Director, Strategy and Performance Excellence

Reference No. R2810171

Position Title: Director, Strategy and Performance Excellence

Department: R&D Data Products and Platforms

Location: Toronto, ON (Hybrid - 3 days a week onsite)

About the Job

Our Hubs are a crucial part of how we innovate, improving performance across every Sanofi department and providing a springboard for the amazing work we do. Build a career and you can be part of transforming our business while helping to change millions of lives. 

At Sanofi, we’re committed to providing the next-gen healthcare that patients and customers need. It’s about harnessing data insights and leveraging AI responsibly to search deeper and solve sooner than ever before. Join our R&D Data & AI Products and Platforms Team as a Director of Strategy & Performance Excellence and you can help make it happen.

Sanofi has recently embarked into a vast and ambitious digital transformation program. A cornerstone of this roadmap is the acceleration of its data transformation and of the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) solutions, to accelerate R&D, manufacturing and commercial performance and bring better drugs and vaccines to patients faster, to improve health and save lives.

The R&D Data & AI Products and Platforms Team is a key team within R&D Digital, focused on developing and delivering Data and AI products for R&D use cases. This team plays a critical role in pursuing broader democratization of data across R&D and providing the foundation to scale AI/ML, advanced analytics, and operational analytics capabilities.

As a Director of Strategy & Performance Excellence reporting to the Head of R&D Data Products and Platforms, you will define and drive the strategic operating model for the R&D Data Products and Platforms organization, including establishing and optimizing the operational structures that enable the R&D Data Product teams to effectively execute against organizational objectives and drive portfolio excellence. You will serve as a strategic advisor and operational leader, responsible for establishing a unified framework for portfolio performance, cross-functional alignment, and enterprise engagement across Sanofi’s global R&D ecosystem. You will lead critical transformation efforts that enable transparency, agility, and measurable business impact at scale.

As an individual contributor, you will be responsible for identifying and addressing emerging priorities from leaders inside and outside of the R&D Data Products and Platforms organization. You will facilitate the onboarding and integration of product leaders into new processes, while measuring and communicating the impact of team initiatives to portfolio sponsors and strategic partners. Additionally, you will oversee the recruitment and establishment of a data engineering team within Sanofi’s Hyderabad hub, ensuring effective and Agile ways of working and execution.

Our vision for digital, data analytics and AI

Join us on our journey in enabling Sanofi’s Digital Transformation through becoming an AI first organization. This means:

• AI Factory - Versatile Teams Operating in Cross Functional Pods: Utilizing digital and data resources to develop AI products, bringing data management, AI and product development skills to products, programs and projects to create an agile, fulfilling and meaningful work environment.

• Leading Edge Tech Stack: Experience building products that will be deployed globally on a leading-edge tech stack.

• ·World Class Mentorship and Training: Working with renowned leaders and academics in machine learning to further develop your skillsets

We are an innovative global healthcare company with one purpose: to chase the miracles of science to improve people’s lives. We’re also a company where you can flourish and grow your career, with countless opportunities to explore, make connections with people, and stretch the limits of what you thought was possible. Ready to get started?

Main Responsibilities:

Drive Portfolio Excellence & Value:

• Design and lead an integrated performance framework to manage and communicate portfolio value, Progress, and risks across global stakeholders.

• Own strategic planning processes, milestone setting, and KPI development to ensure alignment with R&D and Digital priorities.

• Provide executive-level reporting and thought leadership to ensure data and AI investments drive clinical, scientific, and business impact.

• Ensure clear communication of portfolio value to leaders across Digital and R&D organizations.

Facilitate Leadership Alignment & Coordinate Across Stakeholders:

• Act as a strategic liaison between R&D Data Products and Platforms leadership and executive sponsors across Digital, R&D, and enabling functions.

• Lead high-impact cross-functional initiatives that improve alignment, prioritization, and decision-making across the R&D data ecosystem.

• Develop and deliver executive presentations and summaries to senior leadership within and outside of R&D Data products team.

• Work closely with cross-functional international teams, including data scientists, engineers, and product specialists.

Establish Hyderabad Engineering Team:

• Support the establishment of a data engineering team within Sanofi’s global capability Hyderabad hub for scalable data engineering and data product and platform delivery.

• Define organizational design, Agile operating models, and delivery governance for global teams.

• Drive cross-site alignment through coaching, training, and implementation of consistent delivery frameworks and best practices.

Streamline Budgeting & Reporting:

• Oversee multi-year portfolio budgeting, investment tracking, and resource allocation processes.

• Streamline financial reporting processes to ensure compliance, transparency, and low operational overhead.

• Serve as a key advisor to senior leadership on funding prioritization and return-on-investment for digital R&D initiatives.

About You

Key Functional Requirements & Qualifications:

• HBSc or BSc in life sciences, business, information systems or similar field; MBA or relevant advanced degree preferred.

• 8-10+ years of experience working in a data or AI strategy, project, or program management role, preferably in the pharmaceutical industry.

• Strong experience working on enterprise Agile transformation, including the design and implementation of Agile work cadences and ways of working.

• Background in consulting environment translating requirements between leadership & execution teams across technical and business domains.

• Understanding of the implementing & operationalizing of enterprise data & AI solutions in the context of data product development.

• Proven ability to apply structure and analytical rigor to rapidly changing demands and management of multiple priorities.

• Experience sourcing data engineering talent and standing up self-sufficient Agile teams.

• Ability to translate technical and business requirements between scientists, data professionals, and business leaders end-to-end for data or AI related products.

• Ability to rapidly form positive relationships with leaders and effectively manage expectations and requests.

• A willingness to travel internationally and be on-site, as well as work non-standard hours to ensure alignment between disparate time zones.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills leveraging PowerPoint and dashboarding, with an ability to communicate with a broad range of clearly and concisely stakeholders.

Key Technical Requirements & Qualifications:

• Comprehensive knowledge of Agile methodologies.

• Familiarity with portfolio and performance tools (e.g., Jira, Confluence, Power BI, Tableau).

• Exceptional executive communication and storytelling skills, especially in synthesizing complex initiatives for senior audiences.

• Proficiency with Excel and PowerPoint, including the demonstrated ability to develop content for executive leadership.

Why Choose Us?

• Bring the miracles of science to life alongside a supportive, future-focused team.

• Discover endless opportunities to grow your talent and drive your career, whether it’s through a promotion or lateral move, at home or internationally.

• Enjoy a thoughtful, well-crafted rewards package that recognizes your contribution and amplifies your impact.

• Take good care of yourself and your family, with a wide range of health and wellbeing benefits including high-quality healthcare, prevention and wellness programs

This position is for a new vacant role that we are actively hiring for.​

Sanofi is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. Our goal is to attract, develop and retain highly talented employees from diverse backgrounds, allowing us to benefit from a wide variety of experiences and perspectives. We welcome and encourage applications from all qualified applicants.  Accommodations for persons with disabilities required during the recruitment process are available upon request.

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All compensation will be determined commensurate with demonstrated experience. Employees may be eligible to participate in Company employee benefit programs, and additional benefits information can be found here.

Les employés peuvent être admissibles à participer aux programmes d'avantages sociaux de l'entreprise. Des informations supplémentaires sur les avantages sociaux peuvent être trouvées ici.