Boehringer Ingelheim Posted August 26, 2026

Head of External Innovation, China (Shanghai, China, Shanghai)

Shanghai, China Type not listed
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Boehringer Ingelheim is the source of truth for this posting and owns the application process. We surface normalized context and market comparison you won't find on the original listing.

About this opportunity

About Innovation Unit China

Innovation Unit China (China R&D Center) is a strategic innovation hub within Boehringer Ingelheim’s global R&D network, established to harness China’s rapidly evolving scientific capabilities and vibrant innovation ecosystem. By integrating Experimental Medicine, External Innovation, Development CMC, and Clinical Pharmacology & Non-clinical Safety Science, IU China connects promising science with early development expertise to accelerate high-potential opportunities, contribute to the global pipeline, and help accelerate breakthrough therapies for patients in China and around the world.

Role & Responsibility:

Responsible for leading a team of business development personnel & investment managers with the aim to identify pre-clinical and clinical in-licensing opportunities in China for Boehringer Ingelheim as well as venture investment opportunities in China for the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund in line with the Corporate strategy.

Increase BI’s visibility and leverage and grow strong external and internal network, seek and evaluate external licensing and investment opportunities with academia, biotech, and venture capital in order to access novel target ideas or technologies which contribute to the IU portfolio in line with the Corporate IU strategy.

Implement global strategy, working and governance module for TCM BD&L. Give guidance to the BD&L search and evaluation, transactions, and alliance managers in China.

Assure a consistent China IU/China external innovation strategy implementation approach which contributes to the implementation of the overall strategy as defined at global Corporate level.

A member of the TMC leadership team

-Assure a consistent China IU/China external innovation strategy

-Actively participate in TCM LT activities and meetings and contribute to T.C.M vision as well as China Strategy

A member of the China Licensing Committee

A member of the Global BD&L Leadership Team

As the Head of the External Innovation in China, connect Boehringer China and the external Chinese innovation ecosystem in China, familiar with the Chinese market ,especially to the therapeutic areas relevant for global IU strategy and China HP Commercial Strategy

In-depth evaluation and negotiation support:

- Guide and support the investment managers to conduct high quality in-depth evaluations with a focus on medical and scientific concepts, management team, and business terms.

- Lead or delegate negotiations with target companies and potential co-investors, incl. negotiations of term sheets and signing off contract following the governance module

- Review all necessary documents for the Management Committee and the Investment Committee for an investment decision

Guide and support the BD colleagues in identifying collaborations and /or inl-icensing opportunities fit the global BD&L objectives as well as China HP Commercial strategy.

Guide and support BD&L deal process, IDE,manage interactions with different local & global cross functions ensure robustness of the overall IDE & deliverables. Supervision the successful completion for  structuring, negotiation and execution of different transactions

Overview the portfolio of China based alliances by driving alliance governance modules and operational process, proactively identify and manage risks and issues to ensure adherence to contractual obligations and protect the best interest of the alliance

Manage performance, take care of development and coach/mentor employees of EIH.

TCM LT members

Communication of IU China and External Innovation Hub strategy internally and externally. Close interaction with local and global communication group

Required Capabilities:

Degree / Education

Doctoral Degree e.g. PhD or MD in :Biochemistry,Biology,Chemistry,Medicine,Pharmacology,etc.

15 years working experience in biotech, pharmaceutical business in an R&D, BD&L, or venture role with 5 years team leadership experience are required

Excellent medical/scientific background with a good understanding of business needs

Is innovative, shows intra/enterpreneurship and has the ability to work independently and to solve complex problems and work/align with multiple stakeholders internal and external

Excellent interpersonal and organisational skills & leadership competencies; team player, good people management and excellent communication skills

Demonstrates a broad experience of External Innovation/Collaborations, BD&L and Venture Business

Proven experience in interacting with academia biotechs Venture Capitals, etc.

Fluent in English and Chinese

Job details

Seniority
Not listed
Function
BD&L & Strategic Planning
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Shanghai, China
Employment type
Not listed

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 397 comparable BD&L & Strategic Planning roles across 86 biopharma companies.

397Comparable roles tracked
371Currently active
86Companies hiring similar roles
38Countries represented

Salary context

116 of 397 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function. This posting doesn't list a seniority level, so peers aren't narrowed by seniority either -- the range below may span more levels than usual.

This roleSubject Not listed on this posting
Lowest disclosed · Senior Inside Business Development Manager · AbbVie $27/hr – $48/hr (≈ $56,160–$99,840/yr)
Peer group range $78,000 – $380,750 (median $205,000)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 397 comparable roles

United States190
China54
India16
Germany15
United Kingdom14
Japan14

+ 32 more countries

Seniority mix

295 of 397 peers have a known seniority level

Manager87
Director85
Associate Director48
Senior Director27
Intern/Fellow/Postdoc17
Senior12
Principal7
Executive/VP6
Associate6

Therapeutic area mix

57 of 397 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology26
Neuroscience8
Immunology8
Dermatology & Aesthetics5
Respiratory3
Cardiovascular / CVRM3
Ophthalmology2
Vaccines & Infectious Disease1
Rare Disease1

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.

40%similar
Lilly Shanghai, Shanghai, China Senior Director
Same function Same country
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40%similar
Pfizer Investment Co., Ltd. China Shanghai, China
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40%similar
Shenzhen Sanofi Biological Products Co., Ltd. Beijing, China Senior Director
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40%similar
Novartis Shanghai (Shanghai), China Director
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40%similar
Novartis Shanghai (Shanghai), China Director
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Notify me about similar jobs

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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.

40%
Senior Director--External Innovation
Lilly · Shanghai, Shanghai, China · Senior Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Senior Director & Asia Pacific Regional Lead, External R&D
Shenzhen Sanofi Biological Products Co., Ltd. · Beijing, China · Senior Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Director, Alliance Management
Novartis · Shanghai (Shanghai), China · Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Director, Search & Evaluation
Novartis · Shanghai (Shanghai), China · Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 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.