Job title: Head of MSAT Practices Excellence and Innovation

• Location: Gentilly, Lyon
• Permanent contract

About the job

As Head of MSAT Practices Excellence and Innovation within our Global Manufacturing Sciences, Analytics, and Technology team, you'll drive our innovation vision and shape the future of pharmaceutical manufacturing through cutting-edge technologies and strategic partnerships. Ready to get started?

Join Sanofi's Global MSAT – the crucial link between R&D and Manufacturing that's transforming how we deliver high-quality, innovative drugs and vaccines thanks to a team of international experts driving process excellence, pioneering Data Sciences and Digitalization, and positioning Sanofi as an industry leader.

About Sanofi:

We're an R&D-driven, AI-powered biopharma company committed to improving people's lives and delivering compelling growth. Our deep understanding of the immune system – and innovative pipeline – enables us to invent medicines and vaccines that treat and protect millions of people around the world. Together, we chase the miracles of science to improve people's lives.

Main responsibilities:

• Drive innovation strategy: Create and oversee a comprehensive innovation roadmap, ensuring agility and alignment with R&D pipeline approaches to accelerate product launches and sustainable process performance.
• Shape industry standards: Define, benchmark, and lead the standardization of process development, industrialization, and monitoring practices that position Sanofi as best-in-class across the pharmaceutical industry.
• Build strategic partnerships: Establish and manage external collaborations with startups, academic institutions, consortiums, and technology leaders to access cutting-edge manufacturing and analytical technologies.
• Lead transformation at scale: Drive complex change management across MSAT and connected functions (R&D-CMC, Quality, Regulatory, Operations), anchoring best practices that transform our business and accelerate time-to-market.
• Influence the industry: Engage with Health Authorities, opinion leaders, and industry consortiums to shape standards, drive thought leadership, and ensure Sanofi remains at the forefront of manufacturing innovation.
• Develop world-class talent: Lead and develop a team of 10 senior experts, fostering cutting-edge expertise, organizational transformation, and a high-performance culture that delivers value to patients and the organization.
• Enable business growth: Lead technical industrial evaluation of new product acquisitions and due diligence, presenting strategic recommendations to support Sanofi's growth ambitions.

About you

• Education: PhD or engineering degree in life sciences, biotechnology, or biochemistry
• Experience: 15+ years in pharma-CMC development with exposure to cutting-edge technologies; recognized as an advanced expert with proven innovation leadership
• Leadership skills: Demonstrated success leading high-performing teams in complex, matrixed global organizations with strong influencing and collaboration capabilities
• Strategic thinking: Ability to think creatively and purposefully while managing multiple programs, with strong business acumen to evaluate changing conditions and shift priorities effectively
• Technical expertise: Deep knowledge of risk management methodology, analytical thinking, and ability to distill complex problems into simple, actionable solutions
• Adaptability: Agile thinker and learner, highly adaptable to dynamic environments with ability to inspire autonomous teams that stretch and deliver value
• Languages: Fluent in English

Why choose us?

• Shape the future of manufacturing: Lead the definition and implementation of industry-leading practices that will transform pharmaceutical manufacturing and accelerate delivery of life-changing treatments to patients.
• Drive meaningful impact at scale: Your innovation strategy will directly influence how Sanofi develops, industrializes, and delivers medicines and vaccines that reach millions of people worldwide.
• Lead cutting-edge innovation: Work at the intersection of AI, Data Sciences, Digitalization, and advanced manufacturing technologies – from self-healing processes to sustainable manufacturing solutions.
• Build influential partnerships: Establish strategic collaborations with leading startups, academic institutions, and technology companies, positioning yourself as an industry thought leader.
• Develop exceptional talent: Lead and mentor a team of 15 senior experts recognized across the pharmaceutical industry for their cutting-edge expertise and strategic impact.
• Accelerate your career: Gain exposure to senior leadership through participation in Innovation Boards and governance bodies at M&S and R&D levels, with opportunities for international mobility and cross-functional growth.
• Work with purpose: Contribute directly to Sanofi's mission to chase the miracles of science, ensuring our innovative processes deliver breakthrough treatments that improve patients' lives.

Pursue Progress. Discover Extraordinary.

Join Sanofi and step into a new era of science - where your growth can be just as transformative as the work we do. We invest in you to reach further, think faster, and do what's never-been-done-before. You'll help push boundaries, challenge convention, and build smarter solutions that reach the communities we serve. Ready to chase the miracles of science and improve people's lives? Let's Pursue Progress and Discover Extraordinary – together.

At Sanofi, we provide equal opportunities to all regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law.

Pursue progress, discover extraordinary

Better is out there. Better medications, better outcomes, better science. But progress doesn’t happen without people – people from different backgrounds, in different locations, doing different roles, all united by one thing: a desire to make miracles happen. So, let’s be those people.

At Sanofi, we provide equal opportunities to all regardless of race, colour, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, ability or gender identity.

Watch our ALL IN video and check out our Diversity Equity and Inclusion actions at sanofi.com!