Manager, Agency Performance
Takeda
Summary
This position will lead agency performance initiatives that strengthen governance, performance, capability, innovation, and consistent ways of working across agency, brand, and internal stakeholder teams. In this role you will report to the Associate Director, Agency and Vendor Performance. This is an individual-contributor role with no direct reports.
Job description
Position Summary
This position will lead agency performance initiatives that strengthen governance, performance, capability, innovation, and consistent ways of working across agency, brand, and internal stakeholder teams. In this role you will report to the Associate Director, Agency and Vendor Performance. This is an individual-contributor role with no direct reports.
Key Responsibilities
- Operational Excellence: Oversee Agency Performance projects and workplans by coordinating stakeholders, tracking milestones, and ensuring timing commitments and deliverables are met.
- Stakeholder Enablement & Standards: Develop agency performance standards, tools, playbooks, and training to build capability, improve process adoption, and promote consistent ways of working across agencies and brand teams.
- Agency Performance Management: Manage agency KPIs across quality, speed, efficiency, cost, and other agreed measures. Identify trends, risks, and improvement opportunities, and coordinate actions with agencies and internal stakeholders.
- Agency Governance & Relationship Management: Coordinate governance activities, including performance reviews, issue and risk management, escalations, and action tracking. Strengthen collaboration and accountability across agencies and internal partners.
- Agency Innovation & Capability Development: Support pilots of new agency capabilities and ways of working, including modular content, AI-assisted production, and automation. Assess results and recommend opportunities to scale successful approaches.
Skills and Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree required; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
- 5–7+ years of experience in pharmaceutical/biopharma/healthcare marketing, communications, advertising
- Experience in commercial strategy, marketing operations, or agency management in the pharma or healthcare sector
- Experience leading large agency ecosystems (e.g., content, media, digital)
- Direct experience working in regulated pharma environments
- High accountability for quality, compliance, and cost efficiency
- Ability to balance innovation with risk mitigation
- Comfortable challenging agencies and internal teams
- Skilled at navigating Medical and Commercial priorities
- Excellent communication skills, capable of ensuring clarity and understanding across diverse markets and stakeholders
- External stakeholder management, incl. agency performance governance, and KPI development
- Financial and cost management acumen
- Strong knowledge of procurement processes
- Understanding of RFP design and contract negotiation partnership
Requirements
- Bachelor's degree required
- 5–7+ years of experience in pharmaceutical/biopharma/healthcare marketing, communications, advertising
- Experience in commercial strategy, marketing operations, or agency management in the pharma or healthcare sector
- Experience leading large agency ecosystems (e.g., content, media, digital)
- Direct experience working in regulated pharma environments
- High accountability for quality, compliance, and cost efficiency
- Ability to balance innovation with risk mitigation
- Comfortable challenging agencies and internal teams
- Skilled at navigating Medical and Commercial priorities
- Excellent communication skills
- External stakeholder management, incl. agency performance governance, and KPI development
- Financial and cost management acumen
- Strong knowledge of procurement processes
- Understanding of RFP design and contract negotiation partnership
Company overview
Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited is a Japanese multinational pharmaceutical company founded in 1781 and incorporated in 1925. As one of the world's top 20 largest pharmaceutical companies by revenue and the third largest in Asia, Takeda specializes in developing and commercializing innovative medicines across several therapeutic areas including oncology, rare diseases, neuroscience, gastroenterology, plasma-derived therapies, and vaccines. With approximately 49,095 employees globally, the company operates research and development centers, manufacturing facilities, and commercial operations across 39 U.S. states and numerous countries worldwide. Takeda maintains dual headquarters in Tokyo and Osaka, Japan, with significant operations in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where it serves as the largest life sciences employer in the state. The company's patient-focused approach is guided by its Takeda-ism values of Integrity, Fairness, Honesty, and Perseverance, emphasizing a commitment to delivering life-transforming treatments while advancing sustainable healthcare solutions. Takeda's extensive portfolio includes both innovative biologics and small molecule drugs, supported by strategic acquisitions and partnerships that have expanded its capabilities in areas such as immuno-oncology and rare disease treatments.