Domain Architect - Pharma R&D — Roche

Full description

At Roche you can show up as yourself, embraced for the unique qualities you bring. Our culture encourages personal expression, open dialogue, and genuine connections, where you are valued, accepted and respected for who you are, allowing you to thrive both personally and professionally. This is how we aim to prevent, stop and cure diseases and ensure everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Join Roche, where every voice matters.

The Position The Domain Architect – Pharma R&D is a senior, pivotal role within the SPG Enterprise Architecture Business Partnering Functions team. This role serves as the critical connector between the Strategy, Portfolio & Governance (SPG) organization and the Pharma R&D function. Reporting directly to the Head of Enterprise Architecture Business Partnering Functions with a dotted line to the Global Head of Digital Technology - Pharma R&D, you will champion our enterprise architecture practices while deeply understanding the unique complexities of the Pharma R&D environment.

Crucially, in our federated RDT model, you will act as the principal orchestrator of the Pharma R&D architecture network. By leading this network—which includes yourself alongside all domain architects embedded directly within the Pharma R&D organization—you will drive architecture governance and strategy formulation, ensure enterprise coherence, and translate business goals into adaptable, future-ready technology roadmaps.

Description of the area The Enterprise Architecture Business Partnering Functions area serves as the strategic architectural interface for business domain leaders, fostering collaboration to align applications, business capabilities, and information assets with technology solutions. For the Pharma R&D domain, this involves deeply integrating with teams across Clinical Trial Execution, Discovery & Preclinical, Biometrics, and Regulatory Affairs to drive efficiency and innovation with end-to-end accountability. This role ensures that the bridge between SPG’s enterprise vision and Pharma R&D’s operational execution is seamless, collaborative, and highly effective.

Job Responsibilities

• Strategic Business Partnering: Act as the strategic liaison between SPG and Pharma R&D. Partner with the Global Head of Digital Technology - Pharma R&D and the R&D DT Leadership team to align business priorities with multi-year technology roadmaps and target-state architectures.
• Architecture Network Orchestration: Lead the Pharma R&D architecture network by shaping and promoting shared strategic priorities. Enable Domain and Solution Architects to execute efficiently while maintaining alignment and leveraging shared principles and platforms.
• Architecture Governance Leadership: Provide leadership for governance activities across Pharma R&D in collaboration with function embedded domain architects. Oversee architecture deliverables, technology guardrails, and create alignment on non-functional requirements (e.g., security, resilience).
• Critical Program Delivery & Domain Success: Drive the success of large, critical technology programs in Pharma R&D. Translate strategy into action and ensure transformative initiatives deliver intended business value while providing architectural oversight.
• Domain Architecture Deliverables: Lead the development and upkeep of core domain architecture artifacts for Pharma R&D. Ensure data accuracy across the technology and application inventory using the ArchiMEDES toolchain, delivering key outputs such as Capability Maps, Target-State Architectures, and Architecture Standards.
• Portfolio & Investment Alignment: Work with Pharma R&D Portfolio Management to embed architectural insights into investment decisions. Evaluate the impacts of strategies, address architectural gaps, and prevent fragmentation by maximizing platform reuse and minimizing technical debt.
• Technology Innovation & Vendor Evaluation: Monitor emerging technology trends and evaluate vendor