Johnson & Johnson

Senior Director, Knowledge Management & Retrieval Strategy

Johnson & Johnson$196K — $342K *
Pharmaceuticals & Biotech
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Formal training in life sciences, biomedical research, or pharmaceutical R&D.
  • Proven leadership experience with high-performing technical teams.
  • Demonstrated success in cross-functional program management.
  • Advanced degree in computer science, data science, or related field.
  • Expertise in designing data architectures for AI/ML applications.
  • Strong understanding of information retrieval and semantic technologies.
  • Experience with large-scale enterprise data platforms.

Responsibilities

  • Lead and develop the Knowledge Management team, setting vision and priorities.
  • Own the roadmap for R&D knowledge representation aligned with GenAI outcomes.
  • Establish consistency in enterprise assets for shared truth across systems.
  • Promote the use of standard taxonomies and identifiers across the organization.
  • Partner with teams to ensure discoverable and governed semantic assets.
  • Define retrieval strategies for AI systems and user-facing applications.
  • Guide development of retrieval pipelines for scientific insights.

Benefits

  • Generous vacation policy with 120 hours per year.
  • Comprehensive sick leave policy, varying by state of residence.
  • Paid holidays including floating holidays totaling 13 days.
  • Up to 40 hours for work, personal, and family time per year.
  • Parental leave providing 480 hours following childbirth/adoption.
  • Extensive bereavement leave for immediate family members.
  • Volunteer leave allowing 32 hours annually for community service.
Full Job Description

Job Function:

Data Analytics & Computational Sciences

Job Sub Function:

Data Science

Job Category:

People Leader

All Job Posting Locations:

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America, La Jolla, California, United States of America, Spring House, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Titusville, New Jersey, United States of America

Job Description:

Overview

We are seeking a senior leader to define and scale R&D knowledge and retrieval capabilities that power GenAI experiences across R&D.

Reporting to the VP, Data Strategy and Products, this role will lead the Knowledge Management team, spanning Knowledge Graph design and engineering, Ontology design and engineering, and semantic layer definition to enable governed, reusable, and AI-ready enterprise knowledge.

This role will operate at the intersection of AI/ML, data products, data platforms, and scientific workflows, ensuring that GenAI systems can reliably retrieve, reason over, and synthesize information from diverse biomedical and operational data sources.

In close partnership with the broader DS&P and JJT, the leader will define retrieval architectures for agentic AI systems and user-facing applications, harmonize data interfaces and ensure scalable, governed access to R&D knowledge assets.

The role requires both technical depth and organizational navigation, as it bridges GenAI product teams, data strategy and products owners, and scientific stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

Knowledge Management Leadership

  • Lead and grow a multidisciplinary Knowledge Management organization, including Knowledge Graph engineers, Ontology engineers/designers, and semantic layer practitioners; set vision, priorities, and ways of working.

  • Own the roadmap for R&D knowledge representation (knowledge graph modeling patterns, ontology strategy, semantic layer standards) aligned to GenAI and R&D outcomes.

  • Establish the language, identity, and sematic consistency of enterprise assets and processes so systems, people, analytics, and AI can operate from shared truth.

  • Educate and promote use of standard taxonomies and identifiers across the organization.

  • Establish operating mechanisms for quality, reuse, and stewardship of semantic assets (definitions, taxonomies/ontologies, entity models, metadata) across domains.

  • Partner with platform, governance, and product teams to ensure semantic assets are discoverable, versioned, and governed and can be consumed through retrieval pipelines and APIs.


GenAI Retrieval Architecture
  • Shape AI-ready data through integration, semantics, and reusable data products—grounded in real R&D use cases and outcomes

  • Define retrieval strategies supporting agentic AI systems and user-facing GenAI applications.

  • Design approaches for semantic retrieval, knowledge grounding, and contextual data integration across diverse R&D datasets.

  • Guide the development of retrieval pipelines that enable reliable question answering, reasoning, and scientific insight generation.

  • Establish best practices for RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) architectures in regulated scientific environments.


Data Interface & Platform Alignment
  • In close partnership with JJT, harmonize and unify access to enterprise data assets.

  • Partner with DS&P Data Products & Governance team on defining standards for data interfaces, and retrieval APIs that support GenAI applications.

  • Ensure alignment between GenAI product requirements and enterprise data infrastructure strategy.

  • Act as a bridge between R&D data users, GenAI product teams, and platform owners.


Knowledge Systems & Data Strategy
  • Partner with DSH & JJT on Identifying and curating high-value knowledge sources across discovery, development, clinical, and regulatory domains.

  • Partner with DS&P Data Products & Governance team & JJT to define data strategies for integrating structured data, documents, knowledge graphs, and scientific literature.

