Director business intelligence and strategy

Req ID #: 230898

Wilmington, MA, US;

Wilmington, MA, US

Full time

For 75 years, Charles River employees have worked together to assist in the discovery, development and safe manufacture of new drug therapies. When you join our family, you will have a significant impact on the health and well-being of people across the globe. Whether your background is in life sciences, finance, IT, sales or another area, your skills will play an important role in the work we perform. In return, we’ll help you build a career that you can feel passionate about.

Job Summary

Charles River Laboratories is seeking a Director of Business Intelligence to lead the development and execution of our global market, competitor, and customer insights strategy. This leader will serve as a trusted advisor to senior executives and business units by transforming data into actionable intelligence that guides decision-making, shapes strategy, and accelerates growth. The Director will oversee a team of analysts and data professionals, build best-in-class BI capabilities, and ensure that insights directly inform commercial, operational, and investment strategies.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Leadership & Strategy

• Define and lead the global business intelligence function and strategy, ensuring alignment with Charles River’s strategic priorities.

• Partner with executive leadership, business units, strategic marketing, global technology, and other functional teams to translate data-driven insights into clear business strategies and initiatives.

• Build and manage a high-performing team of BI analysts, fostering a culture of curiosity, rigor, and customer-centricity.

Market Intelligence

• Direct comprehensive analysis of the global life science research, biotech, and pharmaceutical markets, including growth trends, emerging technologies, and therapeutic pipelines.

• Provide forward-looking insights into market opportunities, risks, and unmet customer needs.

• Develop market models and forecasting tools to support strategic planning and investments.

Competitor Intelligence

• Establish a robust competitor monitoring program, covering key players by business unit and geo, new entrants, M&A activity, pricing strategies, and service/product innovations.

• Synthesize competitor data into concise, actionable intelligence for executives and commercial teams.

• Support scenario planning and “war gaming” exercises to anticipate competitor moves and guide proactive strategy.

Customer Intelligence

• Lead advanced analysis of customer data, including segmentation, behavior, satisfaction, and share of wallet.

• Partner with commercial teams to identify growth opportunities, improve customer retention, and guide go-to-market strategies.

• Ensure customer voice and feedback are integrated into business and service/product decisions.

Data & Analytics

• Oversee the design and deployment of BI tools, dashboards, and reporting systems, in partnership with Global Technology, to make insights accessible across the organization.

• Champion the use of advanced analytics, data visualization, and predictive modeling to improve strategic foresight.

• Drive data governance, quality, and integration across multiple internal and external data sources.

Job Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Economics, Data Analytics, or Life Sciences required; MBA or advanced degree preferred.

• 10+ years of progressive experience in business intelligence, market research, consulting, or corporate strategy, ideally within life sciences, healthcare, or related industries.

• Proven track record leading BI or insights teams with direct impact on corporate strategy and growth.

• Exceptional analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills with the ability to synthesize complex data into executive-ready insights.

• Strong leadership and people management experience, with the ability to inspire and develop talent.

• Excellent communication and presentation skills; adept at influencing senior executives and cross-functional stakeholders.

• Deep understanding of life sciences/biopharma market dynamics, customer decision drivers, and competitive landscape.

• Proficiency with BI platforms (Power BI, Tableau, Qlik, etc.), advanced Excel, and statistical/analytics tools (e.g., Python, R, SAS, SQL).

Compensation Data

The pay range for this position is $175K – $200K USD annually. Please note that salaries vary within the range based on factors including, but not limited to, experience, skills, education, certifications, and location.

About Corporate Functions The Corporate Functions provide operational support across Charles River in areas such as Human Resources, Finance, IT, Legal, Sales, Quality Assurance, Marketing, and Corporate Development. They partner with their colleagues across the company to develop and drive strategies and to set global standards. The functions are essential to providing a bridge between strategic vision and operational readiness, to ensure ongoing functional innovation and capability improvement.

About Charles River Charles River is an early-stage contract research organization (CRO). We have built upon our foundation of laboratory animal medicine and science to develop a diverse portfolio of discovery and safety assessment services, both Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and non-GLP, to support clients from target identification through preclinical development. Charles River also provides a suite of products and services to support our clients’ clinical laboratory testing needs and manufacturing activities. Utilizing this broad portfolio of products and services enables our clients to create a more flexible drug development model, which reduces their costs, enhances their productivity and effectiveness to increase speed to market.

With over 20,000 employees within 110 facilities in over 20 countries around the globe, we are strategically positioned to coordinate worldwide resources and apply multidisciplinary perspectives in resolving our client’s unique challenges. Our client base includes global pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, government agencies and hospitals and academic institutions around the world.

At Charles River, we are passionate about our role in improving the quality of people’s lives. Our mission, our excellent science and our strong sense of purpose guide us in all that we do, and we approach each day with the knowledge that our work helps to improve the health and well-being of many across the globe. We have proudly worked on 80% of the drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the past five years.

We’re committed to providing benefits that elevate your quality of life. Based on your position these may include: bonus/incentives based on performance, 401K, paid time off, stock purchase program, Health and wellness coverage, employee and family wellbeing support programs, and work life balance flexibility.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Charles River is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, mental or physical disability, family status, pregnancy, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

It is unlawful in some states (including Massachusetts) to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

If you are interested in applying to Charles River Laboratories and need special assistance or an accommodation due to a disability to complete any forms or to otherwise participate in the resume submission process, please contact a member of our Human Resources team by sending an e-mail message to [email protected]. This contact is for accommodation requests for individuals with disabilities only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.

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