The Foundation

We are the largest nonprofit fighting poverty, disease, and inequity around the world. Founded on a simple premise: people everywhere, regardless of identity or circumstances, should have the chance to live healthy, productive lives. We believe our employees should reflect the rich diversity of the global populations we aim to serve. We provide an exceptional benefits package to employees and their families which include comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with no premiums, generous paid time off, paid family leave, foundation-paid retirement contribution, regional holidays, and opportunities to engage in several employee communities. As a workplace, we’re committed to creating an environment for you to thrive both personally and professionally.

The Team

The India Country Office (ICO) plays a pivotal role in advancing the foundation’s mission through strategic engagement with government, partners, and stakeholders across sectors. As one of the foundation’s largest and most active country programs, the ICO supports a wide portfolio of initiatives spanning health, gender equality, agriculture, and digital transformation. The office works closely with national and state-level institutions to pilot and scale innovations, influence systems, and deliver meaningful impact for the people of India and beyond.

The Digital, Health Innovations and Artificial Intelligence (DHAI) cluster is a core enabler for key goals of the ICO across our portfolio. On the health innovation front, the cluster is focused on new products such as vaccines, drugs, devices including AI-enabled, diagnostics, devices, modeling, and other data science approaches that are crucial to many programs. The foundation has also been partnering with the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), and private sector players to strengthen health product Research & Development (R&D) in India. Our aim is to help India serve as a credible source of supply for life-saving vaccines, diagnostics, devices and pharmaceutical products for diseases that affect the poorest.

Our digital work includes technical assistance support to key central government departments and certain state agencies in the development, roll out and scale up of digital architecture in health, gender and poverty reduction, and helping to study impact. The newest addition to our work is in AI where we aim to catalyze Indian innovation, in close collaboration with Government (Central and select States) efforts, on foundation’s priority sectors, such as health, education, gender and agriculture. Our work focuses on ethical and responsible AI adoption, ensuring that advancements in AI drive positive impact, reduce inequities, and support the strategic goals of governments in India as well as select countries in the South and Southeast Asia region.

Your Role

As Senior Officer, Drugs, DHAI, you will serve as a technical expert to support drug development programs across multiple disease and therapeutic areas supporting the larger vision of ICO’s Health R&D and regulatory efforts within the DHAI cluster at the ICO.

You will provide strategic and operational support to strengthen drug development partnerships across sectors and lead research, development, and supply of quality, affordable pharmaceuticals for diseases disproportionately affecting the most vulnerable populations. You will work with internal program teams, external partners (including government institutions, private sector innovators, and academic researchers), and cross-functional foundation teams to shape investments in India that advance innovations in drug development and delivery. Your work will focus on supporting product development partnerships, strengthening regulatory alignment, enabling scale, and ensuring alignment with global access and public health goals.

The position is based in New Delhi and reports to the Deputy Director, Health R&D and Regulatory, DHAI.

What You’ll Do

1. Support Drug Product Development and Delivery

Support the DHAI team in designing and managing investments focused on the research, development, and scale-up of pharmaceutical products, including small molecules, drug-device combinations, and long-acting formulations.
Enable high-impact public-private partnerships to accelerate the development of drugs targeting high-burden diseases and therapeutic areas in India and Low- and Middle-Income Countries.
Work closely with government partners such as the DBT, ICMR, BIRAC, Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), as well as with Indian pharma manufacturers, Contract Research Organizations (CROs), and innovators to support India’s role in global health product supply chains.
Facilitate alignment of product development strategies with disease program needs, regulatory requirements, and delivery feasibility.

2. Transaction, Regulatory, and Technical Support

Provide technical support on Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC), regulatory submissions, quality systems, and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) requirements for drug development projects.
Support the negotiation and execution of agreements (excluding Strategic Investment Fund) with Indian and multinational partners to advance drug development and delivery goals.
Coordinate and review partner project plans (including Integrated Product Development Plans and Target Product Profiles) risk mitigation strategies, milestone frameworks, and regulatory pathways in line with foundation standards and public health objectives.
Contribute to the foundation’s work with Indian and global regulatory agencies to strengthen regulatory science capacity and streamline pathways for drugs addressing public health needs.

3. Strategic Engagement and Cross-Functional Internal Collaboration

Build and maintain strong relationships with key internal stakeholders including Legal, Finance, Regulatory, and Product Launch teams.
Collaborate with foundation Program Strategy Teams across Global Health and Gender Equality, in addition to functional Teams, to support programs that are in development for India launches.
Stay abreast of trends in drug development, delivery innovation, and regulatory science relevant to public health contexts.
Identify cross-cutting synergies and strategic solutions across the DHAI team and other teams to enhance strategy execution in line with the impact goals laid out.
Represent the DHAI team in technical discussions, external meetings, and national or global forums on pharmaceutical innovation and access.
Contribute to internal learning by sharing insights and lessons from investments and partnerships.

Your Experience

Master’s or PhD in pharmaceutical sciences, chemistry, regulatory science, or related field.
At least 12–15 years of senior-level experience in the pharmaceutical or life sciences industry, with demonstrated expertise in drug development, manufacturing, and regulatory affairs.
Strong experience working with Indian pharma sector, including drug product development, formulation, process development, and technology transfer.
Experience working across product lifecycles - from early-stage development through to registration and scale-up - with exposure to long-acting and complex drug delivery platforms preferred.
Demonstrated ability to collaborate across diverse stakeholders, including government, industry, and global health partners.
Previous experience engaging with Indian regulatory bodies (e.g., CDSCO) and supporting regulatory filings or drug approvals.
Exposure to public health, global access, or affordability-focused partnerships is desirable.
Strong technical knowledge of CMC, GMP, and regulatory systems relevant to small molecules and drug-device combinations.
Strategic thinker with the ability to assess technical, regulatory, and commercial considerations and guide investment and partnership decisions.
Comfortable working in a fast-paced, changing, matrixed organization with cross-cultural and multidisciplinary teams.
Promote and imbibe a culture of rigor, innovation, optimism, collaboration, and inclusion - in the work and the partnerships supported.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including ability to convey complex technical issues to non-specialist audiences.
Demonstrated passion for global health equity.

Other Attributes

Comfortable in a wide range of cultural, geographic and operational situations, demonstrating culturally sensitive behavior with a diverse range of people and a deep commitment to development issues and high standards of personal integrity.
Ability to travel domestically and internationally up to 25–30%, as required

*Must be able to legally work in the country where this position is located without visa sponsorship.

Application deadline: 16 November 2025

#LI-RT1

Hiring Requirements

As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment will be contingent upon successful completion of a background check.

Candidate Accommodations

If you require assistance due to a disability in the application or recruitment process, please submit a request here.

Inclusion Statement

We are dedicated to the belief that all lives have equal value. We strive for a global and cultural workplace that supports ever greater diversity, equity, and inclusion — of voices, ideas, and approaches — and we support this diversity through all our employment practices.

All applicants and employees who are drawn to serve our mission will enjoy equality of opportunity and fair treatment without regard to race, color, age, religion, pregnancy, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, genetic information, veteran status, marital status, and prior protected activity.