Associate Director Due Diligence China
About this opportunity
Due Diligence (DD) Associate Director in his/her role as DD Lead leads cross-functional team(s) of subject matter experts (SME) in DD phase of external partnering evaluations. The focus of the role lies on evaluating partnerships with partners in China and covers primarily preclinical and early development stage projects.DD Associate Director as DD Lead is accountable to ensure robust, fair balance, and timely scientific / technical DD evaluations and to develop an integrated DD team recommendation. DD Associate Director as DD Lead is a partner for Transactions and Alliance Management in deal implementation/execution for out-licensing projects.
DD Associate Director as Due Diligence LeadDue Diligence Scientific / Technical evaluationManages and drives the due diligence for the review, evaluation, and recommendation of BD&L opportunities under guidance of a DD Therapeutic Area (TA) Head as applicable- Ensures the correct handling of confidential information and compliance with confidential disclosure obligations and ensures the DD teams do the same- Lead for scientific / technical DD evaluation (focused DD to address key questions) and for the full assessment DD (in-depth opportunity review) in close partnership with Search & Evaluation (S&E) / Transaction Lead- Responsible for operational excellence in the set-up and conduct of DD (adherence to C&BD process; review of data, integrated development plan / timelines, on site visits etc.)- Ensures fair balance and accuracy- Leads development of an integrated and aligned risk management plan- Co-ordinates and leads DD team review, discussions and recommendation- Leads preparation of reporting and communication of scientific / technical DD findings to Therapeutic Area Leadership (TAL) and all relevant decision bodies, e.g., Executive Committee Novartis - Deal Committee (ECN DC)- Contributes to presentations of scientific / technical DD findings to managementDue Diligence Project Management – Development plan- Leads the elaboration of comprehensive, accurate and aligned early stage development plans and costs- Ensures with respective SMEs and in collaboration with the DD TA Head the appropriate integration of considerations for feasibility, uncertainties, and competitive challenges in the market, including appropriate scenario generation and contingency planningDue Diligence Finance and Deal contribution- Ensures with respective SMEs and in collaboration with the DD TA Head R&D costs for the project in scope of the DD are prepared in coordination with Finance and the respective line functions- Liaises with relevant functions incl. Finance and TRD/TechOps to prepare COGS estimates- Ensure with respective SMEs and in collaboration with the DD TA Head assumptions for PoS and OPA are aligned with relevant stakeholders- Understands high-level financial valuation (such as NPV) and challenges development-related assumptions- Co-ordinates in collaboration with S&E / Transaction Lead and Commercial / Therapeutic Area Strategy Lead alignment on Target Product Profile (TPP).- As member of Deal Team, contributes to the preparation / review of offers, term sheets, and contracts, by ensuring major DD findings and risk inflection points are appropriately consideredDue Diligence LeadershipFosters a ‘collaboration with courage’ team environment- Drives in collaboration with the DD TA Head team recommendation based on integrated view on the C&BD opportunity with fair balance of opportunities and risks, and with solution focused outlook- Ensures professional and positive interactions with the external company / partner- Raises together with DD TA Head contentious issues in a manner that drives resolution, and enables others to do the same- Documents that DD team members are trained according to requirements.DD Associate Director as DD Lead- Objective, balanced scientific and technical due diligence evaluations of high quality leading to clear opportunity and risk profiles, supporting decision making and solution focused risk mitigations strategies- Seamless and smooth interaction with senior management decision bodies- Realistic planning of key milestones, plans, risk mitigation, costs and timelines to ensure best forecast assumptions- Preparation of high-quality deal presentations to senior management in support of recommended deals
Job details
How this role compares
Computed from every other active BD&L & Strategic Planning role in our database, not just this employer's listings.
We currently track 19 comparable Associate Director BD&L & Strategic Planning roles across 14 biopharma companies.
Salary context
2 of 19 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)
Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.
Where these roles are based
Top locations among the 19 comparable roles
+ 3 more countries
Seniority mix
19 of 19 peers have a known seniority level
Therapeutic area mix
3 of 19 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden
Similar opportunities
The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.
How we calculate "similar"
No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.
Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.
0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.