ways of working in order to ensure management and governance of this way of working across the division.

Preferred Qualifications:

If you have the following characteristics, it would be a plus:

• Advanced Degree;Business Administration (MBA).Information Technology or Science higher qualification

• Experience in managing global projects and multi-cultural project teams, as well experience in managing virtual teams where members are in multiple countries and time zones.

• Excellent leadership and interpersonal skills and ability to work as part of a team both directly and virtually, including ability to consult widely, bring together diverse views, and facilitate agreement on critical issues.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and organizational skills required to influence relationships at all levels.

• Ability to build and manage highly successful teams and knowledge workers

• Track record of delivering insights and recommendations to business leaders

• Proven ability to work independently & strong attention to detail

• Capacity to manage multiple priorities while thriving fast-paced environment

• Proven ability to work well under pressure and within tight deadlines

Interested in Joining the Team?

Please apply via our online portal providing your CV and Cover Letter.

(Please take a personal copy of the Job Description, as this will not be available online post closure of the advert)

Closing Date:17th November 2024

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Why GSK?

Uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together.

GSK is a global biopharma company with a special purpose – to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together – so we can positively impact the health of billions of people and deliver stronger, more sustainable shareholder returns – as an organisation where people can thrive. We prevent and treat disease with vaccines, specialty and general medicines. We focus on the science of the immune system and the use of new platform and data technologies, investing in four core therapeutic areas (infectious diseases, HIV, respiratory/ immunology and oncology).

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