Senior/ Executive Director, Discovery-Oncology

Beerse, Antwerp, Belgium; Spring House, Pennsylvania, United States of America; Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
Full-time
$204,000.00 - $351,900.00
Posted Nov 9, 2026

Skills

Communication
Leadership

Job description

At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity. Learn more at jnj.com .

As guided by Our Credo, Johnson & Johnson is responsible to our employees who work with us throughout the world. We provide an inclusive work environment where each person is considered as an individual. At Johnson & Johnson, we respect the diversity and dignity of our employees and recognize their merit.

Please note that this role is available across multiple countries and may be posted under different requisition numbers to comply with local requirements. While you are welcome to apply to any or all of the postings, we recommend focusing on the specific country(s) that align with your preferred location(s):

Belgium R-109617, United States of America R-109946

Remember, whether you apply to one or all of these requisition numbers, your applications will be considered as a single submission.

Job Function:

Discovery & Pre-Clinical/Clinical Development

Job Sub Function:

Biological Research

Job Category:

People Leader

All Job Posting Locations:

Beerse, Antwerp, Belgium, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America, Spring House, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Job Description:

About Innovative Medicine

Our expertise in Innovative Medicine is informed and inspired by patients, whose insights fuel our science-based advancements. Visionaries like you work on teams that save lives by developing the medicines of tomorrow.

Join us in developing treatments, finding cures, and pioneering the path from lab to life while championing patients every step of the way.

About Oncology

Our Oncology team is focused on the elimination of cancer by discovering new pathways and modalities to finding treatments and cures. We lead where medicine is going and need innovators with an unwavering commitment to results.

Join us in developing treatments, finding cures, and pioneering the path from lab to life while championing patients every step of the way.

Learn more at https://www.jnj.com/innovative-medicine

We are searching for the best talent for a Senior/ Executive Director, Discovery Oncology position. You will be responsible for leading and guiding the Oncology discovery research in selected cancer indications. The Senior/Executive Director, Discovery Oncology defines and executes on the strategy for Oncology Discovery. This individual will develop a portfolio of therapeutics addressing core pathways in Oncology from project concept through to entrance into clinical trials.

You will also be responsible for:

•Leads a global group of approximately 15-30 people (including regular FTEs, temporary contractors and postdoctoral fellows), guiding their science with an emphasis on scientific quality and rigor.

•Creates an environment that values innovation, leadership, scientific excellence, urgency, and personal accountability.

•In partnership with Oncology leadership, including TA head, clinical, strategy and functional leaders, defines the scientific strategy for the TA and develops a portfolio of assets for solid cancer indications

•Manages resource allocations across programs, included shared resources across labs

•As a Disease Area Stronghold discovery leader develops the strategy and executes on it for the end-to-end Oncology portfolio.

•Proactively influences across functional areas and external partners to align project activities with strategic goals.

•Establishes internal and external collaborations to facilitate execution of Discovery strategy.

•Partners with external collaborators and innovation centers to evaluate and discover new approaches, technologies, and targets in support of the Oncology portfolio.

•Partners with business development to evaluate external assets and bring new molecules into the pipeline.

•Runs collaborations with both academic and industry partners.

•Provides management oversight including personal talent development, training, coaching and guidance to discovery scientists

•Ensures compliance with all J&J training, while ensuring safe laboratory working practices for self and reports

•Ensures consistent experiments/data generation for target validation and progression through discovery stages

You will be responsible for the following Leadership Priorities:

•Overseeing and influencing the initiation and the progression of multiple small and large molecules as well as cell therapy discovery research programs that result in the identification and characterization of Clinical Candidates

•Setting and executing the scientific strategy for solid tumor indication(s)

•Acts as an ambassador for the respective Discovery Portfolio with frequent interactions with senior internal and external stakeholders

•Demonstrate excellent managerial skills to enable his/her global team to deliver on their objectives and to develop their careers

•Provide input on hiring, promotions, resources and budget allocations within the department

•Directs the proper use and implementation of new technology to establish long-term research plans

•Identifies novel scenarios and nascent scientific/technical opportunities in a specific scientific area

•Communicates overall strategy of the projects to others including senior leadership

•Build collaborative relationships with and influence key stakeholders; internally and externally

•Create a high-performance work environment that values innovation, leadership, scientific excellence, urgency, and personal accountability.

•Attract and cultivate talent.

Qualifications / Requirements:

•PhD with deep content knowledge in Oncology and 12 /15 years of demonstrated leadership and drug discovery experience in the area of Oncology, preferably in solid malignancies

•Experience:

•Solid background in cellular, molecular and/or immune tumor biology with a good understanding of the therapeutic landscape in Oncology), experience in bladder or renal cell cancer is a plus

•Strong record of leading programs to the identification of Clinical Candidates across modalities; drug device work experience is a plus

•Strong track record of publications in the field

•Broad scope of impact beyond individual projects such as leading research platforms, target classes, etc.

•Strong external network and being recognized by peers as an expert in the field

•Demonstrated competence for team leadership and/or people skills to manage a team with members in different continents

•Leading or being part of a significant organization change

•Heavy influencing across organization boundaries and without direct authority

•Enterprise thinking

•Detail-oriented as well as being able to see the big picture

•Excellent oral and written communication skills; able to effectively present scientific data and concepts to international standards

•Shaping and articulating a vision that inspires, engages, and brings others along a change journey

•Attracting and developing talent

#LI-Hybrid

Required Skills:

Preferred Skills:

The anticipated base pay range for this position is:

$204,000.00 - $351,900.00

Benefits:

In addition to base pay, we offer the following benefits*: an annual bonus with set target (% of pay) depending on pay grade / location, where the actual amount is based on the employees’ and companies’ performance of the previous calendar year, or sales commissions. Moreover, we offer vacation days, parental leave for a minimum of 12 weeks, bereavement leave, caregiver leave, volunteer leave, well-being reimbursement, programs for financial, physical and mental health. We also offer service anniversary and recognition awards, and subject to the terms of their respective plans, employees - and in some location’s eligible dependents - can participate in several insurance plans. For more information, visit Employee benefits | Supporting well-being & career growth | Johnson & Johnson Careers.

*This is for informative purposes only. Amounts and actual benefits may vary by location and are subject to change.