  • Establish principles for data provenance, traceability, and governance in AI-assisted scientific workflows.


Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Work closely with:

    • GenAI product teams

    • R&D Data Science groups

    • JJIT platform and architecture teams

    • Scientific domain experts

    • Partners in R&D TAs and functions

  • Translate data needs of complex scientific workflows into data access and retrieval architectures.


Governance & Quality
  • Ensure that retrieval systems meet standards for:

    • reproducibility

    • traceability

    • auditability

    • responsible AI use in regulated environments.

Qualifications

Required
  • Formal training and experience in life sciences, biomedical research, or pharmaceutical R&D.

  • Proven experience leading and developing high-performing technical teams, including hiring, coaching, and setting performance expectations.

  • Demonstrated success driving cross-functional programs that align product, platform, and governance stakeholders around shared roadmaps and measurable outcomes.

  • Advanced degree in computer science, data science, computational biology, bioinformatics, or related field.

  • Deep experience designing data architectures or knowledge systems supporting AI/ML applications.

  • Strong understanding of information retrieval, semantic search, and RAG architectures.

  • Experience working with large-scale enterprise data platforms.

  • Demonstrated ability to collaborate across technical, scientific, and platform teams.


Preferred
  • Familiarity with scientific data modalities (omics, clinical data, literature, regulatory documents).

  • Experience building knowledge graphs or R&D knowledge systems.

  • Exposure to GenAI platforms, agentic systems, and Model Context Protocols (MCPs).

  • Hands-on familiarity with ontology engineering, semantic modeling practices, and knowledge graph development lifecycles in enterprise settings.

  • Experience defining or operationalizing a semantic layer (common business/scientific definitions, metrics, and governed concepts) to improve consistency across data products and analytics/AI use cases.

Impact

This role will define how Generative AI systems access and reason over R&D knowledge across R&D. By establishing robust retrieval architectures and aligning with enterprise data platforms, this leader will help enable scalable AI capabilities that accelerate scientific discovery and development.

Required Skills:

 

 

Preferred Skills:

Advanced Analytics, Budget Management, Business Alignment, Compliance Management, Consulting, Critical Thinking, Data Analysis, Data Privacy Standards, Data Quality, Data Reporting, Data Savvy, Data Science, Data Visualization, Developing Others, Digital Fluency, Inclusive Leadership, Leadership, Strategic Thinking

 

 

The anticipated base pay range for this position is :

$196,000.00 - $342,700.00

Additional Description for Pay Transparency:

This position is eligible to participate in the Company’s long-term incentive program.

Subject to the terms of their respective policies and date of hire, employees are eligible for the following time off benefits:

Vacation –120 hours per calendar year

Sick time - 40 hours per calendar year; for employees who reside in the State of Colorado –48 hours per calendar year; for employees who reside in the State of Washington –56 hours per calendar year

Holiday pay, including Floating Holidays –13 days per calendar year

Work, Personal and Family Time - up to 40 hours per calendar year

Parental Leave – 480 hours within one year of the birth/adoption/foster care of a child

Bereavement Leave – 240 hours for an immediate family member: 40 hours for an extended family member per calendar year

Caregiver Leave – 80 hours in a 52-week rolling period10 days

Volunteer Leave – 32 hours per calendar year

Military Spouse Time-Off – 80 hours per calendar year

For additional general information on Company benefits, please go to: - https://www.careers.jnj.com/employee-benefits

About Johnson & Johnson

Scio Diamond creates single-crystal Type IIa diamonds for the jewelry market and for industrial applications. It employs a patent-protected chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process in a precisely controlled laboratory setting to produce diamonds. It was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Greenville, South Carolina.

Johnson & Johnson Careers

Joining Johnson & Johnson provides an unparalleled opportunity to be a part of a global team of professionals dedicated to blending care, science, and innovation to profoundly change the trajectory of health for humanity.

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At Johnson & Johnson, you will engage in work that matters. Join our community of professionals in health care to drive significant and impactful changes across the globe. Our team at Johnson & Johnson leads with science and heart in sectors from pharmaceuticals to medical devices and consumer health products.

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Leverage Johnson & Johnson’s culture of innovation to transform health care and improve the lives of people around the world. Our collaborative environment encourages leadership and growth, allowing you to pioneer new strategies for health care solutions with a diverse team of experts.

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Our team at Johnson & Johnson thrives on collaboration and diversity. You will work alongside over 130,000 employees globally who are committed to making a lasting impact. With a culture that values diversity training and leadership, you are supported in both personal and professional growth.

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Learn more about Johnson & Johnson
Size
141,700 employees
Market Cap
$462.7 billion
Industry
Net Income
$14.7 billion
Founded
1886
5 Year Trend
+5.5%
Revenue
$82.5 billion
NASDAQ

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