Life Sciences R&D Strategy Senior Manager

Senior Manager Or Principal Director, R&D Strategy

We are seeking a senior manager or principal director to play a critical leadership role within our growing R&D strategy team to focus on R&D reinvention across the value chain: helping clients move beyond incremental improvement to AI-enabled transformation of how they discover, develop, and deliver medicines. This high-impact role sits at the intersection of biopharma R&D, digital innovation, and enterprise transformation advising R&D leaders at the world's leading pharmaceutical and biotech companies.

You will lead end-to-end strategy engagements, build lasting client relationships across R&D functions, drive business development, and contribute to practice growth through thought leadership and capability building. This is a balanced role: part trusted advisor, part business builder, part practice champion. You will be expected to partner across the various Accenture businesses to be successful in this role.

Accenture helps the world's leading enterprises reinvent by building their digital core and unleashing the power of AI to create value at speed for organizations across industries. Our strategy is to be the reinvention partner of choice for our clients and lead in the safe, widespread adoption of AI, and to be the most client-focused, AI-enabled, great place to work in the world. We bring together the talent of our approximately 799,000 people with proprietary assets and platforms, deep process and industry expertise, and leading ecosystem relationships to deliver end-to-end solutions and measurable outcomes at scale. Through our Reinvention Services, we offer broad expertise across Cybersecurity, Digital Core, Finance, Industry and Enterprise, Song, Supply Chain and Engineering, and Talent, with advanced capabilities in AI and Data, Industry and Process, and Technology. We serve approximately 9,000 clients and generated approximately $70 billion in FY25 revenue.

Accenture's Life Sciences R&D practice helps biopharma organizations transform discovery, early development, and development operations through scientific strategy, data and AI integration, and operational reinvention. We work with R&D leaders Chief Scientific and Medical Officers, Heads of R&D Functions, SVP and VP-level capability owners to shape R&D strategy, accelerate pipeline decisions, and build the capabilities needed to compete in the age of AI-driven drug discovery and development.

This is a growth-focused practice with strong momentum and a clear path to managing director for high performers.

An R&D expert with proven work experience in the Life Sciences R&D industry. You are a strategic problem solver with extensive consulting and industry experience. You are a clear and effective communicator, and you have an open, relatable manner with clients and colleagues. You perform well in an agile, fast-paced working environment. You know how to balance being a leader with contributing to the collective efforts of the team. You have led business development and sales origination efforts to provide transformative programs and targeted consulting engagements.

You have energy and drive in abundance, along with personal resilience, a passion for serving clients, and a love of continual learning. You have a flair for breaking down challenges and processes into logical parts and constructing crystal-clear reasoning and analysesan aptitude you use to decimate problems.

Lead complex R&D strategy engagements from problem framing through delivery, ensuring measurable client impact.

Advise clients on R&D transformation priorities including strategy, pipeline portfolio management, scientific data and AI integration, R&D operational excellence, R&D operating model, etc.

Develop and present strategic recommendations, transformation roadmaps, and reinvention narratives to Heads of R&D functions, and other senior stakeholders.

Serve as a guiding presence throughout the program lifecycle shaping critical program stages, driving quality assurance, and ensuring delivery excellence on large-scale engagements.

Build, manage, and grow senior client relationships across biopharma R&D functions.

Partner with the broader Accenture team to bring the tailored expertise needed for an individual R&D Strategy engagement in support of our clients (e.g., Data & AI, Technology Strategy & Advisory, Talent & Organization)

Originate and shape new opportunities, lead proposals and commercial pursuits, and contribute to Accenture's pipeline growth in the Life Sciences R&D space.

Identify adjacent opportunities and expand existing client relationships across the R&D value chain.

Represent Accenture's R&D Strategy point of view in client briefings, industry forums, and executive conversations

Develop and contribute to thought leadership on R&D transformation, AI-driven discovery and development, and scientific innovation publishing assets that establish Accenture's differentiated perspective in the market.

Build reusable offerings, frameworks, and assets that accelerate future client engagements.

Mentor and develop junior colleagues; actively contribute to performance management and recruiting.

Partner with Accenture's global industry leads, capability leads, and cross-functional teams to evolve the R&D Strategy practice and go-to-market strategy.

Here's what you need (basic qualifications):

Candidates must have at least 8 years of combined experience in the following areas:

Deep expertise in Life Sciences R&D with experience at a top-tier strategy consulting firm or a leading biopharma company in an R&D strategy or transformation function.

A proven track record leading strategy engagements with measurable outcomes for biopharma clients.

Experience developing and presenting strategic recommendations and transformation roadmaps to C-suite, SVP, and VP-level R&D stakeholders.

Strong understanding of how AI, data, digital technologies, and scientific informatics are reshaping biopharma R&D and the ability to translate that understanding into client strategy.

Demonstrated success in business development: identifying opportunities, shaping proposals, and building senior client relationships.

Experience leading cross-functional teams and managing junior professionals.

Willingness and ability to travel domestically and internationally as client and business needs require.

Bachelor's degree

Bonus points (preferred skills)

MBA, advanced scientific degree (PhD, PharmD, MD), or equivalent combination of education and experience in a relevant discipline.

Experience building or scaling a new strategy offering, practice area, or capability from the ground up.

Track record developing thought leadership whitepapers, conference presentations, or published perspectives in the life sciences or R&D space.

Exercise operating across multiple biopharma sub-sectors (large pharma, emerging biotech, CROs, or medtech) and geographies