Senior Director, R&D AI & Technology Adoption

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Senior Director, R&D AI & Technology Adoption

R&D Tech Transformation & Operations connects strategy, investment and delivery across priority R&D technology programmes. The team works with scientific, technology and business leaders to strengthen decisions, accelerate value and support consistent adoption across R&D.

This role will shape how R&D adopts AI and technology so that new capabilities deliver measurable value and lasting changes in how people work. You will help establish and may lead a small, hands-on R&D technology adoption capability.. The role combines strategic leadership with direct delivery, including cross-R&D initiatives, practical adoption methods and evidence-based value measurement. You will also help establish a hub-and-spoke model that enables local teams to adapt change approaches to their scientific context.

For candidates seeking to be located at our Stevenage site, this role will temporarily be based at Stevenage. However, the Company plans to relocate its offices to Cambridge, UK. The location of this role will therefore subsequently change to Cambridge, UK in accordance with timelines to be set by the Company. The relocation is currently proposed to take effect by early 2029.

In this role you will

• Shape and lead the R&D approach to AI and technology adoption, connecting behaviour and process change with measurable value.
• Build and lead a small internal adoption capability while remaining a hands-on contributor to priority projects.
• Establish a hub-and-spoke model that coordinates cross-R&D adoption while enabling departments to address local needs.
• Partner with priority technology programmes to assess adoption plans, identify gaps and ensure capable delivery teams are in place.
• Lead adoption for technologies and ways of working that span R&D, including enterprise productivity tools, data platforms and major cross-R&D transformation programmes.
• Define clear adoption roadmaps covering stakeholder alignment, readiness, communications, capability building, process change and reinforcement.
• Develop practical, reusable methods and tools that improve consistency without creating unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Define measures that connect adoption, behaviour and process change to programme outcomes and value.
• Advise on the right balance of internal capability and external consulting support, and strengthen internal ownership over time.
• Influence senior R&D, scientific and technology leaders, keeping adoption and change visible in portfolio and investment decisions.
• Support adjacent strategic work when required, applying analytical and project leadership skills beyond a narrow change-management remit.

Why you?

Basic qualifications

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

• Extensive experience leading enterprise technology adoption, organisational change or digital transformation in a large pharmaceutical R&D environment.
• Demonstrated delivery of AI, digital tools, data platforms, or technology adoption and behaviour change, not solely advisory or methodology development.
• Experience creating and executing change strategies across multiple functions, business areas or geographies.
• Strong understanding of how new technology changes business processes, roles, capabilities and ways of working.
• Experience setting adoption measures and using data to assess progress, outcomes and value realisation.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional projects and influence senior stakeholders without relying on formal authority.
• Strong communication, facilitation and problem-solving skills, with the ability to make complex topics practical.
• Evidence of operating as a hands-on contributor while providing strategic direction in an ambiguous environment.

Preferred Qualifications & Skills:

Please note the following skills are not necessary, just preferred, if you do not have them, please still apply:

• Previous line-management experience, ideally within a small expert team, alongside strong matrix leadership.
• Experience establishing or professionalising an internal adoption, change or transformation capability.
• Change-management, project-management or related professional certification.
• Learning and development, capability academy or workforce upskilling experience.
• Management consulting experience combined with in-house corporate delivery.
• Ability to contribute to strategic analysis and projects beyond the core adoption discipline.

Closing Date for Applications – 4th October 2026

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Please take a copy of the Job Description, as this will not be available post closure of the advert. 
When applying for this role, please use the ‘cover letter’ of the online application or your CV to describe how you meet the competencies for this role, as outlined in the job requirements above. The information that you have provided in your cover letter and CV will be used to assess your application.

At GSK, we have bold ambitions for patients, aiming to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade. Our R&D focuses on discovering and delivering vaccines and medicines, combining our understanding of the immune system with cutting-edge technology to transform people’s lives. GSK fosters a culture ambitious for patients, accountable for impact, and committed to doing the right thing, making sure that we focus our efforts on accelerating significant assets that meet patients’ needs and have the highest probability of success. We’re uniting science, technology, and talent to get ahead of disease together.

Find out more:  

Our approach to R&D

Skills

Change Management, Communication, Cross-Departmental Collaboration, Decision Making, Financial Acumen, Innovation, Leadership, Portfolio Management, Project Management, Project Management Governance, Risk Management, Stakeholder Engagement, Stakeholder Management, Strategic Leadership, Visionary Thinking

• If you are based in Cambridge, MA; Waltham, MA; Rockville, MD; or San Francisco, CA, the annual base salary for new hires in this position ranges $203,775 to $339,625. The US salary ranges take into account a number of factors including work location within the US market, the candidate’s skills, experience, education level and the market rate for the role. In addition, this position offers an annual bonus and eligibility to participate in our share based long term incentive program which is dependent on the level of the role. Available benefits include health care and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, paid holidays, vacation, and paid caregiver/parental and medical leave. If salary ranges are not displayed in the job posting for a specific country, the relevant compensation will be discussed during the recruitment process.

Why GSK?

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

GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. We aim to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade, as a successful, growing company where people can thrive.

We get ahead of disease by preventing and treating it with innovation in specialty medicines and vaccines. We focus on four therapeutic areas: respiratory, immunology and inflammation; oncology; HIV; and infectious diseases – to impact health at scale.

People and patients around the world count on the medicines and vaccines we make, so we’re committed to creating an environment where our people can thrive and focus on what matters most. Our culture of being ambitious for patients, accountable for impact and doing the right thing is the foundation for how, together, we deliver for patients, shareholders and our people.

GSK is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This ensures that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), military service or any basis prohibited under federal, state or local law.

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