About this role
By clicking the “Apply” button, I understand that my employment application process with Takeda will commence and that the information I provide in my application will be processed in line with Takeda’s Privacy Notice and Terms of Use . I further attest that all information I submit in my employment application is true to the best of my knowledge. Job Description OBJECTIVES/PURPOSE: The Liaison & Engagement Lead is a director-level role responsible for planning and leading holistic engagement for the community of the R&D Japan Region in full alignment with the strategic priorities defined by the R&D Japan Region Head.
The role creates visibility into the current engagement landscape—including performance culture, enterprise mindset and sense of belonging—identifies gaps versus an ideal future state and translates priorities into an initiative portfolio in close collaboration with HR and key business partners. As a strategic partner to the R&D Japan Region Head and R&D Japan Region Leadership Team, the Liaison & Engagement Lead enables consistent, transparent, and effective engagement with internal and external stakeholders, including coordination with JPBU Execution is delivered through a matrix operating model, leveraging Strategy & Ecosystem Advancement (SEA) for initiative implementation support. The Liaison & Engagement Lead collaborates with Engagement Leads within R&D Global Regions as a team to share best practices, align global engagement activities, and strengthen Takeda’s culture and community across R&D regions.
ACCOUNTABILITIES Engagement Strategy & Planning: Define an engagement strategy and prioritized plan for the R&D Japan Region community, ensuring full alignment to the strategic priorities and culture agenda defined by the R&D Japan Region Head and R&D Japan Region Leadership Team. Engagement Landscape Visualization & Insights: Develop and maintain a holistic view of the engagement landscape (e.g., performance culture, enterprise mindset and sense of belonging). Identify gaps between current and desired state; diagnose root causes; prioritize interventions and mitigation plans with HR and stakeholders.
Leadership on Engagement Initiative Portfolio (with SEA support): Translate engagement priorities into an initiative portfolio and execution roadmap, such as senior leadership visit to Osaka and Shonan sites. Partner with SEA to drive disciplined execution (e.g., project management, governance, resourcing, vendor/partner coordination) to ensure timely and high-quality delivery. Cross-Regional Collaboration: Work collaboratively with engagement leads in other regions to align global engagement themes, share best practices, and coordinate cross-regional activities that strengthen community and belonging across Global Regions.
Leadership & Stakeholder Connectivity Enablement: Collaborate with JPBU and Global R&D to support the R&D Japan Region Head and other Global Regions Japan leaders for effective, consistent and compliant connections with internal and external stakeholders (e.g., announcements, leadership messages, townhalls, stakeholder decks, intranet content). Materials Champion & Engagement Excellence: Champion preparation of engagement materials to enable efficient, consistent, and impactful messaging. Establish templates, storytelling standards, and review routines, ensuring accuracy, audience fit and brand/approval compliance.
Measurement & Continuous Improvement: Define success metrics (e.g., engagement participation, survey insights, feedback loops) and provide regular reporting and actionable insights to leadership to drive continuous improvement. CORE ELEMENTS RELATED TO THIS ROLE: Strategic engagement partner to the R&D Japan Region Head; ensures engagement priorities are tightly aligned to regional strategy and culture agenda. Enterprise view across sites; creates a holistic engagement landscape (performance culture, enterprise mindset and sense of belonging) and drives gap mitigation with HR.
Influence-led matrix role; delivers outcomes through stakeholder alignment, governance, and operating discipline rather than direct people management. Execution through a supported model; leverages SEA for implementation while retaining accountability for portfolio priorities, outcomes and quality; strong governance and delivery discipline. Cross-regional coordination; aligns with engagement themes, shares best practices, and strengthens community across Global Regions.
Engagement enablement leadership; champions executive-ready materials and engagement efficiency in partnership with JPBU and Global R&D. DIMENSIONS AND ASPECTS: Technical/Functional (Line) Expertise Core competencies include: Demonstrated ability to translate strategy into engagement programs and measurable outcomes. Strong stakeholder management skills; able to influence without authority and drive alignment across functions (HR, Strategy & Ecosystem Advancement, R&D leadership).
