Head of RII or Oncology Programming

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.

Position Summary

The Head of RII (Respiratory, Immunology & Inflammation) or Oncology Programming is the senior programming leader for the Research Unit, accountable for how clinical data are transformed into high-quality, regulatory-ready evidence across the portfolio. This role owns data execution for the Research Unit, setting expectations for scientific rigor, delivery excellence, and technology-enabled ways of working in alignment with the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) organization.

As a core member of the Clinical Programming & Business Excellence Leadership Team, you will partner closely with Research Unit leaders and senior stakeholders across Clinical Development, Statistics, Regulatory, Safety, and Development Operations. You will shape how programming enables confident decisions, accelerates submissions, and delivers medicines and vaccines for patients.

This role offers a rare opportunity to lead at significant scale and complexity within a major Research Unit, combining strategic influence, hands-on leadership, and visible impact on pipeline success.

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as a core member of the Clinical Programming & Business Excellence Leadership Team, contributing to the overall programming strategy, operating model, and capability agenda while representing the needs and priorities of the Research Unit and CMO.

• Lead, inspire, and develop a high-performing global programming organization with strong leadership capability, credibility, and influence across a complex matrix environment.

• Own delivery excellence for clinical data and submission outputs across the Research Unit portfolio, ensuring work is executed with the highest standards of quality, compliance, and timeliness.

• Design and evolve agile organizational and resourcing models that respond to shifting portfolio demands, integrating internal talent, external partners, and new capabilities to maximize impact within the Research Unit.

• Act as the senior programming partner to Research Unit stakeholders, shaping strategy and execution across Clinical Development, Statistics, Regulatory, Safety, Development Operations, and other key functions.

• Champion innovation in clinical programming within the Research Unit, advancing industry-leading approaches such as Generative AI, metadata-driven automation, and modern data standards to accelerate delivery and improve decision quality.

• Provide leadership and accountability for governance, quality, and compliance across Research Unit programming activities, spanning research, development, and submission, while proactively managing risk and safeguarding data integrity.

• Develop and elevate programming talent from technical experts into strategic leaders of delivery and execution, creating meaningful career pathways and a culture of accountability, empowerment, and continuous learning.

• Act as a visible thought leader for clinical programming within the Research Unit, representing the function externally as appropriate and bringing forward ideas, insights, and partnerships that strengthen execution and capability.

Why you? 

Basic Qualifications:  

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

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in a quantitative or scientific discipline (e.g., Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or related field).

• Extensive experience in Clinical Programming, Biostatistics, or a closely related quantitative function within pharmaceutical R&D, with a strong understanding of the end‑to‑end clinical trial and submission lifecycle.

• Experience supporting assets within Respiratory, Immunology & Inflammation (RII) or Oncology therapeutic areas, with familiarity in the specific scientific, regulatory, and operational considerations of these portfolios.

• Demonstrated success as a senior leader in a global, matrixed environment, with a proven track record of building, leading, and developing high‑performing teams at scale.

• Deep understanding of clinical data standards, regulatory requirements, and submission expectations, with the ability to ensure high‑quality, compliant delivery across complex portfolios.

• Proven ability to operate as a strategic partner to senior stakeholders, influencing decisions and aligning execution across Clinical Development, Regulatory, Safety, Development Operations, and other key functions.

• Strong leadership judgment, business acumen, and decision‑making capability, with the ability to balance delivery pressure, risk management, and longer‑term capability building.

Preferred Qualifications:  

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

• Masters’s degree or higher in a quantitative or scientific discipline (e.g., Mathematics, Statistics, Computer Science, Data Science, Engineering, or related field).

• Strategic Programming Leadership: Demonstrated ability to set direction and lead clinical programming at scale within a Research Unit, translating portfolio strategy into clear execution priorities while balancing quality, speed, and risk.

• Delivery Excellence in a Regulated Environment: Proven capability to oversee complex clinical data and submission deliverables across multiple assets, ensuring high standards of quality, compliance, and timeliness in a highly regulated setting.

• Influence and Stakeholder Partnership: Strong track record of partnering with senior stakeholders across Clinical Development, Statistics, Regulatory, Safety, Development Operations, and related functions, influencing decisions and aligning execution in a matrixed organization.

• People Leadership and Talent Development: Demonstrated success building, leading, and developing high‑performing global teams, with the ability to grow technical experts into confident leaders of delivery and execution.

• Operational Judgment and Decision‑Making: Sound leadership judgment and business acumen, with the ability to navigate ambiguity, manage competing priorities, and make balanced decisions under delivery pressure.

• Innovation and Modern Ways of Working: Ability to drive adoption of new approaches in clinical programming, including automation, data standards, and emerging technologies, to improve efficiency, quality, and decision support within the Research Unit.

• Governance, Quality, and Risk Mindset: Strong appreciation of governance, quality, and data integrity expectations, with the ability to proactively identify, manage, and mitigate delivery and compliance risks.

• Communication and Executive Presence: Clear, credible communicator with the presence to represent programming at senior forums, articulate complex topics succinctly, and build confidence in programming outcomes.

#LI-GSK*

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.

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