Director, R&D Strategic Partnership Management

Responsibilities

• Build and scale the R&D strategic partnerships team:
• Shape and evolve the vision, scope, and mandate of the R&D Strategic Partnership Management function
• Establish a clear operating model, governance, and decision rights to enable speed, accountability, and transparency
• Define and standardize partnership execution practices, templates, and operating cadences, while maintaining flexibility for partnership-specific needs
• Design and actively manage a flexible prioritization and staffing model to deploy resources against highest-impact partnerships
• Build, lead, and scale a high-performing team of Partnership Program Managers, including hiring, coaching, and performance management
• Ensure effective hand-offs and transitions from Corporate Strategy, Business Development, and other teams as partnerships transition into execution-heavy phases
• Strategic partnership portfolio execution & governance
• Oversee execution of strategically important, cross-functional partnerships with significant R&D complexity and delivery risk
• Serve as the central execution leader for named partnerships, aligning stakeholders on roles, responsibilities, escalation paths, and ways of working
• Establish and lead governance forums, including executive Steering Committees, cross-functional core team cadences, and joint partner meetings
• Ensure partner commitments are clearly tracked, delivered, and escalated appropriately, closing gaps between strategic intent, contractual agreements, and on-the-ground execution
• Proactively manage dependencies, risks, and resource constraints across matrixed internal teams and external partners
• Own portfolio-level visibility through dashboards, executive readouts, and governance materials for internal and external stakeholders
• Executive engagement, influence, and alignment
• Manage interactions with senior leaders and governance forums to surface risks, tradeoffs, opportunities, and recommendations
• Influence decision-making to ensure alignment with enterprise strategy, priorities, and resource plans
• Serve as a trusted thought partner to leadership, helping navigate ambiguity and drive decision‑oriented discussions
• Continuously evolve partnership and program management practices to improve clarity, accountability, and execution speed
• Build strong internal and external relationships to enable alignment and delivery
• Strategic program leadership - in addition to scaling the team, this role may directly own execution across select high-value partnerships or initiatives
• Serve as the single accountable program manager to own execution, leveraging cross-functional resources
• Establish partnership governance and operating cadence across steering committees, cross-functional core team, extended and function-specific teams, and external partner forums
• Develop and manage program plans, milestones, success metrics, critical paths, and decision points aligned with executive priorities
• Translate scope, budget, timeline, and risks into actionable plans, proposals, and execution strategies
• Ensure consistent progress, follow‑through, and timely escalation of issues impacting strategic outcomes
• Partner with functional leaders on risk mitigation, contingencies, and change management plans, reinforcing a high quality partner experience
• Qualifications / Success Profile
• MBA, PhD or other advanced degree preferred; technical or scientific background strongly preferred with strong business acumen
• 12+ years of experience in strategic program management within life sciences, healthcare, or regulated industries
• P

Benefits

Additional Information

What if the work you did every day could impact the lives of people you know? Or all of humanity? At Illumina, we are expanding access to genomic technology to realize health equity for billions of people around the world. Our efforts enable life-changing discoveries that are transforming human health through the early detection and diagnosis of diseases and new treatment options for patients. Working at Illumina means being part of something bigger than yourself. Every person, in every role, has the opportunity to make a difference. Surrounded by extraordinary people, inspiring leaders, and world changing projects, you will do more and become more than you ever thought possible. The Director, R&D Strategic Partnership Management will establish and lead a team to drive execution of a portfolio of Illumina's most complex, high-value strategic partnerships. This role is responsible for building a scalable operating model that ensures disciplined execution, clear accountability, proactive risk management, and senior leadership visibility across multi-year, cross-functional partnerships. This leader will manage a team of partnership program managers and serve as an orchestration layer across R&D, corporate & business development, commercial, service & support, and focused business groups, as well as with external partners, combining best-in-class alliance & project management practices and governance models.

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