(Assoc) Sourcing Director, China External Innovation (Shanghai, Shanghai, CN)
About this opportunity
Role purpose
The (Assoc) Sourcing Director of China External Innovation (EI) is accountable for originating, evaluating, and driving biotech collaboration deals that create pipeline value for Novo Nordisk through biotech partnership and co-development.
Operating as a senior contributor, the role focuses on biotech engagement, scientific evaluation, and deal shaping within the China biotech ecosystem, progressing opportunities toward internal decision milestones and integration into R&D Lines of Business (LoB), in alignment with Global R&D External Innovation processes.
Key accountabilities
Sourcing, evaluation & deal shaping
Coordinate structured gap analysis with internal stakeholders, including:
Therapeutic Areas, Target Discovery, Medicinal Chemistry, Computational Chemistry, and other relevant functions
Identification of biology, chemistry, capability, or capacity gaps in the internal pipeline
Translation of those gaps into clear sourcing hypotheses and partnership requirements
Proactively source and triage biotech opportunities across the China ecosystem based on the gap analysis outcome.
Lead deep scientific evaluation covering:
Medicinal Chemistry quality and design hypotheses
CADD/AIDD drug design maturity and real‑world impact
translational relevance and execution risk
Drive opportunities through EI pipeline‑filling processes, including:
internal alignment and framing
pre‑due diligence and due diligence input
preparation of decision materials for EI and LoB forums
Actively shape the scientific and structural aspects of deals, while partnering with alliance management and BD on contracting and execution
Pipeline integration & value realization
Ensure collaborations generate outputs that are aligned with global pipeline needs
Enable smooth handover and absorption of externally generated assets into NN programs
Qualifications
PhD in Medicinal Chemistry, Computational Chemistry, Life Sciences, or related discipline
8+ years experience in:
small‑molecule drug development
biotech collaborations or external innovation
Medicinal Chemistry and CADD/AIDD‑enabled programs
Demonstrated experience evaluating and advancing deals involving:
early biotech pipelines
platform‑based drug development collaborations
Strong ability to assess chemistry‑driven programs and AI‑enabled design claims with scientific rigor
High degree of personal motivation and proactivity, able to influence without authority, and operate comfortably in ambiguity
Working conditions
Based in Shanghai
Up to ~20% travel, primarily within China, as required for partner and project engagement
We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.
At Novo Nordisk, we're not chasing quick fixes – we're creating lasting change for long-term health. For over 100 years, we've been driven by a single purpose: to defeat serious chronic diseases and help millions of people live healthier lives. This dedication fuels our constant curiosity and inspires us to push the boundaries of what's possible in healthcare. We embrace diverse perspectives, seek out bold ideas, and build partnerships rooted in shared purpose. Together, we're making healthcare more accessible, treating and preventing diseases, and pioneering solutions that create change spanning generations. When you join us, you become part of something bigger – a legacy of impact that reaches far beyond today.
Job details
How this role compares
Computed from every other active Procurement role in our database, not just this employer's listings.
We currently track 17 comparable Director Procurement roles across 11 biopharma companies.
Salary context
8 of 17 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 17 comparable roles
+ 1 more countries
Seniority mix
17 of 17 peers have a known seniority level
Therapeutic area mix
0 of 17 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden
No peers with a known therapeutic area yet.
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.
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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.