Sanofi KK (Japan) Posted July 16, 2026

Japan Project Head (Vaccines)

Tokyo, Japan Full time
Commercial & General Management Vaccines & Infectious Disease

Sanofi KK (Japan) 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

The Japan Project Head (JPH) would be responsible for overall Japan development strategy for vaccine project in alignment with Global project strategy as well as Sanofi R&D strategy and business objectives. The JPH is accountable for developing the integrated development strategy/development plan for their respective vaccine project in Japan and for its effective execution with the cross-functional Global Project Team (GPT) as well as Japan project team (R&D, Manufacturing & Supply , Franchise/commercial, and regulatory strategies along with all required enabling functions and processes) to successful licensure/launch. The project strategy is developed with input from resources external to Sanofi (e.g. KOLs, Market experts) as required per function and as appropriate according to project stage.

・In the respect of the Global new vaccine project and Franchise strategy, as he/she

- reports to Japan Portfolio Project Head in Japan Vaccine R&D

- is a Member of the Global Project Team to ensure understanding & alignment of the global vaccine development strategy and priorities.

- works in collaboration with all the Global Project Team members & global functions to develop the Japan project strategy and timelines.

- ensures integration of the Japan activities across all local Japan functions required to meet the Japan project objectives

・Sets up and leads the Japan Team to drive the execution of the Japan activities for licensure

・Leads the Japan team in assessing local project risks, developing risk management /mitigation plans, gaining consensus and support for implementing

・Financial acumen and visibility to project budget

・Ensures that Global team understands and integrates the Japan needs and specificities.

・Ensure effective communication and alliance management with third parties including partner companies, academic groups and joint ventures for vaccine R&D activities (if applicable)

・Maintain mechanisms to capture and share knowledge, leverage learning and implement improvements within the project team

The JPH ensures continuous improvement orientations and shapes the environment when possible taking into account country specificities, competitive environment, innovation and cutting edge technologies. The JPH also drives execution of N ew V accine Project  via support from functional team members and associated sub-teams and acts as a leader/mentor/coach for the team.

The JPH is accountable for structuring the N ew V accine Project organization for vaccine development and lisensure in collaboration with Partner(s) if required. The JPH also decides on team composition in collaboration with functions and platforms and ensures the execution of the project in compliance with timelines & budget and, through team activities, delivers the data and information to make the best project decisions based on Company objectives.  The JPH is expected to drive projects forward to each stage gate milestones according to aggressive but realistic timelines.

The JPH ensures objective setting of the N ew V accine project in partnership with the functions as necessary and defines, follows and participates to arbitrate project budget and head count in conjunction with respective functions and platforms. The JPH is also responsible for identifying project issues and their related resolution plans and alerting them to the revelant governance committee (s). The JPH also proposes recommendations from the JPT to GPT and then from GPT for decision based on calculated risks to the senior management governance committee s as per decision rights defined in RACI.

The JPH develops effective working relationships with significant influencers (i.e. opinion leaders) at multiple levels (internally and  externally) and ensures alignment and  coordination with major stakholders across the company includuing external partners.

The JPH is an ambassador of the project and is the main N ew V accine project point of contact for Sanofi Vaccine R&D in Japan and in this role ensures the communication of the New Vaccine Project to relevant parties (internally and externally).

Knowledge And Skills:

Ideally, R&D knowledge from former jobs. Vaccine TA strongly preferred.

Personality should be dynamic, able to lead but also influence projects teams without solid line reporting relationships. Capacity to work on and coordinate multiple activities and stakeholders including external partners if relevant. Ability to network and communicate across diverse functions and to work effectively in a matrix and complicated organization, and across companies in co-development projects

Person should be at ease interacting with local and global stakeholders in English and Japanese.

Formal Education And/Or Experience Required:

Strong scientific & academic background preferably with good understanding of vaccine or similar therapeutic areas.