Excellent written and verbal communication; strong executive-level materials development and storytelling skills. Project/program management capability; comfortable managing multiple initiatives across timelines and stakeholders. High cultural agility and collaboration skills across geographies and time zones; ability to partner with regional engagement leads globally.
Analytical mindset—able to interpret engagement insights and turn them into practical recommendations. Strong attention to detail and commitment to quality, governance, and compliance. Language: Business-level Japanese and English (written and spoken) preferred, commensurate with stakeholder needs.
Leadership Demonstrated director-level leadership as an individual contributor, delivering outcomes through influence, coalition-building, and governance rather than direct people management. Strategic leader who translates regional priorities into an integrated engagement agenda (career growth, DE&I, well-being) with clear success measures. Proven ability to partner with senior leaders as a trusted advisor and enable alignment across Global Regions Japan.
Strong change leadership skills: diagnoses gaps, prioritizes interventions, and drives adoption through stakeholder alignment and disciplined follow-through. Engagement enablement leadership with strong executive presence; champions high-quality, efficient, and consistent materials and storytelling. Strong execution rigor in a matrix: establishes cadence, manages dependencies, and delivers through cross-functional partners (including Strategy & Ecosystem Advancement support).
Decision-making and Autonomy The Liaison & Engagement Lead operates with a high degree of autonomy to shape, prioritize, and drive the R&D Japan Region engagement agenda aligned to the R&D Japan Region Head’s strategic priorities. The role independently develops insights, engagement roadmaps, engagement materials, and governance proposals, and drives execution through influence and cross-functional coordination (HR and Strategy & Ecosystem Advancement). Decisions with significant strategic, policy, budgetary, or external-stakeholder impact are made in alignment with the R&D Japan Region Head and relevant functional owners (e.g., HR, JPBU, Global R&D) in accordance with internal governance.
Interaction Effectively navigates the changing external and internal environment and leads others through change by creating an inspiring and engaging workplace Ability to effectively implement R&D’s partnership strategy Effectively represent Takeda in High-level negotiations with the ability to resolve conflict in a constructive manner Ability to build strong partnerships and drive role clarity with other interfacing Takeda functions. Complexity Ability to work in a global ecosystem (internal and external) with a high degree of complexity Breadth of knowledge required across therapeutic areas, indications, and/or modalities Experience operating in a multi-disciplinary drug development environment including international experience and exposure to a variety of therapeutic areas. EDUCATION, BEHAVIOURAL COMPETENCIES AND SKILLS: Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree preferred (e.g., Organizational Development, HR, Business, Engagement, or related field).
Typically 10–15+ years of relevant experience in employee engagement, organizational development, engagement, change management, strategy/operations, or related roles in a global matrix organization; pharmaceutical/biotech or healthcare experience strongly preferred. Experience working within complex global organizations, with demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and effectively across different functions and geographic regions. Excellent stakeholder management skills with an ability to influence and proactively engage others in new approaches to business delivery.
Self-motivated with a clear track record of delivering results in challenging and ambiguous situations. Takeda Compensation and Benefits Summary: Allowances: Commutation, Housing, Overtime Work etc. Salary Increase: Annually, Bonus Payment: Twice a year Working Hours: Headquarters (Osaka/ Tokyo) 9:00-17:30, Production Sites (Osaka/ Yamaguchi) 8:00-16:45, (Narita) 8:30-17:15, Research Site (Kanagawa) 9:00-17:45 Holidays: Saturdays, Sundays, National Holidays, May Day, Year-End Holidays etc. (approx.
123 days in a year) Paid Leaves: Annual Paid Leave, Special Paid Leave, Sick Leave, Family Support Leave, Maternity Leave, Childcare Leave, Family Nursing Leave. Flexible Work Styles: Flextime, Telework Benefits: Social Insurance, Retirement and Corporate Pension, Employee Stock Ownership Program, etc. Important Notice concerning working conditions: It is possible the job scope may change at the company’s discretion.
It is possible the department and workplace may change at the company’s discretion. Locations Osaka, JapanFujisawa, Japan Worker Type Employee Worker Sub-Type Regular Time Type Full time