Senior Director, IT Business Partner – Medical & Commercial

Position Title:  Sr Director, IT Business Partner, Medical & Commercial

Department: Information Technology

Reports To: Head of IT Business Partner & Solution Delivery

Location: Princeton, New Jersey or South San Francisco, CA (Onsite 4 days per week Mon – Thurs)

Job Overview

Kardigan is seeking an experienced, visionary and hands-on IT Business Partner, to align IT strategies with the dynamic needs of our Medical and Commercial organizations. This critical role will establish and lead a robust IT Business Partner framework tailored to the biopharmaceutical environment overseeing those functional areas and others, such as G&A, as needed. This role requires exceptional leadership, strategic thinking, and deep knowledge of IT systems in Medical, Commercial and G&A with specific expertise in Veeva.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• IT Partnership Leadership: Serve as the primary IT liaison understanding the unique needs of the Medical and Commercial business domains and driving technology solutions that enhance operational efficiency and innovation. Supporting other domains such as G&A will needed for short-term.
• IT Business Analysis: The role leads hands-on end‑to‑end business analysis activities across initiatives, partnering closely with stakeholders to understand processes, identify gaps, and translate business needs into clear, testable, and compliant requirements. This includes facilitating workshops, documenting AS‑IS and TO‑BE processes, and producing high‑quality artifacts such as business requirements, functional specifications, user stories, and acceptance criteria. The role ensures requirements are fully traceable across design, testing, and validation, aligned with GxP and regulatory expectations where necessary, and provide a strong foundation for compliant solution delivery and successful business outcomes.
• Validated Systems Oversight: Ensure IT systems supporting critical functions (e.g., Medical, Commercial platforms) comply with regulatory requirements such as GxP, HIPAA, and data privacy, supporting the integrity and security of biopharmaceutical processes.

• Strategic Alignment: Collaborate with functional leaders to define and prioritize IT initiatives that align with business goals, balancing short-term operational needs with long-term strategic objectives.

• Digital Transformation: Drive digital innovation and transformation across the organization, leveraging emerging technologies to enhance productivity, optimize processes, and support global commercialization efforts.

• System Implementation & Integration: Oversee the successful implementation and integration of IT systems across the supported business domains, ensuring seamless data flow and interoperability to support regulatory compliance and decision-making.

• Compliance and Risk Management: Partner with Quality and Regulatory teams to ensure IT systems meet biopharma-specific compliance standards and are audit-ready. Manage risk assessments and implement safeguards to protect sensitive data and intellectual property.

• Team Leadership: Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing team, fostering collaboration and ensuring effective support for all functional areas.

• Program & Project Management: Lead complex and critical IT projects, including system implementations and upgrades, ensuring delivery within scope, budget, and timelines while maintaining compliance with regulatory requirements.

• Stakeholder Collaboration: Develop strong relationships with senior leaders and stakeholders, providing strategic insights and recommendations that drive business performance.

• Vendor Management: Oversee vendor relationships and contracts for systems ensuring cost efficiency and alignment with organizational needs.

• AI & Data Competencies: The role enables AI and data‑driven capabilities across Medical, Commercial and other domains, as needed, by translating business needs into governed, compliant AI and analytics solutions, including generative AI and advanced reporting. This includes working with enterprise data lakes to support ingestion, curation, and use of regulated data, while partnering with various stakeholders to ensure data integrity, privacy, and inspection‑ready AI and data solutions.

Qualifications and Preferred Skills

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Business Administration, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 12+ years of progressive IT experience, with at least 5 years in a leadership role partnering with business functions in a regulated environment.
• Demonstrated success in aligning IT strategies with business objectives in Medical, Commercial and other domains such as G&A.
• Strong knowledge of validated systems, enterprise applications such as Veeva suite, and digital transformation strategies relevant to the biopharmaceutical industry.
• Experience in regulated environments, including GxP, HIPAA, GDPR/CCPA and data integrity standards.
• Exceptional stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to influence and build consensus at all organizational levels.
• Proven expertise in leading cross-functional IT initiatives and managing large-scale projects.
• Strong problem-solving, decision-making, and analytical skills.
• Experience in recruiting, mentoring, and building high-performing teams.
• Expert‑level business analysis and requirements management capability
• Ability to translate complex business needs into compliant technology solutions
• Excellent written, verbal, and facilitation skills
• Familiarity with Pharma platforms such as:
  • Veeva (CRM, Vault Medical, Vault Quality)
  • QMS and document management systems
  • Clinical, safety, and regulatory system integrations
• Experience preparing for and supporting commercial launches from a technology system and data perspective.
• Understanding of system integrations, data flows, data lake, analytics & reporting architecture
• Strong Program and Project management skills
• Strong collaboration skills with internal IT team and external partners