Associate Director – Strategy & Consulting, Life Sciences (Pharmaceutical R&D)

About the role

As an Associate Director in Accenture’s Life Sciences Strategy & Consulting practice, you will lead high‑impact strategy and transformation engagements for pharmaceutical clients, focusing on research and development. You will work closely with senior R&D leaders to address challenges across discovery, pre‑clinical, clinical development, portfolio strategy and operating model transformation.

Key responsibilities

• Serve as trusted advisor to senior R&D stakeholders, including heads of research, translational medicine, clinical development, regulatory and portfolio strategy.
• Lead executive‑level problem solving on R&D strategy, innovation models, portfolio prioritisation, development productivity, trial modernisation and target operating model design.
• Translate complex client issues into structured hypotheses, work‑plans, decision frameworks and pragmatic recommendations linked to measurable outcomes.
• Deliver end‑to‑end engagements across diagnostic, design and transformation phases, overseeing business cases, operating models, governance structures and implementation road‑maps.
• Manage risks, inter‑dependencies and senior stakeholder alignment across global, cross‑functional programmes.
• Provide deep expertise across the pharma R&D value chain and advise on productivity improvement, digital and AI enablement, external innovation partnerships and governance redesign.

Required profile

• Proven consulting leadership experience with a track record of delivering strategy and transformation projects.
• Deep pharmaceutical R&D expertise covering discovery through late‑stage clinical development and portfolio management.
• Strong commercial acumen and ability to influence senior client executives.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Required skills