Senior Director, Alliance Management

Incyte · Wilmington

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A global biopharmaceutical company on a mission to Solve On, Incyte follows science to find solutions for patients with unmet medical needs. Through the discovery, development, and commercialization of proprietary therapeutics, Incyte has established a portfolio of first-in-class medicines for patients and a strong pipeline of products in Hematology, Oncology and Inflammation and Autoimmunity

Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, Incyte has operations in North America, Europe, and Asia.
 

Position Summary

The Senior Director, Alliance Management is responsible for maximizing the value of Incyte's most strategically important external partnerships through effective governance, cross-functional leadership, risk management, stakeholder alignment, and strategic execution.

This individual serves as the primary business leader and relationship owner for one or more high-value alliances spanning discovery research, clinical development, manufacturing, commercialization, companion diagnostics, and platform technology collaborations. The Senior Director acts as the connective link between Incyte and its partners, ensuring that contractual rights, governance obligations, financial commitments, and strategic objectives are translated into successful execution and measurable business outcomes.

At Incyte, Alliance Management is a strategic leadership function responsible for maximizing the value of collaborations that are critical to the company's pipeline, commercial portfolio, and long-term growth strategy. Senior Alliance Managers operate as business leaders who influence strategy, manage complex stakeholder environments, and drive execution across organizational and company boundaries.

This role requires an experienced Alliance Management leader who can independently manage several active partnerships, navigate ambiguity and competing priorities, and exercise sound judgment in determining when to resolve issues directly and when senior leadership involvement is required. The successful candidate will be equally comfortable discussing strategy with executives, resolving complex cross-functional or partner issues, and ensuring that agreed decisions translate into execution.

Reporting Relationship

Reports to the Executive Director, Head of Alliance Management.

Partners closely with senior leaders across Research, Development, Regulatory Affairs, Technical Operations, Commercial, Business Development, Legal, and Finance.

May provide mentoring, coaching, and matrix leadership to Alliance Managers and cross-functional teams.

Key Responsibilities

Alliance Leadership & Value Realization

• Serve as the designated Alliance Manager for one or more strategic collaborations.
• Develop and execute alliance strategies that maximize partnership value and support corporate objectives.
• Establish trusted relationships with partner leadership and key stakeholders.
• Identify opportunities to strengthen collaboration effectiveness and create additional value.
• Monitor alliance performance against strategic, operational, and financial objectives.
• Lead alliance health assessments and implement action plans to address identified gaps.

Governance & Decision Management

• Design, establish, and lead alliance governance structures, including: 
  • Joint Steering Committees (JSC)
  • Joint Development Committees (JDC)
  • Joint Research Committees (JRC)
  • Joint Commercial Committees (JCC)
  • Functional working groups
• Ensure governance forums remain focused on decision-making, accountability, and value creation.
• Drive agenda development, decision management, risk escalation, and issue resolution.
• Maintain governance charters, action registers, decision logs, and risk registers.
• Facilitate timely resolution of cross-company issues and conflicts.
• Strategic Partner Relationship Management
• Serve as the primary point of accountability for overall alliance health.
• Build strong executive-level relationships within partner organizations.
• Anticipate and address areas of potential strategic or operational misalignment.
• Facilitate constructive resolution of conflicts and competing priorities.
• Influence outcomes while maintaining productive long-term partner relationships.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Align internal stakeholders across: 
  • Research
  • Translational Sciences
  • Clinical Development
  • Regulatory Affairs
  • Technical Operations / CMC
  • Commercial
  • Legal
  • Finance
  • Business Development
• Ensure alignment between alliance objectives and internal business priorities.
• Influence decision making across functions without direct reporting authority.
• Drive accountability and execution across multiple stakeholders and organizations.

Risk Management

• Identify strategic, operational, financial, governance, and relationship risks.
• Develop mitigation strategies with clear ownership and accountability.
• Escalate significant risks through appropriate governance channels.
• Monitor alliance performance indicators and proactively address emerging issues.

Financial & Contractual Oversight

• Maintain working knowledge of alliance agreements and associated governance obligations.
• Collaborate with Legal, Finance, and Business Development to ensure contractual compliance.
• Monitor key contractual and financial elements, including: 
  • Development milestones
  • Royalty obligations
  • Cost-sharing arrangements
  • Joint budgets
  • Governance deliverables
• Assess potential financial and operational impacts of alliance decisions.

Alliance Launch & Operational Excellence

• Lead alliance launch planning and governance implementation for newly executed transactions.
• Develop governance charters, operating plans, onboarding materials, and communication pathways.
• Drive continuous improvement of alliance management practices.
• Contribute to development of departmental tools, templates, metrics, and best practices.

Leadership Competencies

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Strategic thinking and business acumen
• Executive influence and stakeholder management
• Negotiation and conflict resolution
• Enterprise mindset
• Organizational agility
• Change leadership
• Cross-functional collaboration
• Decision quality and judgment
• Relationship management
• Coaching and talent development
• Communication and executive presence

Scope & Complexity

• Manages a portfolio of multiple strategic alliances across research, development, manufacturing, commercial, and technology platforms.
• Supports partnerships representing significant pipeline, commercial, and enterprise value.
• Regular interaction with Vice President, Senior Vice President, Executive Committee, and C-suite stakeholders.
• Leads governance activities across global organizations and multiple geographic regions.
• Responsible for alliances involving significant external investment, milestone obligations, intellectual property considerations, and strategic corporate objectives.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in life sciences, healthcare, business, or related discipline.
• 10+ years of experience in the biotechnology or pharmaceutical industry.
• 3+ years of direct Alliance Management or strategic partnership leadership experience, preferably managing multiple complex biopharma alliances.
• Demonstrated success managing complex collaborations involving shared governance and joint decision making.
• Experience leading executive-level governance committees and stakeholder interactions.
• Strong understanding of drug discovery, development, regulatory, manufacturing, and commercialization processes.
• Excellent negotiation, facilitation, communication, and conflict-resolution skills.
• Proven ability to influence senior leaders across organizations without direct authority.

Preferred

• Advanced degree (MBA, PhD, PharmD, JD, or equivalent).
• Experience supporting: 
  • Licensing transactions
  • Co-development alliances
  • Oncology collaborations
  • Companion diagnostic partnerships
  • Biologics development programs
  • Global pharmaceutical partnerships
• Experience managing alliances across the full product lifecycle, including discovery, development, regulatory, commercial, and lifecycle management activities.

Success in the First 12 Months

The successful candidate will:

• Successfully transition and assume leadership of assigned alliances.
• Build trusted relationships with key internal and external stakeholders.
• Maintain effective governance and decision-making processes across all assigned collaborations.
• Identify and mitigate critical alliance risks.
• Improve alliance effectiveness and stakeholder satisfaction.
• Drive achievement of strategic, contractual, and operational objectives.
• Demonstrate measurable contribution to alliance value realization and execution excellence.

Travel

• Approximately 20-30% domestic and international travel.
• Participation in partner governance meetings, alliance workshops, scientific meetings, and company events.

Work Environment

Hybrid U.S.-based role in Wilmington, DE.

Disclaimer:  The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by employees assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications.  Management reserves the right to change or modify such duties as required.

Incyte Corporation is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer.

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Learn more at: http://www.incyte.com/privacy-policy

The Incyte hiring organization processes your personal data to manage your job application in order to enter into an employment relationship with you if you are the successful candidate.

During the process, you may be asked to respond to questions that will screen out your application if you do not meet certain objective criteria required by the job.   You can learn more about this process here.

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