Foundation Medicine

Lead Technical Systems Analyst

Foundation Medicine$169K — $199K *
Pharmaceuticals & Biotech
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's Degree in life science, business, technology, or related field
  • 8+ years as a Technical Systems Analyst, Product Owner, Business Analyst, or related role in software or technical environments
  • 5+ years leading multi-stream enterprise initiatives (if applicable)
  • 5+ years in life sciences or software for Quality/Clinical processes
  • Experience in regulated software environments (IEC 62304, FDA 21 CFR Part 11, GDPR)
  • Advanced proficiency with tools like Jira, Confluence, and Visio
  • Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) or similar Agile certification

Responsibilities

  • Leads analysis and specification of complex business needs across delivery streams
  • Collaborates with engineering to evaluate architectural risks and ensure operability
  • Manages dependencies and timelines, facilitating risk workshops
  • Implements and improves analysis standards and best practices across teams
  • Defines delivery health indicators for optimized processes
  • Tailors communication for technical and non-technical audiences
  • Produces executive-ready materials outlining options and recommendations
  • Identifies and escalates compliance considerations early in product lifecycle
  • Works with Product Managers to prioritize engineering backlog and multi-quarter planning
  • Mentors analysts and engineers; fosters technical capability and a learning culture

Benefits

  • Hybrid work environment
  • Comprehensive health benefits
  • Retirement savings plan
  • Discretionary annual bonus based on performance
  • Commitment to values of Integrity, Courage, and Passion
Full Job Description
About the Job:

The Lead Technical Systems Analyst drives the execution of the product vision across multiple delivery streams and enterprise platforms. This role serves as a senior interface and requirements authority, translating complex business needs within scaled product areas into scalable technical specifications and functional user stories. Operating with significant autonomy, this position guides architectural decision-making from a long-term technical perspective, establishes cross-team analysis standards, and proactively manages dependencies and risks to ensure seamless end-to-end software delivery. The Lead Analyst bridges the gap between executive business goals and technical engineering execution while fostering a culture of technical rigor and continuous improvement.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Leads initiative-level decomposition and analysis spanning multiple delivery streams and enterprise platforms, transforming complex business needs into clear, high-quality functional specifications and user stories
  • Partners with engineering leadership and technical leads to evaluate architectural approaches, identify potential design risks, and ensure solutions are testable, highly operable, and aligned with enterprise integration standards
  • Leads cross-initiative dependency management; develops sequencing proposals, tracks timelines, and proactively facilitates pre-mortems and risk workshops to prevent late-stage scope discoveries
  • Establishes, enforces, and continuously improves analysis standards and best practices across teams (e.g., INVEST/SMART criteria)
  • Defines and drives the adoption of leading delivery health indicators such as reduced rework rates and optimized refinement health
  • Adapts communication style to align technical, non-technical, and leadership audiences
  • Produces executive-ready decision materials that explicitly outline options, trade-offs (value, risk, time, and cost), and clear recommendations to ensure transparency
  • Proactively identifies and escalates technical, security, privacy, and regulatory compliance considerations early in the delivery lifecycle, translating findings into actionable recommendations
  • Partners closely with Product Managers and engineering leaders to track the product vision, prioritize the multi-team engineering backlog, and shape multi-quarter planning through risk-based insights
  • Mentors senior and junior analysts and engineers, scales onboarding through structured peer reviews, and leads communities of practice to build organizational technical capability
  • Fosters a culture of learning, technical rigor, and psychological safety where healthy debate and "disagree and commit" norms are practiced
  • Other duties as assigned
  • Comply with FMI's attendance policies

Qualifications:

Basic Qualifications:

  • Bachelor's Degree in a life science, business, technology, or a related discipline
  • 8+ years of experience as a Technical Systems Analyst, Product Owner, Product Analyst, Business Analyst, or Associate Product Manager in a software, scientific, or technical business environment (or 5+ years of experience paired with a demonstrated history of leading multi-stream enterprise initiatives)

Preferred Qualifications:

  • 5+ years working in a life sciences environment and/or with software products developed for Quality, Clinical Laboratory processes, or molecular biology/genomics workflows
  • Experience working in a regulated software development environment that complies with IEC 62304, FDA 21 CFR Part 11, and GDPR
  • Advanced proficiency with Jira, Confluence, LucidChart, Visio, Retina, or equivalent system mapping and documentation tools
  • Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) or equivalent Agile analysis certification
  • Proven history of building durable stakeholder coalitions and driving alignment across organizational boundaries without direct authority
  • Demonstrated capability to self-organize, anticipate constraints, and drive complex, multi-quarter initiatives under deadline pressure without significant day-to-day oversight
  • Exceptional listening, writing, and verbal communication skills, with a proven ability to synthesize highly complex technical architectures into crisp executive summaries
  • Understanding of HIPAA and the importance of patient data privacy
  • Commitment to reflect FMI's values: Integrity, Courage, and Passion

The expected salary range for this position based on the primary location of Boston, MA is $169,150- $199,000 per year. The salary range is commensurate with Foundation Medicine's compensation practice and considers factors including, but not limited to, education, training, experience, external market conditions, criticality of role, and internal equity. A discretionary annual bonus may be available based on individual and Company performance. This position also qualifies for Foundation Medicine's benefits.

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About Foundation Medicine

Foundation Medicine is a molecular information company dedicated to a transformation in cancer care in which treatment is informed by a deep understanding of the genomic changes that contribute to each patient's unique cancer. The company offers a full suite of comprehensive genomic profiling assays to identify the molecular alterations in a patient's cancer and match them with relevant targeted therapies, immunotherapies and clinical trials. Foundation Medicine was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Learn more about Foundation Medicine
Size
1,000 employees
Industry
Founded
2010

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