About this opportunity
The (Sr) Manager, External Innovation & Partnerships will help build China’s external innovation network and turn external opportunities into business value.
The role will focus on identifying new technologies and partners, developing strategic partnerships, and driving innovation programs with universities, startups, research institutions and innovation platforms.
The role will also help connect relevant China innovation opportunities with global teams and support China-originated innovation to create value beyond China.
Your Role
Build and maintain strategic relationships with startups, universities, research institutions, technology providers, industry partners, investors, and other ecosystem stakeholders.
Identify, evaluate, and develop external innovation and partnership opportunities aligned with business and S&T priorities.
Translate internal needs into actionable collaborations, including pilots, proof-of-concepts, research collaborations, joint development, and other partnership models.
Lead external innovation projects from opportunity identification through implementation, ensuring clear objectives, milestones, governance, and stakeholder alignment.
Develop and manage partner networks, innovation programs, workshops, forums, and other platforms that enable knowledge exchange and collaboration.
Coordinate closely with stakeholders across Healthcare, Life Science, Electronics, S&T, R&D, BD and relevant corporate functions.
Strengthen connections between China-based innovation activities and global teams and priorities.
Monitor technology trends, market developments, and ecosystem activities in China and globally, and provide insights and recommendations for innovation strategy.
Who You Are
Master’s or PhD in Business, Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Biochemistry, Bioengineering, Life Sciences, or a related discipline.
6–10 years of experience in life sciences, technology, innovation, business development, strategic partnerships, or ecosystem development.
Proven experience in building and managing collaborations with external partners, such as startups, research institutions, technology companies, or industry organizations.
Experience leading cross-functional and cross-organizational projects from opportunity identification through implementation.
Strong understanding of the life science, healthcare, technology, and innovation ecosystems, particularly in China.
Familiarity with laboratory technologies, laboratory automation, digital solutions, or other emerging technologies is an advantage.
Strong partner evaluation, stakeholder management, communication, and relationship-building skills.
Experience in a multinational organization and an international, cross-cultural environment is strongly preferred.
Native-level Mandarin and strong English communication skills.
Strategic mindset with a hands-on, collaborative, and results-oriented approach.
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 154 comparable BD&L & Strategic Planning roles across 43 biopharma companies.
Salary context
40 of 154 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.
Where these roles are based
Top locations among the 154 comparable roles
+ 28 more countries
Seniority mix
110 of 154 peers have a known seniority level
Therapeutic area mix
24 of 154 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.
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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.