Collaborations with academia and non-profit research organisations are central to GSK’s ambition to accelerate the development of transformative medicines and vaccines for patients. Bringing the outside in, by harnessing cutting-edge science and technology from world-class research institutes, is critical to strengthening our innovation pipeline and expanding R&D capability to benefit patients.

If you are motivated by building high-impact partnerships, operating entrepreneurially within a complex ecosystem, and influencing across boundaries to help translate scientific excellence into patient value, the Academic Collaborations Director role offers a unique leadership opportunity. As Academic Collaborations Director, you will play a pivotal role within GSK’s Global Academic Collaborations team, working with colleagues within the Externalisation Group in establishing and leading high-quality strategic partnerships with leading global research institutions. Working across a multidisciplinary matrix, you will establish and manage agreements that connect external innovation with internal scientific and business priorities, ensuring collaborations are structured to deliver differentiated science, sustainable value, and long-term impact for GSK and its partners.

Responsibilities:

This role provides the opportunity to lead key enterprise-level activities, including:

• Contribute to shaping and executing an ecosystem-based partnering strategy to access world-class academic and non-profit innovation aligned to GSK R&D priorities.

• Partner with R&D and Finance stakeholders to develop funding strategies that maximise access to external capital and strategically complement internal investment.

• Leading complex, high-value negotiations for collaborative research agreements, balancing scientific ambition with commercial, legal, IP, governance, and compliance considerations.

• Exercising horizontal and vertical influence across Scientific, Finance, Legal, IP, Governance, and Senior R&D Leadership stakeholders to ensure alignment and risk-appropriate decision-making.

• Accountable for structuring collaboration agreements that enable high-quality science while protecting GSK’s strategic interests and ensuring compliant execution.

• Identifying, assessing, and mitigating partnership risks in collaboration with subject-matter experts across the enterprise.

• Building trusted, long-term relationships with academic and non-profit partners to ensure collaboration agreements are productive, innovative, and mutually beneficial.

• Acting as a key member of the Externalisation community, championing best practice in contracting, partnership governance, communication, and execution and oversight excellence, helping the business deliver their collaborative programmes in a compliant manner.

• Act as a thought partner to R&D leaders while ensuring agreements deliver scientific excellence, strategic alignment, and compliant execution.

• Ensure the compliant management of collaboration agreements through systems such as InPartD, providing senior leadership with timely, accurate insights to inform R&D and partnership decisions.

This is a highly visible leadership role requiring strategic agility, entrepreneurial mindset, exceptional communication skills, creative thinking, and the ability to influence at all levels while operating within a complex global matrix.

Why you?

Basic Qualifications:

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

• Bachelor’s degree
• Strong experience in the pharmaceutical and academic research environments
• Prior experience in a Technology Transfer, Research Contracting, or industry based Business Development
• Strong, proven experience in successfully drafting and negotiating legal contracts associated with research collaborations
• Ability to work and provide leadership in multifunctional teams with exceptional time management and multitasking capabilities/experience

Preferred Qualifications:

If you have the following characteristics, it would be a plus:

• Master’s degree or higher preferred
• Experience of establishing strategic collaborations academia and industry.
• Understanding of university funding models
• Experience of negotiating agreements relating to IP and data arising out of collaborative working in the academic environment
• Ability to interact with senior management, internal/external, including board level presentation skills

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.

We believe in an agile working culture for all our roles. If flexibility is important to you, we encourage you to explore with our hiring team what the opportunities are.

Should you require any adjustments to our process to assist you in demonstrating your strengths and capabilities contact us at UKRecruitment.Adjustments@gsk.com where you can also request a call.

Please note should your enquiry not relate to adjustments, we will not be able to support you through these channels. However, we have created a Recruitment FAQ guide. Click the Link where you will find answers to multiple questions we receive

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