Job Description

Title: Director New Product Strategy & Innovation
Company: Ipsen Pharma (SAS)
About Ipsen:
Ipsen is a mid-sized global biopharmaceutical company with a focus on transformative medicines in three therapeutic areas: Oncology, Rare Disease and Neuroscience. Supported by nearly 100 years of development experience, with global hubs in the U.S., France and the U.K, we tackle areas of high unmet medical need through research and innovation.
Our passionate teams in more than 40 countries are focused on what matters and endeavor every day to bring medicines to patients in 88 countries. We build a workplace that champions human-centric leadership and fosters a culture of collaboration, excellence and impact. At Ipsen, every individual is empowered to be their true selves, grow and thrive alongside the company's success. Join us on our journey towards sustainable growth, creating real impact on patients and society!
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Director New Product Strategy and Innovation
Summary & Purpose of the Position
To support New Products & Franchise Leadership in Oncology, Rare Diseases and Neurosciences across:

• Therapeutic Area & Franchise Strategy Evolution

• Commercial evaluations of new global business opportunities

• Business Development / External Innovation

• Internal Pipeline Commercial Planning

At Ipsen, our vision is to be a leading global mid-size biopharmaceutical company, with a focus on transformative medicines in three key therapeutic areas: oncology, rare disease, and neuroscience.
A key strategic focus for us in meeting this objective is business development & partnering. In the last three years, we brought in over 20 new assets into our portfolio across various stages of development and across our three key therapeutic areas through licensing, partnering and collaborations.
In 2025 and beyond, we plan to continue our strategic focus and execution in creating a balanced & sustainable pipeline across therapeutic areas. As such we are looking to expand our New Products team to lead the commercial evaluations of external opportunities and support planning around our internal pipeline with overall goal to meet our strategic objectives & vision as business. Provide a brief overview of the position's purpose, its role within the organization, and impact at Ipsen.
Main Responsibilities & Technical Competencies
New Products & External Innovation Strategy

• Support New Products Head and work collaboratively with cross-functional team leading strategy process (e.g., business development, external innovation, franchise, R&D, strategy & transformation)
• Conduct analysis across key areas to support the continuous evolution and update of the therapeutic area strategy (e.g., landscaping assessments, benchmarking, analogue analysis etc.) and develop story / slide generation of strategic outputs as they evolve.
• Work with internal Asset Teams as appropriate to capture relevant insights to support external innovation strategy.

Business Development & External Innovation: Commercial Evaluations

• Be the commercial lead across all stages of the business development & external innovation process: screening, triage/deep-dive and due diligence

• Sourcing & Screening: Work in collaboration with external innovation teams in sourcing new assets across oncology and rare diseases based on our strategy
• Asset Triaging: (1) Lead the commercial triage of new business development opportunities, including disease assessment, competitive landscaping, market sizing and risk & opportunity assessment; (2) Representing Franchise on company calls with potential partners
• Due Diligence: Lead the commercial evaluation of assets in due diligence

• Conduct in-depth commercial evaluation and be the lead content generator (e.g., current & future landscaping, secondary and primary market research, forecasting, pricing & access assessment, SMM estimation, etc.)
• Be a proactive partner and work collaboratively with cross-functional teams (e.g., business development, external innovation, medical affairs, R&D, regulatory, finance, countries, global pricing & access, business excellence) to support inputs required for commercial modelling launch dates, LOE, duration of treatment, LCM indications etc.
• Ensure streamlined, efficient, and quality content generation across all evaluations aligning with internal processes
• Synthesize findings & present recommendations to cross-functional team and leadership teams

Internal Pipeline: Early Commercial Planning

• Lead early commercial planning process for internal pipeline products across oncology and rare diseases. E.g.,

• Indication prioritization, portfolio strategy, LCM planning, business case development
• Facilitate analysis required to support commercialization and/or continued development for new products
• Support the cross-functional team & local country teams in pre-launch activities, playing a pivotal role in the transition of these activities to a fully dedicated Global Brand Team as the asset moves through the lifecycle. E.g.

• Key deliverables: Brand strategy & launch plan, launch readiness review, campaign & core messaging?, global launch sequence?, LCM indications prioritization? etc.

Work collaboratively with R&D and other critical functions within the Global Asset Team to ensure efficient execution with a long-term commercial vision
Behavioural Competencies Required
Think Strategically
This role requires navigating complex therapeutic areas (Oncology, Rare Diseases, Neurosciences) and shaping long-term franchise and asset strategies. The ability to anticipate future consequences and trends, create competitive strategies, and align them with Ipsen's vision is essential.
Engage & Inspire
The role is highly cross-functional, involving coordination with BD, R&D, Medical Affairs, Global Pricing & Access, and country teams. Success depends on building trust, fostering collaboration, and influencing without authority.
Deliver Results
This competency reflects the ability to interpret complex data, assess market dynamics, and make sound commercial recommendations. It's crucial for evaluating external opportunities and shaping internal pipeline decisions.
Knowledge & Experience
Knowledge & Experience (essential):

• Significant experience in early commercial or BD roles within a pharmaceutical or biopharmaceutical industry at global level, or Strategy Consulting experience in life sciences (including work in early-commercial strategy, commercialization, LCM, BD, due diligence, etc.)
• Experience in early commercial planning, launch planning and disease area strategy either as part of a pharmaceutical/ biopharma or a consultancy company
• Experience in working across a cross-functional matrix team to meet deliverables on time and budget
• Strong scientific, medical, and commercial experience in oncology and rare diseases with a proven knowledge of business development and launch activities
• Strong communication and presentation skills
• Demonstrated exceptional strategic thinking
• Sense of urgency and experience in delivering parallel workstreams efficiently
• Deep strategic marketing expertise (diseases areas in oncology, rare, disease & neuroscience, positioning, targeting, segmentation, life cycle management)
• Strong business acumen and understanding of global markets
• Excellent analytical skills and strategic thinking
• Competitive landscaping
• Conducting qualitative & quantitative market research
• Strong planning and project management skills
• Excellent business case modelling and presentation skills (Excel & PowerPoint use)

Education / Certifications (essential):

• Advanced degree (PhD, MD, or MS) in Life Sciences-related discipline and/or an MBA

Language(s) (essential):

• Fluency in spoken and written English, knowledge of additional languages such as French would be helpful.

#LI-Hybrid
IPSEN is committed to equality of opportunity for all staff and applications, individuals are encouraged to apply regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships.

Skills Required