Business Lead, AI-native Target Identification & Validation (TIDVAL)

By clicking the “Apply” button, I understand that my employment application process with Takeda will commence and that the information I provide in my application will be processed in line with Takeda’s Privacy Notice and Terms of Use . I further attest that all information I submit in my employment application is true to the best of my knowledge. Job Description Business Lead, AI-native Target Identification & Validation (TIDVAL) Takeda is transforming how medicines are discovered by building a new Research engine where AI, advanced data platforms, and laboratory automation are embedded directly into how scientists design and discover molecules, run experiments, and make decisions. Our Labs of Tomorrow vision connects computational science, scientific data, and automated experimental workflows into a closed-loop discovery engine that will enable us to design smarter studies, shorten learning cycles, and deliver clearer evidence earlier in discovery with the ultimate goal of discovering differentiated medicines for patients. The Business Lead, AI-native Target Identification & Validation is central to realizing this vision. The scientist will be responsible for Takeda's next-generation target identification and validation AI-native software product: owning the scientific vision, customer experience, product strategy, roadmap, adoption, and ultimately the value it creates for our drug discovery. The Business Lead will define and answer what the target evaluation environment should be in a future where AI agents, foundational disease models, world models, predictive models, and human genetic, multi-omic, and clinical data at scale are the basis of how disease populations are stratified, genetic linkages to disease are established, and target hypotheses are built and defended. Our ambition is for this product to become the primary environment through which Takeda scientists will identify, evaluate, and select the targets behind the medicines of the future. Purpose The Business Lead, AI-native Target Identification & Validation is a foundational leadership role, acting as the as the owner and of Takeda's Target Identification & Validation product family , an integrated family of capabilities spanning the target journey from initial biological hypothesis through validated, project-ready target. The role refines the strategic vision for future-state AI-native TIDVAL Labs of Tomorrow capabilities and drives its translation into AI-enabled research workflows, product direction, adoption, and measurable scientific and business value by working with both relevant internal and external stakeholders. The successful candidate will lead this portfolio as a business owner on the side of the internal customer, combining deep target biology and target validation expertise with computational, data, and technology fluency to ensure that the products built are science-first, grounded in real pre-project research workflows, and capable of strengthening the target selection decisions that set portfolio direction. Your customers will be Takeda's disease area biologists, human geneticists, computational and systems biologists, bioinformaticians, translational scientists and therapeutic area leaders. The role carries sufficient technical fluency to provide informed direction on the strategic technology choices underpinning the product family, at the level of intent and trade-off rather than detailed evaluation or execution. This is a unique opportunity for an exceptional leader who can combine deep understanding of target identification and validation science with strong computational, data, and technology fluency , and who will ensure that the applications developed are scientifically grounded, technically actionable, adoptable by end users, and aligned with Takeda's business priorities. This role operates at the program leadership level, collaborating directly with Takeda's “Labs of Tomorrow” leadership team to shape portfolio priorities, resolve strategic tradeoffs, and ensure future-state target identification and validation capabilities advance from vision to measurable scientific and business impact. The role provides day-to-day direction to the technical leads and development squads working on the Target Identification & Validation product family, and is interacting closely with the SME leads. The role will also interface with the other Product Leads to ensure extensibility across the suites of products. Accountabilities Own and refine the strategic vision for future-state TIDVAL capabilities, articulating the future-state target journey, redesigned for AI-native target identification and validation at data scale, and breaking it into the underlying capabilities delivered under a single mandate, in alignment with overall Research strategy. Deliver against that vision by providing business leadership, partnering with technical leads and development squads on scope, sequencing, and priority, and holding product teams accountable for outcomes, adoption, and measurable scientific and business impact. Define, track, and own KPIs, business value, adoption, and scientific impact across the product family, maintaining the integrated portfolio view that gives Research leadership a consolidated perspective on progress, dependencies, risks, and opportunities. Deeply understand the customer, the re-imagined AI-native workflows, the decisions they make, and unmet needs and represent them throughout development, working closely with the lead Subject Matter Experts to define target scientist experiences and to keep development anchored on target biology needs and on the priority capabilities that improve how target hypotheses are built, challenged, and selected. Set business priorities and direction across Research, Digital Data & Technology (DD&T), Computational Science, and external build partners, driving the cross-functional alignment needed to resolve risks, dependencies, and blockers across the product family. Work with the broader “Labs of Tomorrow” leadership team to set the digital product roadmap, scope, requirements, and investment priorities, balancing scientific value, strategic importance, and implementation readiness. Provide informed direction on the strategic technology choices underpinning the product family, including platform direction, architecture, and development sequencing, at the level of intent and trade-off rather than detailed evaluation or execution. Identify where AI agents, predictive models, and human genetic, multi-omic, and clinical data at scale can fundamentally redesign how disease populations are stratified and genetic linkages established, and translate those into opportunities in the products. Plan and drive adoption of delivered capabilities across therapeutic areas and platform functions, ensuring that they lead to measurable scientific and business value. Qualifications & Competencies Expected: Ph.D. in human genetics, computational biology, systems biology, molecular or cell biology or related field, with 8+ years of progressively responsible experience in pharmaceutical or biotech R&D. Demonstrated ownership of a product, platform, or capability portfolio end to end, including roadmap, delivery, and adoption. Demonstrated ability to set strategic direction, drive cross-functional alignment, and transla