Overall 10 years of experience among which

Over 5 years in development: Ideally, Ph.D. (in a science field), MD or Pharm D. with experience in Vaccine Development in R&D or in other disciplines such as industrial operations, regulatory, marketing, R&D, and project Management. B.S., M.S. degree or MBA should be beneficial as well as previous project management experience. Preference should be given to high potential individuals.

Over 3 years in leadership (direct or transversal) role as leader of cross functional team in Japan in a multicultural & international (global) projects environment

Strong understanding of managing budgets, resources, timelines, decisions for complex projects

Demonstrate knowledge of Japan environment & regulations, ideally previously exposed to Japan heath Authorities

Demonstrated ability to create and maintain efficient connection with global functions (R&D, RA, Manufacturing & supply , Clinical & Medical...) in HQ, when located in a country

Experience & existing network in Sanofi ComOps, R&D , RA, Medical would be a plus

The position requires strong leadership and Good communication skills

Knowledge And Skills Desirable But Not Essential:

Technical understanding of Vaccine/Pharmaceutical R&D, regulatory, commercial, or clinical development activities necessary for vaccine development in Japan is a plus.

Critical thinking – ability to challenge the status quo, anticipate risks and ability to propose solutions/mitigation plans, Transversal communication and networking demonstrated, effective international communication and collaboration, Knowledge of project management/planning and budget structure

Selling Point:

1.Vaccine is one of key areas that Sanofi considers as priority globally. Rich vaccine portfolio (including 2 projects as part of sanofi big 11) to work on.

2.Drives Cross-Functional Leadership to advance Vaccine Development in Japan making sure the strategic bridge between global and Japan ambition.

3.Exercise Strategic Ownership and Influence High-Level Decision-Making engaging multiple internal and external stakeholders

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

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

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 !

Job details

Seniority
Not listed
Function
Commercial & General Management
Therapeutic area
Vaccines & Infectious Disease
Location
Tokyo, Japan
Employment type
Full time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Commercial & General Management role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 29 comparable Commercial & General Management roles across 5 biopharma companies.

29Comparable roles tracked
12Currently active
5Companies hiring similar roles
9Countries represented

Salary context

4 of 29 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 · Associate Director, PDM Strategy · Gilead Sciences, Inc. $182,070/yr – $235,620/yr
Peer group range $208,845 – $278,850 (median $262,224)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 29 comparable roles

United States18
Japan2
Poland2
Spain2
Romania1
South Korea1

+ 3 more countries

Seniority mix

22 of 29 peers have a known seniority level

Director7
Associate Director7
Senior Director3
Manager3
Executive/VP2

Therapeutic area mix

5 of 29 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology3
Vaccines & Infectious Disease1
Cardiovascular / CVRM1

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.

65%similar
AstraZeneca Wilmington, Delaware, United States of America Director
Same function Same therapeutic area
40%similar
AstraZeneca Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan Director
Same function Same country
40%similar
AstraZeneca Kita-ku, Osaka, Japan Associate Director
Same function Same country
25%similar
Novartis Bucuresti, Romania
Same function

Matched on job function only -- seniority, specialty, and location weren't confirmed as aligned.

25%similar
Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Senior Director
Same function

Matched on job function only -- seniority, specialty, and location weren't confirmed as aligned.

25%similar
Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Director
Same function

Matched on job function only -- seniority, specialty, and location weren't confirmed as aligned.

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.

65%
Director, US Forecasting & Analytics– Vaccines & Immune Therapies
AstraZeneca · Wilmington, Delaware, United States of America · Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
25%
Commercial Portfolio Head
Novartis · Bucuresti, Romania · Seniority not listed
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
25%
Associate Director, PDM Strategy
Gilead Sciences, Inc. · Foster City, United States · Associate Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
25%
Launch Lead Poland - Transplant
Sanofi Sp. z o.o. · Warsaw, Poland · Seniority not listed
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.